Ben Thompson
FollowThe latest interviews, podcast appearances, and blog posts from Ben Thompson, updated daily.
2026.39: Begun, the Aggregator Wars Have
The best Stratechery content from the week of September 21, 2026, including Meta vs. Amazon, GM bending the knee to CarPlay, and profiling the profiler.
An Interview with Colossus EIC Jeremy Stern About Profiling Mark Zuckerberg
An interview with Colossus EIC Jeremy Stern about profiling Mark Zuckerberg and other prominent tech figures.
More on Muse, Amazon, and Walmart; Muse and Expedia; Whither Google?
Meta needs Walmart to wait out Amazon; Expedia seeks to keep its middleware position; meanwhile, where is Google?
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.