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

    AI Token Budgets: The New Employee Benefit You Should Be Asking For

    In Frank Herbert’s Dune, the axiom is simple: “He who controls the spice controls the universe.” In the AI era, the spice has a name—and it’s tokens. And as the technology continues to proliferate throughout our lives, these atomic units of AI are becoming as embedded in daily life as the dollar is. Every AI […]
  2. Issue

    Why SAP Is Partnering With the Nonprofit That Helped Build the Open Internet

    Enterprise data has a trust problem. As AI agents begin making business decisions autonomously, that problem is about to get very expensive. To solve this, SAP is enlisting the help of the Open Data Institute (ODI), a nonprofit think tank founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, dedicated to advancing […]
  3. Issue

    Ai2 Launches MolmoWeb to Challenge Closed Web Agents with Open Source

    The race to build AI agents that can actually use the web is no longer confined to Big Tech or Big AI. On Tuesday, the Allen Institute for AI stepped into the arena with MolmoWeb, an open visual web agent designed to navigate and control a browser much like a human would. Paired with MolmoWebMix—a […]
  4. Issue

    Palo Alto Networks Brings AI Agent Support to Prisma Browser with Selectable LLMs

    On the same day Palo Alto Networks announced that its Prisma Browser is now available for small- and medium-sized businesses, the cybersecurity firm also unveiled updates for its secure browser app that add support for AI agents. As Chief Executive Nikesh Arora puts it, this new iteration is now “more capable in terms of ability […]
  5. Issue

    Palo Alto Networks Expands Prisma Browser Beyond Enterprises to Protect SMBs From AI-Driven Threats

    Artificial intelligence is moving closer to the edge, with the browser emerging as a key battleground. Startups like Perplexity and The Browser Company are building agentic browsers, while Google and Microsoft are adding AI capabilities to Chrome and Edge, enabling agents to navigate apps, fill forms, and execute workflows like a human. Palo Alto Networks […]
  6. Issue

    Adobe Firefly Unlocks Custom Models for Public Beta, Letting Creators Own Their Style

    This year, Adobe Firefly turns three, and it looks very different from its public beta launch. What started as a hub for the company’s generative models has evolved into something broader: a platform that brings together both Adobe and third-party models, giving creative professionals a single place to choose the right engine for the job. […]
  7. Issue

    AWS Launches Kiro Students to Give College Developers Free Access to Its AI Coding Tool

    Amazon Web Services is aiming to make AI-powered software development easier for early-stage developers. On Wednesday, it debuted Kiro Students, a new plan giving college students free one-year access to Kiro, AWS’s vibe coding tool. However, there is a catch: it comes with a 1,000 monthly credit limit and will initially be available only to […]
  8. Issue

    Snowflake Unveils Project SnowWork to Turn Enterprise Data Insights into Action

    Snowflake is taking a major step forward as a data platform company, launching a new product called Project SnowWork. It’s an autonomous enterprise AI platform that extends AI beyond the firm’s foundation and insights layers, helping users get work done. As a “proactive AI collaborator,” it provides responses grounded in data within the Snowflake platform. […]
  9. Issue

    Ai2 Rethinks Robotics Training With a Simulation-First Approach to Physical AI

    Researchers at the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) say they’ve achieved a breakthrough in physical AI: zero-shot sim-to-real transfer. This milestone allows robotic models trained entirely in simulation to perform tasks in the real world without requiring any real-world data, making it significantly easier to move knowledge from virtual training to actual robots. To mark […]
  10. Issue

    Zendesk Acquires Agentic Startup Forethought to Push Customer Service Towards Autonomous Agents

    As Zendesk seeks to reshape the customer service landscape, it is betting that artificial intelligence will soon handle the majority of service interactions. To accelerate that shift, the company announced plans to acquire the AI startup Forethought. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a Zendesk spokesperson revealed it is an all-cash acquisition […]

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.

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