A newsletter by Ken Yeung

The AI
Economy

A sharp, curated look at the stories that reveal how AI is rewriting business, work, technology, and culture.

Ken Yeung

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What you get

Built for people who work with AI, not just read about it.

Reported, not aggregated

Enterprise AI coverage from a journalist who covered the space before “generative AI” was a mainstream phrase. Sourced, contextual, with a point of view.

Platform strategy focus

Beyond the product announcements. Analysis of how AI is restructuring enterprise workflows, editorial operations, and the economics of content at scale.

Written for practitioners

Not for the hype-chasers. For the people who have to act on it.

Archive

Every issue.

All issues published to date. New issues arrive every week.

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  1. Issue

    Salesforce Buys Spindle AI to Strengthen Accountability Across Agentforce 360

    Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Salesforce is buying an(other) AI startup. The enterprise tech giant announced on Friday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Spindle AI, an agentic analytics startup. Financial deals weren’t disclosed, but Salesforce reveals that it plans to integrate Spindle’s technology to bolster the “Agent Observability and […]
  2. Issue

    SAP Unveils RPT-1, a Tabular Model for Enterprise Business Predictions

    SAP is releasing a new enterprise relational foundation model, designed to provide organizations with better insights into their operations. Named RPT-1, the model promises rapid and accurate predictions for non-text-based data, helping businesses anticipate outcomes and make more informed decisions. This news is part of a bevy of announcements SAP is rolling out as it […]
  3. Issue

    SAP Plans to Train 12 Million People in AI Skills by 2030

    SAP is betting big that it can help more people learn about artificial intelligence. The enterprise software company has set a goal of equipping 12 million more people worldwide with AI-ready digital skills over the next five years. The idea is to better prepare the global workforce for AI’s disruptive impact. This isn’t the first […]
  4. Issue

    Ai2’s OlmoEarth Opens the Door to Accessible, Open-Source Earth AI

    The Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) is announcing the release of OlmoEarth, a new platform featuring an open multimodal foundation model pre-trained on approximately 10 terabytes of global satellite and sensor data. Developers can utilize this AI to gain a better understanding of what’s happening to our planet, as it democratizes access to insights that […]
  5. Issue

    HubSpot Is Cementing Its Bet on AI Search With XFunnel Acquisition

    HubSpot is acquiring XFunnel, a startup building an AI-powered search optimization platform. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but HubSpot says it plans to fold XFunnel’s technology into its Marketing Hub to give marketers deeper visibility into how their brands surface in AI assistants and apps such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. “As AI changes how people find […]
  6. Issue

    Canva’s New Design Model and AI Assistant Aim to Power a ‘Creative Operating System’

    Canva is staking its claim as the operating system of creativity. The company today took a big step towards that goal with the introduction of new tools that bring together design, AI, and marketing to better connect every part of the creative process. A key pillar of the visual communication platform’s “Creative Operating System” is […]
  7. Issue

    Zoom Turns to Nvidia’s Nemotron to Power Its AI Companion and New 49B-Parameter LLM

    Zoom has partnered with Nvidia to add the chipmaker’s Nemotron technology to its federated AI architecture. The integration aims to strengthen Zoom’s AI Companion, enabling it to support better those organizations in finance, healthcare, and government—all regulated spaces. In addition, Nemotron is being used to fine-tune a new 49-billion-parameter Large Language Model (LLM). “With the […]
  8. Issue

    ServiceNow and Nvidia Unveil Apriel 2.0, a Compact Open Model Made for Regulated Industries

    ServiceNow and Nvidia have introduced Apriel 2.0, the latest version of their jointly-developed Apriel Nemotron open model. It boasts improved reasoning, native support for multimodal input, and built-in data and safety guardrails. However, unlike its predecessor, which was a general-purpose foundation model, Apriel 2.0 is explicitly designed for autonomous and semi-autonomous agents operating in regulated […]
  9. Issue

    Google Labs and DeepMind Launch Pomelli, an AI Tool for SMB Marketing Campaigns

    Google Labs and Google DeepMind have jointly created an AI-powered marketing tool called Pomelli to help small and medium-sized businesses generate effective social media campaigns. It’s launching today as a public beta experiment for those in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and it currently only supports English. This is Google’s latest initiative […]
  10. Issue

    Microsoft 365 Copilot Gets the Power to Build Apps and Automate Workflows

    Microsoft is adding new capabilities to Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees be more productive. Available today through the Frontier Program are two new agents —App Builder and Workflows—and a lightweight version of the company’s existing Copilot Studio app. The goal of these tools is to empower all workers—not just power users—to use AI more […]

Peer review

What the AIs say.*

We asked the leading AI tools to weigh in on The AI Economy. Their ratings speak for themselves. (Results may vary depending on training data and general disposition toward newsletters.)

Claude — Anthropic

★★★★★

5.0

out of 5

“[Its] strength lies in its ability to cover both technical developments and business implications of AI, making it valuable for a wide audience ranging from tech enthusiasts to business executives.”

ChatGPT — OpenAI

★★★★★

5.0

out of 5

“Expertly combines in-depth interviews and industry analysis, making it a must-read for AI enthusiasts and professionals.”

Gemini — Google

★★★★★

5.0

out of 5

“Provides valuable insights and analysis, making it a great resource for anyone interested in AI.”

Copilot — Microsoft

★★★★★

5.0

out of 5

“A sharp, reporter‑caliber intelligence brief for the AI era—fast, authoritative, and genuinely ahead of the curve.”

* Disclaimer: My newsletter has not been actually endorsed by OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic. I solicited reviews from their respective gen AI services. Sounded cool though, huh?

Questions

Common questions.

  1. What is The AI Economy?

    A newsletter covering consumer and enterprise AI, platform strategy, and the companies reshaping how work gets done. Reported, not aggregated — written by a technology journalist who has covered the space since before generative AI was a mainstream phrase.

  2. How often does it publish?

    Enough to keep you ahead, never enough to clutter your inbox. You'll also get first-look coverage and original interviews whenever the story is worth your time—which, lately, is often. Nothing filler-grade goes out under this masthead. A weekly roundup is delivered Fridays on LinkedIn.

  3. Is it free?

    Yes. Every issue is free. Subscribe on Substack and it arrives in your inbox. No paywall, no premium tier. If that changes, subscribers will be notified well in advance.

  4. How is this different from other AI newsletters?

    The AI Economy explores the people building AI and the reasons behind what they build. I'm interested in how enterprise teams are actually deploying AI, where the editorial and operational models are breaking down, and what platform-level shifts mean for practitioners making decisions this quarter. It is written for people doing the work, not watching it from the outside. My goal is to not focus just on what's being announced, but why it exists and why we should care. The stories are what you'd expect to read on Inc. and First Round Review or see on "60 Minutes."

  5. Can we pitch you stories?

    Yes, I do accept embargoed news and exclusives. Please reach out with your announcements, launches, and story ideas—email me or use this form. I also accept tips securely via Signal at @kenyeung.888.

  6. Where can I read past issues?

    The full archive is listed above on this page. All issues are also available on Substack. The plan is to host the canonical archive here on thelettertwo.com as the publication grows — independent of any platform.

  7. Can I republish or cite content from the newsletter?

    Yes, with attribution. Short excerpts with a link back to the original issue are fine. For longer republication or syndication, reach out via LinkedIn.

The AI Economy

AI Moves Fast. I Separate Signal From Spin.

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