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The consumer AI products OpenAI “won’t want to kill” | Equity Podcast

Vanessa Larco⁠, partner at ⁠Premise⁠ and former partner at NEA, thinks 2026 will finally be the year of consumer AI.  Larco, who’s been investing in consumer and prosumer for years, thinks we’re about to see a shift in how consumers spend time online, with AI powering “concierge-like” services. The question is, will legacy consumer products like WebMD and TripAdvisor continue to exist as standalone apps, or…

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Vanessa Larco⁠, partner at ⁠Premise⁠ and former partner at NEA, thinks 2026 will finally be the year of consumer AI. 
Larco, who’s been investing in consumer and prosumer for years, thinks we’re about to see a shift in how consumers spend time online, with AI powering “concierge-like” services. The question is, will legacy consumer products like WebMD and TripAdvisor continue to exist as standalone apps, or will they just get absorbed into ChatGPT or Meta AI? And where can startups carve out an AI-powered niche for themselves? 
Today on TechCrunch’s ⁠Equity⁠ podcast, Rebecca Bellan sat down with Larco to talk about why consumer is back, what OpenAI won’t kill, and where the real opportunities are hiding. 

Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction  
00:53 – Why founders are excited about consumer again  
04:40 – The moat against OpenAI: Managing real humans  
09:22 – Apps as disposable as Word docs  
12:48 – Social media in the AI era 
18:48 – Meta Ray-Bans and why wearables are actually good  
23:35 – Stablecoins and consumer fintech opportunities  
26:54 – M&A predictions for 2026 

Subscribe to Equity on ⁠YouTube⁠,⁠ Apple Podcasts⁠,⁠ Overcast⁠,⁠ Spotify⁠ and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on⁠ X⁠ and⁠ Threads⁠, at @EquityPod.

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5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. @KLBL-dp8mc

    January 7, 2026 at 1:08 pm

    OpenAI will be bankrupt by EOY. Burning obscene amounts of cash with no ideas how they’re going to create enough revenue to even pay the interest on the spending commitments they’ve made.

  2. @أحمدعلي-ط5ه3ش

    January 7, 2026 at 2:45 pm

    ❤❤❤

  3. @SoyYoErick

    January 8, 2026 at 2:09 am

    It does seem like the B2C market is wide open for Agentic disruption but more so from a workflow perspective. What do you do on the daily, “which apps do you reference before choosing a place to eat and then navigate with directions”? It feels like we may see the 2.0 version form of smart assistants coming around.

  4. @shivakhatri3271

    January 8, 2026 at 12:43 pm

    When did Sam Altman start Podcast?

  5. @TUNC2-k1e

    January 16, 2026 at 11:24 am

    Hmmm 🤔

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CNET

I Played With Apple’s New iPhones. Here’s What Surprised Me Most | One More Thing

Spending time with the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro has Bridget Carey rethinking what’s important in an iPhone upgrade. She breaks down the standout Duo features, what the crease is really like, and the questions she has for the future of Apple Watch and the next era of Apple. You can find the products…

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Spending time with the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro has Bridget Carey rethinking what’s important in an iPhone upgrade. She breaks down the standout Duo features, what the crease is really like, and the questions she has for the future of Apple Watch and the next era of Apple.

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
Apple iPhone 17, US Version, 256GB, eSIM, Mist Blue- Unlocked (Renewed)
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I Tried the iPhone 18 Pro’s New Deluxe Camera and Shot Photos With Starbursts
Planning to Get the iPhone Duo or iPhone 18 Pro? Turn Off This Setting on Your Old Device First

Timecode Chapters:
0:00 Apple’s new iPhone Tricks
0:14 Reporting from the iPhone Event at Apple Park
0:19 Opening and Closing the iPhone Duo
0:28 Big changes coming to iPhone
0:38 John Ternus has One More Thing
0:46 Bridget Carey’s iPhone Duo event experience
1:03 iPhone Duo
1:14 Taking video on iPhone Duo
1:37 Smart Take on iPhone Duo
2:04 Snoopy comes to iPhone Duo
2:21 iPhone Duo crease
2:41 Hidden camera behind iPhone Duo screen
2:51 iPhone Duo size
3:11 iPhone Duo cases
3:28 MagSafe on iPhone Duo
3:34 iPhone 18 Pro updates
4:07 Aperture on iPhone 18 Pro
4:42 Apple Watch changes
4:43 Apple Watch audio intelligence, recording, transcribing
5:20 New Apple Watch sensor
5:33 New Apple iPhone and Apple Watch accessories
5:47 One More Tip to help cover the cost of your new iPhone
5:56 Get the most money for your iPhone trade-in
6:18 Let us know in the comments what you want to see from One More Thing

Video Credits:
Host: Bridget Carey
Scripted by: Bridget Carey
Producer: Carly Marsh
Camera: Celso Bulgatti, Bridget Carey
Video Editor: Carly Marsh
Thumbnail Designer: Tharon Green

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#iphone #apple #foldableiphone #iphoneduo

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CNET

Unboxing the $149 AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case

Apple announced the new AirPods 5 base model will remain at $129, but the step-up $149 model with a wireless charging case and Find My speaker might be more your style. Both will have active noise cancellation (ANC), which is an upgrade from the AirPods 4. Let’s unbox them with CNET executive editor David Carnoy.…

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Apple announced the new AirPods 5 base model will remain at $129, but the step-up $149 model with a wireless charging case and Find My speaker might be more your style. Both will have active noise cancellation (ANC), which is an upgrade from the AirPods 4. Let’s unbox them with CNET executive editor David Carnoy. #apple #appleevent #airpods #unboxing #airpods5

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Science & Technology

Robotics Won’t Have a “ChatGPT Moment”

Mbodi co-founder Xavier Chi says there’s a fundamental difference between the two technologies: robotics doesn’t have an internet of data to learn from. Instead, he expects the robotics revolution to happen one real-world deployment at a time. Watch the full episode:

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Mbodi co-founder Xavier Chi says there’s a fundamental difference between the two technologies: robotics doesn’t have an internet of data to learn from.
Instead, he expects the robotics revolution to happen one real-world deployment at a time.

Watch the full episode:

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