To infinity and collapse!
Our bold predictions for AI in 2026.
Well, folks, we’re wrapping up our first year of publishing the AI Agenda.
It’s been a fascinating ride. We started the year looking at the future of work and now we’re seeing the Trump administration launch a Manhattan Project-style mission for AI, doubling down on “AI Action Plans.”
As we look back on the year, we’re also going to peek into next year and throw out some ideas of what we expect to see.
We’ve spent 2025 marveling at AI’s spread into every corner of life.
Remember back in April when we talked about the surge of AI tools on college campuses, and how professors were scrambling to update honor codes? And who could forget this summer’s eyebrow-raising “Humans Need Not Apply” job posts – those cheeky listings hinting that fully automated companies were just around the corner.
We also followed the political drama. Local communities from Tucson to Chicago rose up to question the impact of massive new data centers on their water, power, and zoning. It turns out even the cloud has a real footprint, and not everyone’s happy about it.
Through it all, we kept the conversation candid and curiosity-driven, with a dash of skepticism (and the occasional bad joke about Skynet).
As 2026 approaches, it’s time for our bold forecast.
We split that forecast into two parts — because the future isn’t just rosy or just scary, it’s a compelling mix of both.
In “The Fascinating”, we’ll dive into the thrilling, optimistic, and yes, weird possibilities on the horizon.
Then, in “The Scary”, we’ll confront the darker side, the potential pitfalls and challenges that keep me up at night (and not just from too much coffee).
The fascinating
The first full-length AI movie
Writing had its Sputnik moment when ChatGPT showed up in every dorm room in late 2022.
2026 might be the year when AI hits the big screen.
We’ve already watched OpenAI’s Sora face-plant spectacularly (remember those melting faces and physics-defying cats?), but there are other teams — Runway, Pika, Luma, and a few stealth players — quietly fixing the problems.
We expect that next year, a 90–110 minute movie, fully AI-generated, will premiere at Sundance or slam straight onto YouTube/Netflix with 200 million views in a weekend.
The director’s note will simply read: “No crew. No actors. No excuses.” And yes, Tilly Norwood — the first fully synthetic actress we profiled back in October — will be the lead.
The first zero-human company goes public
Next year, we predict an AI-native company, likely in legal tech, logistics, or customer support, will cross the $1 billion valuation threshold with literally zero full-time human employees.
The org chart will be a dozen AI agents, smart contract financial agreements, and one human lawyer who shows up for board meetings to drink coffee and vote “yes.”
The S-1 filing will be the most-read bedtime story in Silicon Valley.
Scientific breakthroughs
UCLA researchers already claimed they solved male-pattern baldness with an AI-discovered molecule. In 2026, we predict the floodgates will open with:
An AI-designed antibiotic that works against superbugs.
A phase-2 longevity compound that (actually) reverses epigenetic age in mice.
The first room-temperature superconductor claim that doesn’t get immediately debunked.
Every one of these will be stamped “discovered by AI in <6 weeks.” Biology is about to become software.
More AI schools
Forget “AI in education.” Entire schools will be built from the ground up around AI tutors.
The first cohort of eighth-graders who have never had a human math teacher will soon graduate from middle school.
The best ones will be free, Spanish-English bilingual, and outperform $60k/year private academies. Khan Academy, Synthesis, Minerva — someone ships the full package.
Chinese models become more popular than American models
For the first time ever, the #1 model by Daily Active Users will not come from San Francisco. Chinese AI models like Ernie, Qwen, or DeepSeek (pick your horse) will simply be better at the things billions of people do every day — translate, shop, code, flirt.
We expect the gap between American and Chinese AI to close, then flip. English-speaking tech Twitter will have a full existential meltdown in Q2.
The scary
More job losses
These warnings have been around for a long time. And this year saw a lot of pushback on this topic from billionaires — “Why are you blaming it on AI? It’s just a market correction from over-hiring.”
Excuses might vanish along with people in corporate offices. The layoffs might not be sneaky anymore — they’ll be proud “AI transformation” press releases and champagne toasts.
First mass AI attack
Unfortunately, these attacks seem inevitable. They might go from small-scale attacks to a massive, coordinated, potentially state-sponsored attack.
Think hyper-realistic, hyper-personalized deep fakes, agent swarms, and synthetic identities to influence an election, crash a currency, or start actual wars.
Power outages
Data centers might start consuming more than 10% of the total electricity produced in the country.
When the grids can’t catch up, utilities might start throttling certain functions. Your lights will stay on, but you might randomly start losing access to AI models. It’s like they get us addicted to these and then yank them away.
Social media and the internet are dead
Slowly but surely, all social media is filled with AI slop, to the point where we’ll barely be reading original human thoughts or content. The signal-to-noise ratio collapses. The infinite scroll dies of content obesity.
People retreat to small Discord servers, Telegram groups and email newsletters (hi 😉).
AI bubble bursts
Valuations got stupid in 2025. We expect cash burns to get apocalyptic in 2026.
When the first $10B+ AI unicorn misses earnings by 90% and the stock drops 80% in a week, the lemming rush into “AI equities” reverses hard. Expect a mini 2022-style crypto winter, except this time it’s public markets and your 401(k) that feel it.
Final Thought
2025 was the year AI went from “wow, neat” to “oh shit, this is actually happening.”
2026 might be the year the future arrives in your neighborhood, whether you booked the ticket or not.
Buckle up, keep reading, and whatever you do … don’t look away.