169 - I can’t tell is AI moving the needle or not

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• The "Social Permission" Crisis: Microsoft’s CEO warned that AI must prove its utility quickly. If the industry fails to deliver meaningful results, it risks losing the "social permission" to consume the massive amounts of electricity required to power these models.

• Legal Tech Bloodbath: A new Claude plugin for legal compliance triggered a massive sell-off in legacy legal stocks. Industry titans like RELX (LexisNexis) and Thomson Reuters saw double-digit drops as investors fear AI will cannibalize business models built on expensive subscriptions and billable hours.

• The "SaaS is Dead" Sentiment: The episode explores whether we are witnessing the end of traditional Software-as-a-Service. As AI begins to automate complex workflows natively, the market is repricing the value of established software companies that may no longer be necessary.

• User Pushback and Privacy: Mozilla is introducing a "master switch" in Firefox settings that allows users to disable all generative AI features at once. This highlights a growing segment of the market that remains skeptical or resistant to forced AI integration.

• Performance Inconsistency: While AI is "crushing it" in coding and data review, it remains "sloppy" in the arts and unproven in sales. Specifically, industry insiders note that AI SDR agents have yet to prove they can consistently book high-quality, real-world sales calls.

  
  

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