top of page

Week in IT Digest #60


Abstract illustration with browser windows, code, charts, and text. Lists key facts about agents, AI factories, regulators, and market trends.

The single most important news this week: the U.S. Supreme Court refused to pause the Epic injunction against Google’s Play Store, forcing Google to allow payment steering now and competing stores by 2026—because it immediately lowers platform taxes, opens new distribution for your apps, and can materially improve your margins and user ownership.

TL;DR

  • Agents are becoming a system layer: ChatGPT as an OS and Gemini’s browser-driving model signal new distribution and integration patterns.

  • AI factories are real: networking, photonics, and specialized 'neocloud' stacks are the new levers; heat and interconnect rival compute as bottlenecks.

  • Regulators are cracking open platform moats: Google must allow payment steering and sideloading; Apple inches toward DMA compliance.

  • Market froth meets gravity: AI debt tops $1.2T and bubble warnings grow, favoring teams that convert attention into durable cash flows.

  • Security escalates: high-profile breaches and AI misuse drive autonomous defense, safer tool-use, and tighter credential governance.

  • Practical upside for builders: improved LTV/CAC via direct billing, agent-optimized APIs, and on-prem/edge options for latency and compliance.

Change Summary

Agentic AI is shifting from UI garnish to a system layer: OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into an OS with in-conversation app orchestration while Google’s Computer Use model browses and clicks like a human. The second-order effect isn’t just productivity—it’s distribution. Apps become skills, backends, and protocols discovered and executed by agents, not app stores or search. Expect new “agent-optimized” APIs, pay-per-outcome pricing, and security primitives (scoped credentials, safe tool-use sandboxes) to become table stakes. Customer-facing agents (Zendesk) foreshadow GTM blends where agents qualify, support, and even purchase on customers’ behalf.


On the infrastructure side, the AI factory narrative is congealing: scale-across networking (Cisco P200), photonic interconnects, and neocloud specialization point to distributed AI production lines spanning multiple sites. Thermal breakthroughs (diamond substrates) and emerging accelerators (IBM Spyre) suggest that the bottleneck is as much heat and interconnect as flops. For developers, this tilts roadmaps toward streaming, event-driven designs, and data gravity-aware deployment; for entrepreneurs, it enables vertical AI with on-prem or sovereign variants without surrendering latency or compliance.


Regulators just rewired platform economics. With the Supreme Court denying Google’s pause and the EU pushing Apple toward alternative payments and stores, the 30% tax era is structurally weakened. Second-order effects include direct billing becoming default, LTV/CAC models improving for indie devs, and a renaissance of alternative stores and sideloading tools. Combine that with frothy AI capital flows (and growing bubble warnings), and the winners will be those who convert lower distribution friction into recurring value—before macro volatility reprices hype. Security-wise, the arms race is escalating; autonomous defense and safety auditing will be built-in, not bolted-on, changing how teams design, ship, and insure AI systems.


Change Patterns

Historical digests are unavailable, but patterns across recent weeks are crystallizing. First, agentic AI has crossed the chasm from prototypes to production: we now see multi-app orchestration, browser-driving models, and domain agents (support, ops, security) moving real KPIs.


Second, platform power is rebalancing toward developers: court rulings and DMA pressure are ripping open payment and distribution—expect a wave of direct billing, alternative stores, and regional compliance toolkits. Third, the infrastructure narrative keeps elevating: vendors are standardizing on 'AI factories' with scale-across topologies, photonic interconnects, and thermal breakthroughs, while edge/on-device small models quietly reclaim workloads for privacy and latency.


Fourth, the security drumbeat persists: repeated breaches, shadow AI leakage, and state-linked misuse are normalizing autonomous defense and AI safety audits in SDLC. Finally, capital is abundant but cautious: record AI-linked debt and consolidation signals coexist with bubble warnings—funding still flows to tools that compress time-to-value (agents, data streaming, real-time analytics), while me-too 'just a wrapper' plays fade.


The throughline: distribution is loosening, infrastructure is specializing, and trust is becoming a product feature—teams who design for agent channels, multi-cloud/edge footprints, and secure-by-default workflows are compounding advantages week over week.


Topic Clusters

Agentic AI and the new app ecosystem

  1. OpenAI’s Nick Turley on transforming ChatGPT into an operating system read full article

  2. OpenAI’s Nick Turley discusses the company's efforts to transform ChatGPT into an AI operating system that integrates a variety of third-party applications.

  3. ChatGPT Now Interacts With Multiple Apps Inside Conversations read full article

  4. OpenAI introduced a new Apps SDK that lets ChatGPT use third-party apps like Spotify, Canva, and Zillow inside conversations via the Model Context Protocol.

  5. Google’s Gemini 2.5 Computer Use model can navigate the web like a human read full article

  6. Google unveiled an LLM that autonomously drives a browser to search, shop, and complete tasks, enabling truly agentic workflows.

  7. Google launches extensions system for its command-line coding tool read full article

  8. Google added an extensions system to the Gemini CLI so third parties can integrate AI-assisted workflows directly in developers’ terminals.

  9. Zendesk says its new AI agent can solve 80% of support issues read full article

  10. Zendesk introduced an autonomous support agent that claims 80% auto-resolution, signaling rapid maturation of agentic customer ops.

AI factories and next‑gen compute

  1. Inside Nvidia’s AI factory vision to power enterprise computing’s next era read full article

  2. Nvidia’s 'AI factory' concept reframes data centers as production lines for scalable intelligence combining data, models, and accelerated infra.

  3. Cisco’s 51.2T Silicon One P200 chip brings scale-across to distributed AI read full article

  4. Cisco introduced the P200 to power 'scale-across' AI across multiple sites as single data centers hit capacity and latency limits.

  5. Inside the rise of photonic computing powering next-gen AI workloads read full article

  6. Silicon photonics is emerging to deliver high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnects for AI, with players like Lightmatter targeting data centers.

  7. Neocloud strategies reshape the future of compute efficiency read full article

  8. A new cloud layer focused on security, latency, and specialized acceleration is forming to meet next‑gen AI workload demands.

  9. Why Diamonds Are Computer Chips’ New Best Friend read full article

  10. Diamond’s thermal properties could alleviate heat waste in data centers, unlocking higher power density for AI hardware.

Regulation resets platform economics

  1. Supreme Court denies Google's request to pause Play Store changes while it appeals Epic case read full article

  2. Google must allow developer payment steering by Oct 22 and open to sideloading and competing stores by July 2026 as the Epic ruling stands during appeal.

  3. Report: Apple Nearing Agreement With EU Over App Store Rules read full article

  4. Apple is close to a DMA settlement enabling alternative payments and marketplaces in the EU, averting massive fines and reshaping iOS distribution.

  5. Apple Details App Store Changes to Comply With Texas Age Verification Law read full article

  6. Apple outlined new APIs and flows for age verification and parental consent in Texas, balancing legal compliance with privacy concerns.

  7. AltStore Plans to Launch iPhone App in Three More Countries This Year read full article

  8. Alternative iOS app store AltStore is expanding to Australia, Brazil, and Japan, riding global pressure on Apple’s distribution control.

  9. A breakdown of the H-1B changes — and why more changes could come read full article

  10. Policy shifts in H‑1B are tightening founder and startup talent pipelines, with more changes likely—raising hiring and retention risk.

Security, safety, and trust in the AI era

  1. Salesforce says it won’t pay extortion demand in 1 billion records breach read full article

  2. Salesforce refused to pay a major extortion demand tied to a breach allegedly impacting up to 1 billion records.

  3. Red Hat breach escalates as criminals collaborate on 'multi-terabyte' extortion plot read full article

  4. Attackers coordinated a large data theft from Red Hat, intensifying pressure via a multi‑terabyte exfiltration and extortion scheme.

  5. Clop raid on Oracle E-Business Suite started months ago, researchers warn read full article

  6. Research shows Clop’s campaign against Oracle E‑Business Suite persisted for months, underscoring ERP attack surfaces.

  7. Employees regularly paste company secrets into ChatGPT read full article

  8. Shadow AI continues as staff leak confidential data into chatbots, amplifying governance and DLP urgency.

  9. OpenAI details expanding efforts to disrupt malicious use of AI in new report read full article

  10. OpenAI published new threat intel on state-linked and criminal abuse of AI, describing broader defensive interventions.

  11. Google DeepMind minds the patch with AI flaw-fixing scheme read full article

  12. DeepMind is advancing automated bug detection and remediation to harden software supply chains.

Markets, funding, and macro signals

  1. Bank of England warns AI stock bubble rivals 2000 dotcom peak read full article

  2. The Bank of England warned AI market valuations mirror dot‑com era extremes and concentration risk is highest in decades.

  3. JPMorgan Chase: debt tied to AI-related companies hits $1.2T, making it the largest segment in the investment-grade market at 14%, surpassing US banks at 11.7% read full article

  4. AI-linked debt has ballooned to $1.2T, now the largest slice of investment‑grade issuance.

  5. Sources: data streaming software maker Confluent is exploring a sale after attracting acquisition interest from PE firms and tech companies; CFLT jumps 9%+ (Milana Vinn/Reuters) read full article

  6. Confluent is exploring strategic options amid takeover interest, reflecting consolidation pressure in data infrastructure.

  7. Relace, which makes tools and specialized language models to help AI agents code faster for customers like Lovable and Figma, raised a $23M Series A led by a16z (Stephanie Palazzolo/The Information) read full article

  8. Relace raised $23M to accelerate agentic coding with specialized LLMs, citing customers like Figma.

  9. SoftBank bulks up its robotics portfolio with ABB Group’s robotics unit read full article

  10. SoftBank acquired ABB’s robotics unit, doubling down on 'physical AI' and automation.

bottom of page