Where Does Consumer AI Stand at the End of 2025?
The a16z Show
2025/12/29
Where Does Consumer AI Stand at the End of 2025?
Where Does Consumer AI Stand at the End of 2025?
The a16z Show
2025/12/29
As the dust settles on 2025, the consumer AI landscape has evolved beyond hype into a more defined era of real-world usage and measurable impact. A handful of dominant platforms now shape user expectations, while new technical capabilities are quietly redefining how people create, search, and interact with digital content. Beneath the surface of high-profile launches, subtle shifts in product design, distribution, and user behavior are setting the stage for what comes next.
In 2025, multimodal AI models from OpenAI and Google raised the bar in realism and functionality, though integration into everyday workflows remains uneven. While ChatGPT maintains dominance through superior UX, Gemini leverages Google’s ecosystem but struggles to match its rival's polish. Products like Perplexity Comet and Pulse show promise in proactive assistance and engagement, even as Anthropic's technically strong offerings fail to gain mass appeal. The social potential of AI-generated content remains limited, particularly when authenticity is lost. Despite big labs' aggressive moves, startups still hold an edge in agility—especially by targeting power users and building on templates, agent systems, and multimodal tools. With foundational models maturing, 2026 is shaping up to be a breakout year for app-centric innovators who can turn powerful AI into intuitive, scalable experiences.
05:43
05:43
The 'pulse of the world' in AI may still be under-hyped
10:34
10:34
Perplexity Comet browser shows strong user adoption among prosumers
13:05
13:05
ChatGPT has a more intuitive interface than Gemini
18:00
18:00
Humor could be the key to Sora 2's social success
28:58
28:58
Labs are combining text, image, and video efforts to create a multimodal mega-model
32:22
32:22
Notebook LM from Google stands out as a successful consumer AI product from a big lab.
42:47
42:47
Models have reached a quality level where scalable consumer apps can be built
