Rachel Thomas returns to AI, joins Answer.AI while her friends all hate AI

My friends all hate AI; I just joined an AI startup

Rachel Thomas, co-founder of fast.ai, is returning to AI after a two-year break, joining Answer.AI to work on AI in education. She spent a decade criticizing Big AI's concentration of power, hollow ethics, and overhyped claims. Now she wants to show alternatives exist—SolveIt, built by Answer.AI, forces users to work through Polya's four problem-solving stages instead of getting instant chatbot answers. The post doesn't disclose her exact role or start date.

Why it matters: Rachel Thomas is a fast.ai co-founder with real influence in AI education. This return post isn't empty signaling — she gives the SolveIt product as a concrete example of how structured methods prevent students from outsourcing thinking. The title conflict is strong, and the b...