Prototype · illustrative data · fictional companiesNot investment research · not for distribution
AI Signal Gauge · spec v0.3
Is this company’s AI earning its cost, and does what it says match what it files?
One rating per company, on the same five-step scale as a dial: Talking, Leaking, Neutral, Earning, Compounding. Scored only from the 10-K, the 10-Q and the 8-K earnings release, ranked only against its own cohort.
Six fictional companies · each shows one feature of the rating
- 1MRDNMeridian Workflow Software · ApplicationTalkingClaims ahead of the numbersAI mentions quadrupled while margin fell against a rising cohort. This is what AI-washing looks like in a filing.
- 2QTRLQuantrell Analytics · ApplicationCompoundingClaims matched by the numbersSame cohort as MRDN, opposite evidence. The rating scores the gap between claims and numbers, not how loudly a company talks.
- 3PLMRPalmera Health AI · ApplicationLeakingReal AI, wrong economicsThe product sits on the decision path and the claims are specific. What it costs to run is the problem.
- 4HLCXHelix Compute Partners · InfrastructureNeutral, cappedThe veto in actionThe factors alone read Earning. One accounting choice caps it at Neutral, and the card says why and what would lift it.
- 5NRTHNorthline Data Centers · InfrastructureEarningInfrastructure done rightBuilding is not penalised: cash is positive after the build, asset lives are unchanged and debt is matched to leases.
- 6VNTGVantage Retail Group · ApplicationInsufficient disclosureWhen the filings say too littleToo little is disclosed to score honestly, so there is no middle score, and every row says what disclosure would unlock it.
The fund view · Reality Bar
Holdings counted by rating, including the ones that cannot be scored. In this illustrative fund, 25 of 100 holdings return insufficient disclosure and 14 are Talking.
A quarter of this AI fund cannot be scored, and a seventh of it is Talking.
Reality Bar · AI Infrastructure & Software ETF
illustrative · 100 holdings
- Compounding
- 11
- Earning
- 19
- Neutral
- 23
- Leaking
- 8
- Talking
- 14
- Insufficient disclosure
- 25