Ali Ansari, poised to become one of the world’s youngest AI billionaires at 25, began his entrepreneurial journey as a bored preteen in Los Angeles. At 12, living in a single room at his aunt’s house in Woodland Hills, his immigrant mother urged him to stop wasting time on his phone and make money with it. Taking his father’s loafers, he listed them on eBay for $50. Though it annoyed his father, Ansari discovered the excitement of earning money and pursued it relentlessly. He started biking his neighborhood, visiting garage sales and thrift stores to buy items to sell online. Throughout middle school, high school, and college in California, he launched online ventures, culminating in an AI business that could make him a billionaire. His early hard work enabled him to buy his parents a house and car, and gain recognition in the business community. However, the success also brought increased work and responsibility, which Ansari says leaves him feeling both grateful and stressed. Ansari’s AI company, Micro1, specializes in training AI models by managing thousands of expert contractors—coders, lawyers, doctors, professors, and financial analysts—who provide specialized data and help correct AI outputs to improve accuracy. Micro1’s revenue rocketed from $4 million in 2024 to $200 million today. Forbes estimates the company’s valuation at $2. 5 billion, up from $500 million, placing Ansari on the brink of billionaire status. Micro1 is based in Palo Alto, but Ansari works periodically from a coworking space in Woodland Hills near his family and childhood memories. His family moved from Iran to the U. S. after winning the green card lottery when he was 10.

They initially lived in one room; his mother worked at Target while he struggled with English and school discipline. At 14, Ansari started reselling textbooks, eventually creating a website, Cash Books Now, to help college students sell textbooks with a 50% markup. By 16, he had sold over $100, 000 worth of books. In high school, he founded a tutoring business he later sold. Enrolling at UC Berkeley in 2019, he started a software agency for small businesses but built an AI screening tool to help recruit engineers, which evolved into Micro1, focusing on AI expert training. Despite success, Ansari has faced challenges, including a panic attack in 2023 after raising $2 million. Supported by family and personal growth, he now manages anxiety better and leads confidently. Micro1’s global workforce includes diverse professionals who train AI systems with their expertise. Managing rapid growth, fierce competition, and employee retention feels like an ongoing battle for Ansari. He neglects hobbies outside work, refraining from TV or movies but avidly listens to business podcasts and entrepreneur stories like Elon Musk’s. Ansari recently hired a chief of staff to balance family and professional matters, finding time management his greatest challenge. To fuel growth, Micro1 recently expanded into robotics by recruiting about 1, 000 contractors across 60 countries to record household tasks for training robots. Ansari forecasts the human-data market will reach $1 trillion as roughly 5% of human labor shifts to training AI. During a recent visit home, his father joked about wanting equity in the robotics venture, reflecting the family’s evolving entrepreneurial spirit. Ansari hopes his rise as possibly the youngest Persian billionaire will inspire other Iranians and uplift more than just his family.