When AI leaders at OpenAI and Anthropic started talking about “pacing the frontier,” perhaps someone should have asked, “What’s the pace?” It’s been model launch week for both companies, as Anthropic released Opus 5.5, followed just 90 minutes later by OpenAI’s GPT-6 model update. But it was Meta that stole the show. The company’s personal AI agent, Muse, has surpassed ChatGPT’s early numbers and is reportedly headed for smart glasses and small Tamagotchi-like devices next.
In this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Kolosek, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into Meta’s consumer AI strategy and what it means for startups looking to build on this technology, covering everything from funding streams to which AI products could actually become a part of people’s daily lives. They will also participate in a16z’s new school for aspiring founders and two very different AI and hardware deals.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about what’s next.
How a16z’s Horowitz Andreessen Academy plans to open new avenues for aspiring founders and why equity managers see resonance in the Thiel Fellowship and Silicon Valley’s long-standing anti-university movement Ema raises $77 million to sell team of AI agents that automate HR, IT, and finance workflows, and its early enterprise customers include Google and Microsoft
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