In this special year-end episode, experts from the Mixture of Experts podcast review the biggest AI moments of 2025 and predict what's next for 2026. The discussion covers the rise of "super agents" and the battle for the user interface, open source's breakout year and its remaining challenges, the AI hardware supply crisis and the push for efficiency, and the future of modular, multimodal AI systems.
In the fifth edition of the a16z Consumer AI 100, an analysis of the most-used AI-native products reveals a market that is beginning to stabilize after a period of chaotic growth. Key trends identified include the continued dominance of AI companionship and creative tools, the significant market entry of major players like Google and xAI's Grok, the rise of Chinese AI companies on the global stage, and the emergence of a powerful new category: "vibe coding." The data suggests a future of increased verticalization, prosumer tool adoption, and the development of more sophisticated network effects beyond simple data acquisition.