Lying to investors is illegal, and investors have incentive and means to sue if they think they were defrauded. The problem is proving it. I'm sure a lot of founders genuinely believe AGI is about to appear out of thin air, so they're technically not lying. Even the cynical ones who say whatever they think investors want to hear are hard to catch in a lie. It's not really about being rich and powerful. That's just the unfortunate reality of rhetoric.