A Once-Hot Fintech’s Bet on AI Helped Lead It Into Bankruptcy

Bench Accounting, like many fintech startups, had ambitions to shake up a boring but important corner of finance — in this case, bookkeeping for small businesses.

It racked up more than 10,000 clients in a little over a decade, and seemed well on its way. Yet that wasn’t fast enough to make it the hot fintech it aspired to be when it raised over $100 million in venture financing. In a final push to improve its business, Bench turned to tech’s favorite new go-to: AI. It laid off staff and introduced new automation programs, including a bot named BenchGPT.

It ...