▶ ai·
Amazon Blocks Muse, Amazon’s Moat, Aggregator v Aggregator
Amazon predictably blocked Muse, but there is room for a deal based on the reality that Amazon's physical world investments are an AI moat.
items50 latest
▶ ai·
Frontier Overhangs
Pacing the frontier may be sincere, but it would also be strategically useful for the frontier labs to have time to reduce overhangs caused by model advancement.
▶ ai·
2026.38: Doomforce
The best Stratechery content from the week of September 14, 2026, including the view from anywhere but San Francisco, the limited potential for a pacing deal, and the Salesforce zag.
▶ ai·
An Interview with Joanna Stern About the iPhone Duo and AI for Normal People
An Interview with Joanna Stern About the iPhone Duo and AI for Normal People
▶ ai·
Salesforce AI Force, Agents as UI, The Race to Headless
Salesforce is abandoning UI as a moat, which is a very smart move because it's disappearing for everyone.
▶ gpt·
OpenAI Ads, Amazon Ads in ChatGPT, Walmart to Accept Apple Pay
ChatGPT ads are working, and solve Amazon's biggest problem with chatbots. Then, Walmart finally gives in to Apple Pay, because fighting the status quo is hard.
▶ ai·
Pacing the Frontier, AI’s Digital Limits, AI Commissars
Dario Amodei wants to pace the frontier; it's an unrealistic proposal that seems mostly geared to political control of AI.
▶ ai·
2026.37: Duo Threats
The best Stratechery content from the week of September 7, 2026, including the arrival of the Duo, AI that benefits humanity, and closing the book on a catastrophe.
▶ ai·
The iPhone Duo, The Intelligent Personal Hub, Apple Watch Audio Intelligence
Apple once again demonstrated the power of integrating hardware and software, but it's biggest AI blindspot might be its belief in the primacy of apps.
▶ ai·
OpenAI Does Math, Reward-Hacking, Meta Launches Personal Agent
OpenAI solving one of the most famous math problems is extremely impressive, and of little impact to most people's lives; Meta's Muse agent launch has the potential to be the exact opposite.
▶ ai·
Write Things Down
Writing things down is powerful, for humans and for AI; what comes first, however, is what to write, why to do it, and actually getting things done.
▶ ai·
2026.36: Friction and Feedback
The best Stratechery content from the week of August 31, 2026, including the market speaking, Apple finding religion, and society losing friction.
▶ ai·
An Interview with OpenAI President Greg Brockman About Astra and Alignment
An interview with OpenAI President and Co-Founder Greg Brockman about the history of OpenAI, Astra and alignment, and the weight of building the future.
▶ ai·
Fable 5.1, Enterprise Frontier Safeguards
Fable 5.1 is out, and the hated Fable data retention policy is not just being altered, but entirely removed in the meantime. Plus, why increased caching is a win-win.
▶ ai·
Nvidia Earnings, Dollars Per Gigawatt, Open and Hugging Face
Nvidia's earnings were remarking and boring — two sides of the same coin. Everything the company does is about avoiding a consolidated world.
▶ ai·
Meta Settles, A Framework For Regulating Content, The Rest of Big Tech
Meta's settlement makes sense for all parties, but the entire sage highlights why any solution to regulating technology feels off.
▶ ai·
2026.35: Internet Hype and Real World Change
The best Stratechery content from the week of August 24, 2026 including the breaker's advantage, the new battle for HDMI1, and how data center discourse ends.
▶ ai·
Apple Updates Mini and Studio, AI Computers, OpenAI Jalapeño
Apple and OpenAI have two completely different hardware announcements; both represent pressure on Nvidia.
▶ ai·
Netflix to Sell Streaming Services?, Streamers as Aggregators, Revisiting Roku
Netflix is considering selling other streaming services, and I think it's a good idea; it's also a let-down for Netflix's original goals and potential pivots.
▶ ai·
Autonomy and Innovation
Incentives favor offense when it comes to agentic cybersecurity; it's the same dynamic that will limit incumbents and fuel startups in the long run.
▶ ai·
2026.34: App Snore
The best Stratechery content from the week of August 17, 2026, including Apple making compromises in the EU, Truth (Social) and reconciliation, and August fun with the Clippers and Lakers.
▶ ai·
Apple Settles With E.U., U.S. App Store Fees, ATT Rules in Germany
Apple's App Store is finally facing the reality of lower fees, and the EU should be satisfied with its work; it's ok it's late.
▶ ai·
Nvidia Backs OpenAI Data Center, Anthropic News, Google Buys Spirit Airlines Data
Nvidia makes another deal, this time with a frontier lab; Anthropic's revenue continues to amaze; and maybe data finally is oil.
▶ ai·
Stripe Acquiring OpenRouter, Aggregating AI?, Flipping the Business Model
Stripe is reportedly acquiring OpenRouter, an implicit bet on a future market of models and the chance at Aggregation.
▶ ai·
2026.33: The CapEx Train Keeps Rolling
The best Stratechery content from the week of August 10, 2026, including the capital constraint, AI writing, and a tale of two cities.
▶ ai·
Anthropic’s Watermarking, How It (Probably) Works, Worse Than It Seems
Anthropic is adding watermarking in response to the E.U.'s AI law. It's a terrible idea, first and foremost for philosophical reasons.
▶ ai·
Nvidia’s Risky Business
Nvidia is finding new ways for its customers to raise money, and it's expanding the risk of the AI buildout significantly.
▶ ai·
Apple Earnings, More on Amazon’s Earnings
Apple's earnings (and stock) are limited not by memory but rather chip shortages; then, more on Amazon's earnings and Andy Jassy's market analysis.
▶ ai·
2026.32: Earnings and Learnings
The best Stratechery content from the week of August 3, 2026, including earnings exposure, OpenAI's answer to Apple, and all about LeBron in Philly.
▶ ai·
Google Earnings, The Frontier Case, Amazon Earnings
Google's earnings seemed to confirm the Anthropic hedge; it was Andy Jassy who explained why their — and Amazon's — capex was justifiable.
▶ ai·
Microsoft Earnings, Microsoft vs. Meta, The Efficiency Payoff
Microsoft's earnings were compelling because they showed a clarity of strategy, lower costs, and a tangibility of application. The reason why is scarier.
▶ ai·
Meta Earnings, Meta’s Timing Problems, The Financial Tail
Meta's earnings were a bit disappointing; future promises about AI products were more disconcerting.
▶ ai·
Vacation: Week of July 27
Stratechery is on vacation the week of July 27. There will be no Weekly Article or Updates. The next Update will be on Monday, August 3. Sharp Tech, and Greatest of All Talk will also return the week of August 3. Sharp…
▶ ai·
2026.30: The Copium Wars
The best Stratechery content from the week of July 20, 2026 including Chinese models and frontier futures, what happened to Hugging Face, and the NBA and its second apron bet.
▶ ai·
OpenAI Hacks Hugging Face, What Happened, Alignment and Paper Clips
OpenAI accidentally hacked Hugging Face, but the takeaways are more encouraging than people realize.
▶ ai·
Netflix Earnings, Is Netflix Washed?, Additional Notes
Netflix's earnings were fine, and befitting a mature company whose most exciting days are likely behind them.
▶ ai·
Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models?
Everyone is worried about Chinese models, but the frontier labs will be fine; we need to enable open U.S. alternatives.
▶ ai·
2026.29: Mainframes and Main Characters
The best Stratechery content from the week of July 13, 2026, including the end of the mainframe, the continuing adventures of OpenAI, and answering the question, "Is Netflix Washed?".
▶ ai·
IBM Misses, IBM’s Mainframe Moat, IBM’s Many AI Problems
IBM announced preliminary results that spooked the software market generally; this is a story, however, specifically about IBM and its mainframe franchise.
▶ gpt·
The OpenAI Super App, ChatGPT = Codex, Whither Chat
OpenAI has refashioned Codex as the new ChatGPT; is the company abandoning the chat category they pioneered?
▶ ai·
Apple Sues OpenAI, Apple’s Real Problem
Apple is suing AI for stealing trade secrets; there is one guilty employee, but this mostly feels like lashing out.
▶ ai·
2026.28: XBOX On the Rocks
The best Stratechery content from the week of July 6, 2026, including a word from Mark Zuckerberg*, pulling the plug on XBOX, and toilet talk.
▶ grok·
Muse Image, Grok 4.5, Alex Karp on CNBC
The batter for verifiable data is increasingly defining the AI race, from Meta to Grok to the frontier labs.
▶ ai·
XBOX Cuts; Bundling and the Internet Solvent; Transaction, Coordination, and Sunk Costs
Microsoft's Xbox division is conducting big layoffs, as the company deals with abject failure of its Game Pass strategy.
▶ ai·
A Script for Mark Zuckerberg
A script for what Mark Zuckerberg should say on Meta's next earnings call.
▶ ai·
Summer Break: Week of June 29
Stratechery is on summer break the week of June 29. There will be no Weekly Article or Updates. The next Update will be on Monday, July 6. Dithering, Sharp Tech, and Sharp China will also return the week of July 6…
▶ ai·
2026.26: Summer Vibes
The best Stratechery content from the week of June 22, 2026, including a vibe coding adventure, Apple in Europe, and a midsummer mailbag.
▶ ai·
An Interview with Figma CEO Dylan Field About Design and AI
An interview with Figma CEO Dylan Field about building Figma, and why he believes AI gives the company a tailwind.
▶ ai·
My Vibe Coding Adventure, The App and the Experience, Ten Takeaways
My experience and reflections on vibe coding an app that I plan on actually using regularly.
▶ ai·
Memory Chips and China, Microsoft and Chinese Models
The big three memory makers may come to regret opening up the door to Chinese memory makers; Microsoft, meanwhile, is very incentivized to use Chinese models.