Okay Business Strategy Experts: What Now for AI Innovation?
October 29, 2025
As AI forces its way into our lives, it requires us to shift our thinking in several areas. On his Substack, Charlie Graham examines how AI may render a key software strategy obsolete. He declares, “’Be Different’ Doesn’t Work for Building Products Anymore.” Personally, we believe coming up with something lots of people want or something rich people must absolutely have is the key to success. But it is also a wise develop something to distinguish oneself from the competition. Or, at least, it was. Now that approach may be wasted effort. Graham writes:
“In the past, the best practice to win in a competitive market was to differentiate yourself – ‘be different,’ as Steve Jobs would say. But product differentiation is no longer effective in this new world.
- Differentiate on an amazing UX? You used to rely on your awesome UX team for a sustainable advantage. Now, dozens of competitors can screenshot (or soon video) your flow and give it to an AI to reproduce quickly.
- Differentiate by excelling at one feature? You might get a temporary lead, but it’s now pretty trivial for competitors to get close to your functionality.
- Differentiate on business model? If it starts working, dozens of your recently started competitors will vibe-code a switch over.
- Differentiate on ‘proprietary data’? This isn’t the key differentiator it was expected to be, as we are finding data can be simulated or companies can find similar-enough data to get 80% of the way there.
Instead we live in a red ocean where features are copied in days or weeks and everyone is fighting with similar products for the same scraps. So what does work?”
The post proposes several answers to that question. For example, those with large, proprietary distribution networks still have an advantage. Also, obscure, complex niches come with fewer competitors. So does taking on difficult or expensive product integrations. On the darker side, one could guard against customer loss by compounding data lock-in, making migration away as painful as possible. Then there is networking– a consistent necessity; social media and online marketplaces now fill that need. See the post for details on each of these points. What other truisms will AI force us to reconsider?
Cynthia Murrell, October 29, 2025
Google and Anthropic: Sharing a Sleeping Bag. Will They Get Married?
October 28, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
“Anthropic to Use 1 Million Google TPUs” contains a couple of interesting allegedly true factoids. The hook for the story is that Google has worked out a deal for Anthropic to use a few of Google’s smart processors. According to the Analytics India article:
The expansion is valued at ‘tens of billions of dollars,’ with an expected capacity of over a gigawatt coming online in 2026.
The numbers are the first thing that caught my attention. One million chips. Tens of billions. A gigawatt of power. I worked at Halliburton Nuclear years ago. If I remember what one of the Couchmans (either Don or Mel) told me. A gigawatt would could power about one million homes simultaneously. Think in terms of San Jose which has about a million residents I think.
Thanks, MidJourney. Good enough.
Second, I noted this statement:
The company [Anthropic] reported serving over 300,000 business customers, and the number of large accounts—those generating more than $100,000 in annual revenue—has increased nearly sevenfold in the past year.
The numbers are smaller. 300,000 business customers. What’s a business customer? Not defined. Dun & Bradstreet and other company tracking services split businesses up by revenue, their business sector, and other slices. Okay, 300,000. The estimable US Small Business Administration has kicked out a number of 36 million businesses in the US. (Is this number correct? What? You are doubting the US government data? Incredible.) The point is that Anthropic has 0.9375% of this SBA number of businesses. Now let’s assume that Anthropic gets four times its 300,000 business users in the next two years. That means Anthropic’s power demands for 1.2 million business users means that it will require the electrical generation capacity of Los Angeles. No big deal, right? The only hitch in the git along is that Anthropic-type growth could move more quickly than the folks who have to build, expand, or invent new energy sources. You see the problem. Big numbers don’t match the reality of power availability.
But Anthropic and Google are in one of those circular deals. Google invests in Anthropic; Anthropic buys a few processors. Analytics India says:
Google has been involved in various funding efforts for Anthropic, and a report from The New York Times earlier this year stated that it owns 14% of Anthropic, citing legal findings.
Several observations:
- This AI sector is into really big numbers. Most people cannot think about really big numbers. Most people think about a $300 property tax bill or paying for groceries at the price leader. (Did you think Whole Foods or Kroger?)
- The diffusion of AI to a tiny percentage of US businesses has a fairly hefty need for power, chips, and assorted infrastructure. That’s good for those in that business.
- The power generation shortfall is a bit of pothole, a deep pothole.
So what? Just Anthropic will require power equivalent to keeping the lights on in four LAs or one Istanbul.
Do you see a problem? I don’t because I believe that magical Google and Anthropic can solve any problem.
A rough calculation is that a human brain consumes 0.000002% of a gigawatt in 24 hours. That’s efficient. But I have confidence in Google and Anthropic. No problem is too big or complex for these bright, energetic professionals.
Stephen E Arnold, October 28, 2025
AI Is So Hard! We Are Working Hard! Do Not Hit Me in the Head, Mom, Please
October 28, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I read a pretty crazy “we are wonderful and hard working” story in the Murdoch Wall Street Journal. The story is “AI Workers Are Putting In 100-Hour Workweeks to Win the New Tech Arms Race.” (This is a paywalled article so you will have to pay or pray that the permalink has not disappeared. In either event, don’t complain to me. Tell, the WSJ helpful customer support people or just subscribe at about $800 per year. Mr. Murdoch knows value.)
Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
The story makes clear that Silicon Valley AI outfits slot themselves somewhere between the Chinese approach of 9-9-6 and the Japanese goal of karoshi. The shorthand 9-9-6 means that a Chinese professional labors 12 hours a day from 9 am to 9 pm and six days a week. No wonder some of those gadget factories have suicide nets installed on housing unit floors three and higher. And the Japanese karoshi concept is working oneself to death. At the blue chip consulting company where I labored, it was routine to see heaps of pizza boxes and some employees exiting the elevator crying from exhaustion as I was arriving for another fun day at an egomaniacal American institution.
Get this premise of a pivotal moment in the really important life of a super important suite of technologies that no one can define:
Executives and researchers at Microsoft, Anthropic, Alphabet’s Google, Meta Platforms, Apple and OpenAI have said they see their work as critical to a seminal moment in history as they duel with rivals and seek new ways to bring AI to the masses.
These fellows are inventing the fire and the wheel at the same time. Wow. That is so hard. The researchers are working even harder.
The write up includes this humble brag about those hard working AI professionals:
“Everyone is working all the time, it’s extremely intense, and there doesn’t seem to be any kind of natural stopping point,” Madhavi Sewak, a distinguished researcher at Google’s DeepMind, said in a recent interview.
And after me-too mobile apps, cloud connectors, and ho-hum devices, the Wall Street Journal story makes it clear these AI people are doing something important and they are working really hard. The proof is ordering food on Saturdays:
Corporate credit-card transaction data from the expense-management startup Ramp shows a surge in Saturday orders from San Francisco-area restaurants for delivery and takeout from noon to midnight. The uptick far exceeds previous years in San Francisco and other U.S. cities, according to Ramp.
Okay, I think you get the gist of the WSJ story. Let me offer several observations:
- Anyone who wants to work in the important field of AI you will have to work hard
- You will be involved in making the digital equivalent of fire and the wheel. You have no life because your work is important and hard.
- AI is hard.
My view is that smart software is a bundle of technologies that have narrowed to text centric activities via Google’s “transformer” system and possibly improper use of content obtained without permission from different sources. The people are working hard for two reasons. First, dumping more content into the large language model approach is not improving accuracy. Second, the pressure on the companies is a result of the burning of cash by the train car load and zero hockey stick profit from the investments. Some numbers person explained that an investment bank would get back its millions in investment by squeezing Microsoft. Yeah, and my French bulldog will sprout wings and fly. Third, the moves by OpenAI into erotic services and a Telegram-like approach to building an everything app signals that making money is hard.
What if making sustainable growth and profits from AI is even harder? What will life be like if an AI company with many very smart and hard working professionals goes out of business? Which will be harder: Get another job in AI at one of those juicy compensation packages or working through the issues related to loss of self esteem, mental and physical exhaustion, and a mom who says, “Just shake it off”?
The WSJ doesn’t address why the pressure is piled on. I will. The companies have to produce money. Yep, cash back for investors and their puppets. Have you ever met with a wealthy garbage collection company owner who wants his multi million investment in the digital fire or the digital wheel? Those meetings can be hard.
Here’s a question to end this essay: What if AI cannot be made better using 45 years of technology? What’s the next breakthrough to be? Figuring that out and doing it is closer to the Manhattan Project than taking a burning stick from a lightning strike and cooking a squirrel.
Stephen E Arnold, October 28, 2025
Enterprise Search Is Back, Baby, or Is It Spelled Baiby
October 28, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I want to be objective, but I admit I laughed. The spark for my jocularity was the marketing content document called “Claude AI Integrates with Microsoft 365 and Launches Enterprise Search for Business Teams.” But the subtitle tickled by aged ribs:
Anthropic has rolled out two new enterprise features for Claude, integration with Microsoft 365 and a unified search tool designed to connect organizational data across platforms.
There is one phrase to which I shall return, but let’s look at what the document presents as actual factual, ready to roll, enterprise ready software plus assorted AI magic dust.
Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
I noted this statement about Microsoft / Anthropic or maybe Anthropic / Microsoft:
“Introducing two new features: Claude now connects to Microsoft 365 and offers enterprise search,” the company wrote on LinkedIn. “You can connect Claude to SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook and Teams to search documents, analyze email threads, and review meeting summaries directly in conversation.” Anthropic, known for developing AI models focused on reliability and alignment, said both features are available immediately for Claude Team and Enterprise customers.
The Holy Grail is herewith ready for licensees to use to guzzle knowledge.
But what if the organization’s information is partitioned; for example, the legal department has confidential documents or is engaged in litigation and discovery is underway? What if the organization is in the pharmaceutical business, and the work is secret with a bit of medical trials activity underway. There are interview notes, laboratory data, and photographs of results? What if the organization lands a government contract with the Department of War and has to split off staff quickly as they transition from “regular” work to that which is conducted under quite specific rules and requirements? There are other questions as well; for example, what about those digitized schematics, the vendor information, and the data from digital cameras and work monitoring software?
I noted this statement as well:
Anthropic said the capability “brings your company’s knowledge into one place, using a dedicated shared project.” The system also includes custom prompts to refine searches and improve response accuracy. The company emphasized use cases such as onboarding new team members, identifying experts across departments, and analyzing feedback patterns to guide strategy and decision-making. The Microsoft 365 connector and enterprise search are now live for all Claude Team and Enterprise customers. Organization administrators can enable access and configure connected data sources.
My reaction, “This is 1990s enterprise search wearing a sweatshirt with a robot and AI on the front.”
Is this possible? Sure. The difficulty is that when employees interact with this type of system, interesting actions take place. One of the most common is, “This is not the document I wanted.” Often an employee will say, “This is not the PowerPoint I signed off for use at the conference.” Others may say, “Did you know that those salary schedules are in an Excel file with the documents about the employee picnic?”
Now let’s look at the phrase I thought interesting enough to discuss it in a separate paragraph. Here’s the phrase: “organizational data across platforms.” This evokes the idea that somewhere in the company is a cloud service containing corporate data. The Anthropic or Microsoft system will spider that content, process it, and make it findable. The hitch in the git along is that the other platforms may not embrace Microsoft security methods. Further the data may require a specific application to access those data. The cycle time between original indexing of the other platforms may be out of sync with the most recent data on those other platforms. In a magic world like the Fast Search & Transfer type environment which Microsoft purchased in 2008, the real world caused the magic carpet to lose altitude.
Now we have magic carpet 2025. How well with the painful realities of resources, security, cost, optimization, and infrastructure make it difficult for the magic carpet to keep flying? Marketing collateral pitches are easy. Delivering AI-enabled search to live up to the magic is slightly more difficult and, in my experience, shockingly expensive.
Stephen E Arnold, October 28, 2025
Will Edge Give Way? If So, Will We Hear Screams of Terror?
October 28, 2025
There are so many play of word titles to make with Microsoft Edge, but we’d be here all day if we indulged ourselves about the browser’s current situation, as found on TechRadar:“Microsoft Is Literally Losing Its Edge, As Browser Reportedly Sheds A Quarter Of Its Users In Six Months – But I’m Not Surprised.” Users are jumping off the edge left and right and zooming over to Google Chrome. Statcounter has the numbers: 73.81% of PC users prefer Chrome and people are on the Edge with the aforementioned browser at 10.37%.
What does this mean?
“That represents a loss of 1.36% over this past month, and a very worrying drop since May 2025, when Edge had a 13.64% market share going by Statcounter’s estimation (and of course, it is just that – an estimation). Matters just seem to be going from bad to worse for Microsoft here.”
Apple users prefer Safari and other browsers like Firefox and the Dark Web’s Tor have their fans. What will Microsoft do in the event that PC users switch to Chrome indefinitely? Will it be another fiasco like Bing?
It sounds like Microsoft is on the edge of a big change. Desktop users can easily download an alternate browser, but mobile devices will probably come preprogrammed with Edge. Not a big deal right? Nope! Microsoft could prevent users from downloading another browser and block their rivals. That will never happen, right? Wrong! It’ll probably happen then there will be this big to do in court because it violates US law.
Whitney Grace, October 28, 2025
Microsoft, by Golly, Has an Ethical Compass: It Points to Security? No. Clippy? No. Subscriptions? Yes!
October 27, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
The elephants are in training for a big fight. Yo, grass, watch out.
“Microsoft AI Chief Says Company Won’t Build Chatbots for Erotica” reports:
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said the software giant won’t build artificial intelligence services that provide “simulated erotica,” distancing itself from longtime partner OpenAI. “That’s just not a service we’re going to provide,” Suleyman said on Thursday [October 23, 2025] at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, California. “Other companies will build that.”
My immediate question: “Will Microsoft build tools and provide services allowing others to create erotica or conduct illegal activities; for example, delivery of phishing emails from the Microsoft Cloud to Outlook users?” A quick no seems to be implicit in this report about what Microsoft itself will do. A more pragmatic yes means that Microsoft will have no easy, quick, and cheap way to restrain what a percentage of its users will either do directly or via some type of obfuscation.
Microsoft seems to step away from converting the digital Bob into an adult star or Clippy engaging with a user in a “suggestive” interaction.
The write up adds:
On Thursday, Suleyman said the creation of seemingly conscious AI is already happening, primarily with erotica-focused services. He referenced Altman’s comments as well as Elon Musk’s Grok, which in July launched its own companion features, including a female anime character. “You can already see it with some of these avatars and people leaning into the kind of sexbot erotica direction,” Suleyman said. “This is very dangerous, and I think we should be making conscious decisions to avoid those kinds of things.”
I heard that 25 percent of Internet traffic is related to erotica. That seems low based on my estimates which are now a decade old. Sex not only sells; it seems to be one of the killer applications for digital services whether the user is obfuscated, registered, or using mom’s computer.
My hunch is that the AI enhanced services will trip over their own [a] internal resources, [b] the costs of preventing abuse, sexual or criminal, and [c] the leadership waffling.
There is big money in salacious content. Talking about what will and won’t happen in a rapidly evolving area of technology is little more than marketing spin. The proof will be what happens as AI becomes more unavoidable in Microsoft software and services. Those clever teenagers with Windows running on a cheap computer can do some very interesting things. Many of these will be actions that older wizards do not anticipate or simply push to the margins of their very full 9-9-6 day.
Stephen E Arnold, October 27, 2025
Do You Want To Take A Survey? AI Does!
October 27, 2025
How many times are you asked to complete a customer response survey? It happens whenever you visit a doctor’s office or request tech support. Most people ignore those surveys because they never seem to make things better, especially with tech support. Now companies won’t be able to rely on those surveys to measure customer satisfaction because AI is taking over says VentureBeat: “This New AI Technique Creates ‘Digital Twin’ Consumers, And It Could Kill The Traditional Survey Industry.”
In another groundbreaking case for AI (but another shudder up the spin for humanity), new research indicates that LLMs can imitate consumer behavior. The new research says fake customers can provide realistic customer ratings and qualitative reasons for them. However, humans are already using AI for customer response surveys:
“This development arrives at a critical time, as the integrity of traditional online survey panels is increasingly under threat from AI. A 2024 analysis from the Stanford Graduate School of Business highlighted a growing problem of human survey-takers using chatbots to generate their answers. These AI-generated responses were found to be "suspiciously nice," overly verbose, and lacking the "snark" and authenticity of genuine human feedback, leading to what researchers called a "homogenization" of data that could mask serious issues like discrimination or product flaws.
The research isn’t perfect. It only works for large population responses and not individuals. What’s curious is that consumers are so lazy they’re using AI to fill out the surveys. It’s easier not to do them all.
Whitney Grace, October 27, 2025
Sticky Means Hooked. Do Not Kid Yourself, Pal
October 27, 2025
The Internet is addicting. Smart devices paired with the Internet, especially phones are digital needles filled with zeros and ones. According to Herman’s Blog and a recent post: “Smartphones And Being Present” people spend an average of four hours and thirty-seven minutes on their phones. It’s a very high number when you consider that people are supposed to be sleep for eight hours and work an additional eight. Half of the eight hours dedicated to recreation time is spent on a mobile device.
Herman, the author of the blog, doesn’t enjoy carrying the Internet around with him and tried switching to an old black and white phone. It didn’t last long because a smart device’s utilitarian uses are too great. The author is very old school because:
“I care about living an intentional and meaningful life, nurturing relationships, having nuanced conversations, and enjoying the world around me. I don’t want to spend this limited time I have on earth watching short form video and getting into arguments on Twitter.”
He admits that it’s hard not to be addicted to his phone. In order to not spend all of his free time on his phone, he decided to make it as uninteresting as possible. He turned off his YouTube recommendations, uses adblockers, and limits media consumption to RSS feeds. He’s retrained his brain to not seek his phone as a reward or turn to it every time he’s bored.
Herman encourages people to try limiting their smart device usage and being more present. It’s great advice. Humans are addicts, however, and they’re not going to listen. Call be Negative Nelly, but try taking a mobile phone from a 13 year old girl.
Whitney Grace, October 27, 2025
You Should Feel Lucky Because … Technology!
October 24, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Doesn’t it feel like people are accomplishing more than you? It’s a common feeling but Fast Company explains that high achievers are accomplishing more because they’re using tech. They’ve outlined a nice list of how high achieves do this: “4 Ways High Achievers Use Tech To Get More Done.” The first concept to understand is that high achievers use technology as a tool and not a distraction. Sachin Puri, Liquid Web’s chief growth office said,
“‘They make productivity apps their first priority, plan for intentional screen time, and select platforms intentionally. They may spend lots of time on screens, but they set boundaries where they need to, so that technology enhances their performance, rather than slowing it down.’”
Liquid Web surveyed six-figure earners aka high achievers to learn how they leverage their tech. They discovered that these high earners are intention with their screen time. They average seven hours a day on their screens but their time is focused on being productive. They also limit phone entertainment time to three hours a day.
Sometimes they also put a hold on using technology for mental and health hygiene. It’s important to take technology breaks to reset focus and maintain productiveness. They also choose tools to be productive such as calendar/scheduling too, using chatbots to stay ahead of deadlines, also to automize receptive tasks, brainstorm, summarize information, and stay ahead of deadlines.
Here’s another important one: high achievers focus their social media habits. Here’s what Liquid Web found that winners have focused social media habits. Yes, that is better than doom scrolling. Other finding are:
- “Finally, high-achievers are mindful of social media. For example, 49% avoid TikTok entirely. Instead, they gravitate toward sites that offer a career-related benefit. Nearly 40% use Reddit as their most popular platform for learning and engagement.
- Successful people are also much more engaged on LinkedIn. Only 17% of high-achievers said they don’t use the professional networking site, compared to 38% of average Americans who aren’t engaged there.
- “Many high-achievers don’t give up on screens altogether—they just shift their focus,” says Puri. “Their social media habits show it, with many opting for interactive, discussion-based apps such as Reddit over passive scroll-based apps such as TikTok.”
The lesson here is that screen time isn’t always a time waste bin. We did not know that LinkedIn was an important service since the report suggests that 83 percent of high achievers embrace the Microsoft service. Don’t the data go into the MSFT AI clothes hamper?
Whitney Grace, October 24, 2025
A Meta Believe It or Not: No Spying on Our Users. No, No, No
October 24, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Why worry about the data big tech collect about users. The grannies at the European Union wring their hands. In the US, it’s no problemo. Therefore, social media companies, cellphone and Internet providers, Kroger-like grocery chains, and even the local utility monopolies harvest data and sell it to advertisers. Case in point: I was speaking with a friend about a particular coffee brand I enjoy on a private text. When I turned on my TV, I saw a commercial for that exact same coffee brand. Coincidence? Sure, just like those ads for puffy jackets on Web sites after I buy a nifty blue puffer on Amazon. Yeah, I am going to buy another puffy after I just bought one.
That’s scarier than a R-rated horror movie and dumber.
Big Tech companies like Meta assure consumers they aren’t spying on them, but The Verge suspects otherwise: “Adam Mosseri’s ‘We’re Totally Not Spying On You’ Video Is Raising A Lot Of Questions."
Meta announced it will soon use AI chats to personalize ads. In poor timing, Adam Mosseri released a myth breaking video that attempted to assure users that Meta is not listening in on their conversations or reading their messages.
Meta’s ad system, however, is precise to the point of paranormal activity. Mosseri did offer explanations that reads like digital cookies and lies:
One, maybe you actually tapped on something that was related or even searched for that product online on a website, maybe before you had that conversation. We actually do work with advertisers who share information with us about who is on their website to try to target those people with ads. So if you were looking at a product on a website, then that advertiser might have paid us to reach you with an ad.
Two, we show people ads that we think that they’re interested in, or products we think they’re interested in, in part based on what their friends are interested in and what similar people with similar interests are interested in. So it could be that you were talking to someone about a product, and they, before, had to actually looked for or searched for that product, or that, in general, people with similar interests were doing the exact same thing.
Three, you might have actually seen that ad before you had a conversation and not realized it. We scroll quickly, we scroll by ads quickly, and sometimes you internalize some of that, and that actually affects what you talk about later.
Four, random chance, coincidence, it happens.”
Yeah, coincidence. Humans are programmed to notice patterns in their environment. It’s a survival instinct. Many of these patterns have transformed into odd conspiracy theories and rampant paranoia. Back in the day, these “coincidences” could have been chalked up to odd circumstances. Now it’s because Big Tech is watching. Anyone want a cup of coffee?
Whitney Grace, October 21, 2025
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