The State of Consumer Tech in the Age of AI

a16z Podcast

a16z

Science, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurship, Culture, Disruption, Software Eating The World, Technology

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, a16z General Partner Erik Torenberg is joined by the a16z Consumer team—General Partner Anish Acharya and Partners Olivia Moore, Justine Moore, and Bryan Kim—for a conversation on the current state (and future) of consumer tech. They unpack why it feels like breakout consumer apps have slowed down, how AI is changing the game, and what might define the next era of products. Topics include: - The rise of AI-native consumer tools and companion apps - Why users are now spending $200+/month on AI products - The missing AI-powered social graph - Why speed and iteration may matter more than traditional moats - And what it means to build for a world where software touches everything From shifting business models to new behavior patterns, this is your pulse check on where we are—and where consumer is heading next.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I think in the future you're going to see consumer spam to be like food, rent, software.
0:05.0	All of the aspects of our lives are going to be intermediated by the models, and we're going to pay for that.
0:11.0	The definition of what a companion is has evolved so quickly from either a friend or a girlfriend to like anything,
0:18.0	any sort of advice or wisdom or entertainment or counsel you could have gotten from a human before.
0:23.6	Maybe you just need to feel connected to something. It doesn't need to be human.
0:27.6	I think it's been a puzzle to me what the first AI social network is going to look like.
0:32.6	To work, a social network has to have like real emotional stakes.
0:38.3	We're living in this early era of AI where velocity is demote.
0:45.3	For decades, consumer tech followed a similar beat.
0:48.3	New platforms, new behaviors, new breakouts.
0:51.3	Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap, TikTok. But lately, that rhythm has
0:56.0	changed. And so has the nature of what we mean by consumer. In this conversation, we bring
1:00.8	together A16Z's consumer and AI investing minds to ask, what is the state of consumer in the
1:06.3	AI era? You'll hear how creative tools like Mid Journey and VO are reshaping expression, how voice is
1:12.5	becoming the new interface, and how companions, AI ones, are filling in social white spaces.
1:18.4	We talk about retention and revenue curves, defensibility beyond network effects, and why velocity
1:23.8	might be the new mode. We also get speculative. What happens when AI knows you better
1:28.2	than your friends do? What does the next social platform look like? And are we heading towards a
1:32.5	world where software, not shoes, not handbags, is the new luxury good? This episode is about
1:37.6	new form factors, new business models, and a new definition of connection. Let's get into it.
1:46.1	As a reminder, the content here is for informational purposes only. Should not be taken as legal business, tax, or investment advice,
1:51.0	or be used to evaluate any investment or security and is not directed at any investors or potential
	...

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