ZD 25.40: OpenAI Shares a Vision
You can have agents and apps but on OpenAI's unannounced terms.
A few thoughts on OpenAI’s Announcement. In the Distilled Spirit, some thoughts about living in a speculative nation and how Techies beat Hollywood. Understanding how to understand and writing effectively for your AI partner. Reshuffling tasks for Agentic AI and designing safe Agentic loops.
The Future According to OpenAI
OpenAI has long held the belief that their chatbot should be the universal interface for computing. Today, they came a bit closer by announcing a few features. As a builder, two things stuck me about their presentation.
Agent Builder looked impressive on the surface. Who would not love a tool that demos live well enough to let a nervous executive create a semi-non-trivial-yet-slightly-contrived app on international TV? Beneath the surface, it’s yet another graphical tool intended to make it easy for ‘business’ users to ‘build useful software.’ It may let some people create things they couldn’t before. But process building is a mindset; an AI-powered GUI won’t get most end users automating their lives. This is a story as old as SQL in the 1970s—and it never ends differently.
Agent Builder will see some success for sure — some power users will figure out how to build really slick tools. Those tools will be stuck in OpenAI’s ecosystem, further gluing end users to tools and businesses to the platform. Power users will be empowered and OpenAI will get pricing power from the deal.
ChatGPT apps fall into a similar category. The apps will let you bridge much of the gap between your implementation and the chatbot. It is going to be great to connect tools directly. Avoiding the context switches will be amazing. MCP will come into it’s own as apps can seamlessly connect through your chatbot. The utility is obvious.
On the other hand, OpenAI is also building a shiny new prison. Once users connect to apps through OpenAI’s platform, developers are easily squeezed. The most important part of the announcements was not the capabilities, it was Sam Altman saying that they would let apps that meet undefined standards get access through an unspecified leaderboard under his control. OpenAI is positioned in an Apple-like seat in this ecosystem, capable of choosing winners and losers with ease.
They make some great tools — and a great product. Builder beware — the lock in can come up and trap you easily. Can you really own the customer if the only door is through their platform? Or if you build all your processes into OpenAI agents with no way to port the code? What will your OpenAI bill be in 2030?
The Distilled Spirit
Current Events
🎲 Speculation Nation ()
Betting on everything goes mainstream in the FAFOnomics-centric US.
We see a younger generation eschewing traditional careers in lieu of more unpredictable work with higher potential upside. The risk-return calculus has shifted. A number of startups underpin these new forms of work.
💸 The Tariff Exemption Behind AI ()
AI has been powering growth in the US economy, and growth in AI is partially due to a massive electronics exemption in Tariffs that is ending soon.
🕹 Gaming is the New Oil ()
Buying EA is just another step in the Saudi regime’s mission to soften it’s image and commoditize culture.
🎬 Techies Beat Hollywood ()
Larry Ellison will soon own the vast majority of the major studios. With Netflix and Amazon in the MPA, and Disney a likely acquisition target, technology is set to take control of the remaining studios.
⛽ Hitting Where it Hurts ()
Ukraine has found a very effective way to kneecap the Russian war machine without driving up worldwide oil prices.
Thinking and Working Better
🧠 Understanding Understanding ()
True understanding involves abstraction and compaction, not just memorization.
If you’ve just memorized some facts, there aren’t any additional useful implications you can draw out of that. But if you really understand something, you’re able to see the implications of it. You can make more with less.
📵 Less Phone More Focus ()
Five great hints about how to limit your phone use and get your focus back.
🌅 iPhone Morning Automation ()
Apple has great tools to automate your morning information gathering routine. Here is a quick how-to guide on setting up your own.
👩💻 Writing for AI ()
Working with AI is an exploratory process. Break your work into tiny chunks and work and work iteratively to help it understand better.
📝 Creation-Focused Second Brain Blueprint ()
A four-week guide to building a creation-focused second brain leveraging AI.
Leading AI News
🛒 The Rise of AI Shopping ()
AI is rapidly integrating into customer purchase decisions, it follows that it will integrate into actual purchasing soon.
The AI that will win this new game will not just provide recommendations. They’ll be able to marry persistent memories about the user (what ingredients cause irritation, what brands do I prefer, where do I have loyalty points) + intent rich queries from the user (detailed prompts that signal “I am ready to buy this,” for example, “I’m planning a trip to Turks & Caicos and need travel-sized toiletries.”) + seamless checkout.
🧙♂️ The 3rd Magic Revisited ()
AI can be viewed as a third magic — a way to industrialize understanding of the world in a way that was previously impossible.
🎥 Why OpenAI’s Video App Matters ()
Sora 2 is a significant leap forward, breaking perceptions and putting OpenAI in the social conversation.
Applying Agentic AI
🃏 Agentic AI Reshuffle ()
Thinking about how agents can replicate a task is too small scale; thinking in terms of Agentic AI reframing work is more accurate.
RPA was built to optimize discrete tasks within existing structures. It delivered cost savings by replacing clerical labor at narrow points in the process.
Agentic AI, by contrast, has the potential to reimagine entire workflows, and with that, reimagine the organizational systems that need to be built around them.
🤖 What Makes AI Agents Really Work ()
You need a forward-deployed AI practitioner to combine the right skills and access to process and knowledge to build effective AI agents.
➰ Designing Agentic Loops ()
Great tips on how to safely use Agentic loops in tools like Claude Code or OpenAI Codex.
🍌 Build Your Own Headshot App ()
Use Google Nano Banana to build your own headshot app in 15 minutes.
Interesting Things
🐱 How Popular is Anime in America? ()
Probably Gen Z, but the data is pretty hard to come by.
🔥 The Art of BBQ ()
What is not to love about beautifully illustrated guides to lamb on the barbie?
🍽 The Life and Death of the American Foodie (Eater)
Did Top Chef ruin American foodie culture?
🔪 If 1980s Teen Movies Took Place Today ()
How the classics would play out with modern technology and Gen Z kids.
The Look
NVidia is worth than all of big pharma. What a time to be alive!
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Great compilations and thanks for the shoutout!