What Do You Do When Your AI Company Is Valued at $1.6 Billion? Keep Building Until It’s Worth More

In the current wave of AI hysteria, where every new company claims to have cracked the code of artificial general intelligence, one founder’s answer to a $1.6 billion valuation was simple: keep building.

That founder is Jason Criddle, the architect behind DOMINAIT.ai, and the story behind that valuation says more about his long-term vision than any number on paper ever could.

The Meeting That Shocked the Room

When a private investment firm recently met with Jason Criddle & Associates to discuss a valuation for DOMINAIT.ai, the numbers were staggering. The firm pegged the company’s value at roughly $1.6 billion… a figure that would make most early-stage founders leap at the chance to sign.

But instead, Criddle and his team got up and walked out after months of negotiations.

As he later explained, “I’m not looking to get acquired before we ever get started. If someone values DOMINAIT at $1.6 billion and wants to take 50%, then someone else will value it for more and want less equity.”

That response turned heads across the investment world. It wasn’t arrogance. It was conviction.

Because while most founders dream of big exits, Criddle isn’t interested in selling what he believes could become one of the defining infrastructures of post-AGI computing. He wants to stay in charge of his brand and vision the company is being built on.

The AI Wars and the Next Frontier

The so-called “AI wars” have triggered one of the largest investment booms in modern history. Venture capital firms are tossing money like confetti, desperate to back the next OpenAI, Anthropic, or DeepMind.

But as Criddle points out, not all AI is created equal.

DOMINAIT.ai isn’t just another chatbot or productivity assistant. It’s a complete ecosystem designed to help businesses and individuals build, scale, and automate everything; from content creation, to software development, to revenue operations… under one intelligent, distributed system.

At the heart of that system is Ryker, DOMINAIT’s AI core. Ryker isn’t a traditional language model. He’s a self-learning, self-building digital entity modeled after Jason Criddle’s own strategic thinking and decision-making frameworks.

Where most AI tools stop at text generation, Ryker is designed to:

• Build and execute full software projects from scratch.

• Operate autonomously, completing multi-step goals and generating new modules as needed.

• Collaborate with human users to learn their preferences, improve processes, and evolve.

• Integrate with decentralized compute networks, distributing workloads intelligently across nodes.

In Criddle’s words, “Ryker is what comes after the chatbot revolution. He’s what happens when AI stops answering questions and starts taking initiative.”

From SaaS to AGI: The Evolution of a Visionary

To understand DOMINAIT, you have to understand the path that led to it.

Criddle has spent more than a decade building companies that blend human systems with digital intelligence. His earliest success came through Jason Criddle & Associates, a consulting and software development firm known for building scalable tech stacks for clients across industries.

That evolved into SmartrHoldings, the umbrella company that went on to launch multiple successful software ventures including TVBuilderPro, SmartrCommerce, and SmartrMarketing.

Before AI was a mainstream conversation, Criddle and his team were building automation systems that empowered entrepreneurs to run sales networks, affiliate systems, and e-commerce operations at scale.

SmartrCommerce, in particular, became a foundational tool for businesses looking to replace third-party processors like PayPal with customizable, brand-owned merchant solutions. The platform allows users to:

1. Process transactions across multiple apps and websites.
2. Manage affiliate and commission programs automatically.
3. Build branded merchant networks under one unified dashboard.

Those same architectural principles; ownership, control, and scalability all became the DNA of DOMINAIT.ai.

A $1.6 Billion Vision, Built for Everyone

So what exactly justifies DOMINAIT’s billion-dollar-plus valuation?

According to those familiar with the company’s model, it’s not just the technology. It's the infrastructure, the team, the vision, and everything that brought Ryker alive.

Unlike most AI platforms that rely on cloud monopolies, DOMINAIT is building a distributed network of nodes owned and operated by users.

This means individuals and businesses can contribute computing power to the DOMINAIT grid, earn revenue for participation, and even host their own AI instances.

It’s a blend of Web3 decentralization and enterprise-grade AI, tied together through a business model that rewards contributors rather than locking them out.

Ryker serves as both the interface and the intelligence that keeps it all connected. He manages everything; from node orchestration and task distribution to research, learning, and human interaction.

For users, this translates into:

• Sovereign AI ownership: your instance, your data, your control.

• 24/7 automation: from writing to scheduling to design to decision-making.

• Infinite scalability: powered by real-world distributed computing.

• The Alpha Launch and What’s Coming Next

According to company insiders, the alpha version of DOMINAIT.ai is scheduled to launch around the beginning of next year.

This phase will introduce Ryker’s first public-facing modules, allowing users to test voice interaction, software generation, research automation, and cross-platform integration.

It will also mark the debut of the DOMINAIT Dashboard, a unified interface that connects users to the grid, allowing them to manage their data, agents, and tasks in real time.

Early testers have access to:

• Ryker Research Lite, a fast, local version for independent nodes.

• Ryker Research Pro, a multi-node enterprise system with self-training capabilities.

• Affiliate and earnings dashboards, where users can monetize participation in the grid.

The team has already confirmed that DOMINAIT’s ecosystem will integrate with other brands under the Criddle portfolio, including SmartrCommerce for financial transactions and SmartrHoldings for enterprise management.

If all goes according to plan, DOMINAIT entered a limited beta by mid-year, opening the doors to the first network of user-operated AI infrastructure in the world.

Why Criddle Walked Away from Venture Capital

In today’s startup culture, most founders dream of attracting VCs. They pitch relentlessly, hoping for an exit before they’ve even reached profitability.

Jason Criddle is the opposite.

• He’s not chasing a payout. Instead, he’s building an empire that can sustain itself for generations.

• That’s why, when the investors offered $1.6 billion in valuation and asked for 50% equity, he politely declined.

“I don’t want to be half of something great,” he said. “I want to build something whole.”

His philosophy has always been to build momentum through partnership, not dependency. By controlling equity and development, DOMINAIT can expand organically, maintaining both innovation and integrity.

And judging by the pace of development, investors may wish they’d offered less and believed more.

Investing in the Future

For investors who understand the long game, companies like DOMINAIT.ai represent a rare opportunity to be part of a technological movement.

DOMINAIT isn’t chasing trends. It’s laying the foundation for the next decade of AI infrastructure; where computing power, intelligence, and ownership converge under one platform.

It’s built by Jason Criddle & Associates, powered by SmartrHoldings, and guided by a founder who has proven time and again that innovation and ethics don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

The AI wars may be heating up, but while others compete for attention, Criddle and his team are quietly building the future.

And when the dust settles, DOMINAIT won’t just be another AI company. It will be the platform that powers them all.