|
 |
One of the ironies of the story of AI’s impact on jobs is that it came first for the companies that helped create it. Recently, software as a service (SaaS) companies that can potentially be disrupted by AI have been experiencing what investors are calling the SaaSpocalypse — a result of “Anthropic and then Open AI launching agentic AI systems for enterprises that appear to perform some key functions currently provided by SaaS players, undermining their business models.” And these market forces are hitting companies in every sector. Earlier this week, logistics and freight companies took a hit “after a little-known Florida company announced a new tool that would scale freight volumes without increasing headcount. (By the way, until this year, that little-known company was in the Karaoke business.) But the new tech is hitting the tech sector the most directly. The disruptors are being disrupted by a force they themselves unleashed. Like many in tech, Matt Shumer has had a front row seat for the impending changes (and more time to ponder them as some of his technical duties have been offloaded to the machine). In his essay, Something Big is Happening Here, he explains what’s coming, not just for his industry, but for everything, and compares this moment to just before the pandemic hit. “Think back to February 2020. If you were paying close attention, you might have noticed a few people talking about a virus spreading overseas. But most of us weren’t paying close attention. The stock market was doing great, your kids were in school, you were going to restaurants and shaking hands and planning trips. If someone told you they were stockpiling toilet paper you would have thought they’d been spending too much time on a weird corner of the internet. Then, over the course of about three weeks, the entire world changed. Your office closed, your kids came home, and life rearranged itself into something you wouldn’t have believed if you’d described it to yourself a month earlier. I think we’re in the ‘this seems overblown’ phase of something much, much bigger than Covid. I’ve spent six years building an AI startup and investing in the space. I live in this world. And I’m writing this for the people in my life who don’t... my family, my friends ... The people I care about deserve to hear what is coming, even if it sounds crazy.”
+ And just in case the impending pace of change does sound crazy, it’s worth noting that there is a lot of consensus about what’s coming. Microsoft AI CEO predicts ‘most, if not all’ white-collar tasks will be automated by AI within 18 months. (Luckily, summarizing the news in 2026 is so depressing, even the machines don’t want my gig.)
+ Scheduling Note: NextDraft will be off for most, and probably all, of next week, unless, you know, something really newsworthy breaks into the break.
2
Noemland Security
Inside the administration, there’s a combination of inexperience, cruel intentions, and extreme corruption; a model that has put the least qualified in charge and pushed the most qualified toward the exits. Nowhere is that more clear than in Kristi Noem’s Dept of Homeland Security. The WSJ (Gift Article) proves that some stories can still make you say wow: A pilot fired over Kristi Noem’s missing blanket and the constant chaos inside DHS. “Within DHS, Noem and Lewandowski have cut employees or put them on administrative leave. The pair have fired or demoted roughly 80% of the career ICE field leadership that was in place when they started. In the blanket incident, Noem had to switch planes after a maintenance issue was discovered, but her blanket wasn’t moved to the second plane, according to the people familiar with the incident. The Coast Guard pilot was initially fired and told to take a commercial flight home when they reached their destination. They eventually reinstated the pilot because no one else was available to fly them home.” (Good thing the pilot didn’t bring his dog on the trip.)
+ And the excellent Dahlia Lithwick in Slate (Gift Article) on how the Epstein story (and this week’s repulsive performance by Pam Bondi in Congress) represents everything. “The Epstein file dump is not simply playing out as a backdrop against which other acts of American lawlessness are occurring. The Epstein story is also the template and the proof text for all that is happening in Minnesota; at dangerous detention centers; in efforts to punish members of Congress for lawful speech; for crypto scams; and for measles outbreaks. It is an ongoing road map for an administration that lives out the reality that they are rich and powerful and famous enough to be above the law each day, and wishes for the rest of us to ultimately learn and accept that fact.” Pam Bondi’s Epstein Testimony Exposed the Whole Game. “What Bondi, and Donald Trump, and Lutnick, and Todd Blanche are doing under the banner of law and law enforcement and pardons and immunity and impunity is an operatic performance of a single truth: The ‘law’ will now protect those who are within the network of favors and privilege and secrets and side-eyes and snickers and abuse of young girls, and the ‘law’ will also abandon those who are not.”
3
Five Ring Circus
“Perhaps more than anything, the operas that Italians began creating 400 years ago are designed to make you feel. To have the rest of the world melt away as you get lost in a story sung in a language you might not understand, but whose stakes are unmistakable. No wonder the country that invented the art form where music and poetry merge, and these Winter Olympics seem to be such a perfect fit.” Bravo! Act I of the Winter Olympics’ visit to Italy has been filled with drama, catharsis and tears.
+ Apparently, amid all the drama, catharsis, and tears (and competition), athletes have found time for horizontal pursuits. Winter Olympic village runs out of condoms after three days.
+ “U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim’s quest for a historic Olympic halfpipe three-peat was foiled by none other than her teenage protégé. Kim took home silver, after 17-year-old Gaon Choi of South Korea rebounded from a dramatic crash to overtake her in the final run.” It’s still quite a result for Kim, who has an injured shoulder and barely competed at all leading up to the games. Besides, Chloe Kim’s smile will always be worthy of gold. (Note to Miles Garrett: I mean that in a purely platonic sense...)
+ “If you’ve watched even a small amount of figure skating at the Winter Olympics, you’ve probably seen Benoît Richaud. He’s the tall, slender, bald man sitting next to seemingly every athlete after they compete, when their scores are read aloud.” You may also notice that he wears a lot of different jackets. He coaches 16 skaters from 13 countries at the Winter Olympics.
+ High-Level, Actionable Insights From Watching Doubles Luge For The First Time. “Unlike other baffling Olympic sports like biathlon and curling, doubles luge has no legible explanation rooted in Scandinavian military training or bored Scottish people. Doubles luge appears to be the consequence of somebody watching luge and being struck by the idea of stacking another guy on top of the first guy. Apparently back then there were no bad ideas.”
4
Weekend Whats
What to Watch: It took a while for Industry on HBO to gain a big following. But I’m glad it has. It could be the best show on television these days, and it’s especially welcome to those who have been missing Succession. Season four remains excellent.
+ What to Movie: Splittsville on Hulu with Adria Arjona, Dakota Johnson, Kyle Marvin, and Michael Angelo Covino in a somewhat crazy look at two couples going through some relationship issues. There are some really funny moments in this movie.
5
Extra, Extra
Glass Houses: NYT (Gift Article): Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses. “Meta’s internal memo said the political tumult in the United States was good timing for the feature’s release. ‘We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.’” (Big tech is not your friend...)
+ There Goes the Neighborhood: “It’s not hard to see why ICE has expanded its reach beyond the Twin Cities. The qualities that have hindered ICE’s operation in Minneapolis and St. Paul — density and walkability; a large, almost exclusively left-of-center population — are absent here. In Minneapolis, I saw patrollers on nearly every street corner. It’s easy to gather for protests or come together to organize a mutual aid network. The sidewalks in Lakeville were deserted,