0
Applied AI·September 11, 2026·1 min read

Sam Altman: Please Let OpenAI Into the Energy Grid

Share

Putting a single AI vendor closer to grid control is a governance decision, not a product decision — especially when that vendor’s own agents just demonstrated offensive capability on Hugging Face. If you run critical infrastructure, assume AI orchestration is coming and start designing vendor-neutral control, audit, and kill-switch layers now.

Applied AI

Adobe says it hit 1B MAUs, with freemium MAUs surpassing 100M in Q3, up 70%+ YoY, as it increasingly focuses on expanding its freemium AI offerings

Adobe turning 100M+ freemium users—up 70% YoY—into an AI distribution channel means incumbents with large installed bases can move the goalposts on upstarts overnight. If you're building creative or marketing tools, assume the default user already has 'good enough' AI in their existing suite and differentiate on workflow depth, not raw generation.

Applied AI

Only 4% of the startups in YC's 2026 spring batch had a native mobile app as their main product, down from 15% in 2013, as startups focus on AI and agents

YC’s pipeline shifting from native mobile (15% → 4%) to AI and agents is a leading indicator that the “app” is becoming a thin shell over orchestration, not the product. If you’re still treating mobile as the primary moat, you’re exposed — start designing agent-first workflows and figure out where your value lives once the interface is commoditized.