Erik Torenberg speaks with tech analyst Benedict Evans about the current state of AI, what has changed over the past year, and which questions remain unanswered.

The conversation covers coding agents, foundation models, AI infrastructure spending, software economics, and the tension between today's AI excitement and the long-term realities of technology adoption. Evans discusses why coding has emerged as AI's first breakout use case, how previous platform shifts can help frame the current moment, and why many of the most important questions about AI remain unresolved.

Along the way, they explore the future of software, enterprise adoption, consumer behavior, and whether AI models ultimately capture value themselves or become infrastructure for the next generation of applications.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:44 - What's Changed Since Last Year
05:53 - OpenAI vs Anthropic Strategy
10:31 - The Pricing Crunch & Platform History
22:48 - What Comes After Coding
38:18 - AI & the Future of Enterprise Software
48:43 - The CapEx Problem
55:07 - Will Models Become Commodities?

Resources:
Follow Benedict Evans on X: https://x.com/benedictevans
Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg
Read Content Isn’t King: https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2017/7/13/content-isnt-king
Read Netflix is Not a Tech Company: https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2019/7/31/Netflix

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