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.

Open on Substack ↗
  1. Issue

    Why Microsoft Is Betting on OpenClaw

    IN THIS ISSUE: Microsoft is making its boldest agentic bet yet, building a new team to bring the OpenClaw framework into Microsoft 365 Copilot — a move that could reshape how hundreds of millions of office workers interact with AI. But as enterprises race to deploy AI agents, a quieter crisis is building in the […]
  2. Issue

    AWS Unveils Agent Registry to Bring Order to Enterprise AI Sprawl

    Every major enterprise software vendor—Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Salesforce, ServiceNow, SAP—is racing to plant a flag in what they’ve variously dubbed the “frontier firm” or the “agentic enterprise.” The pitch is the same regardless of the branding: the future of work runs on digital labor. But as agent deployments multiply, so does the risk. Knowing […]
  3. Issue

    You Can Now Use Upwork in ChatGPT to Find Freelancers

    Upwork is doubling down on its partnership with OpenAI by integrating its Work Marketplace directly into ChatGPT. Using natural language, businesses can describe their project needs, discover relevant talent, and draft job posts—all without leaving the AI platform. From there, they’re guided to Upwork, where Uma, the company’s own AI work agent, picks up to […]
  4. Issue

    ServiceNow’s Context Engine Infuses AI Agents With the Know-How to Act

    An AI agent is only as good as the information it has. To ensure optimal performance, ServiceNow has developed what it calls the Context Engine, an enterprise-grade tool that pairs AI agents with an organization’s institutional knowledge, relationships, and decision history. It’s the centerpiece of a broader set of announcements the company is making on […]
  5. Issue

    Visa Wants to Be the Payment Rail for the Agentic Economy

    Visa is looking to position itself as the payments backbone for agentic commerce. On Wednesday, the global payments network debuted Intelligent Commerce Connect (ICC), a platform designed to help AI agents discover merchants and complete purchases on behalf of users. Notably, despite it coming from Visa, it works across any card network or credential infrastructure […]
  6. Issue

    Slackbot Steps Into the AI Spotlight

    For more than a decade, Slack has positioned itself as a place where work happens (remember this commercial?). It has become a central part of how teams communicate and collaborate. But one of its most overlooked features—the Slackbot—is now stepping into a much bigger role and becoming what Salesforce describes as the “ultimate teammate.” Slackbot […]
  7. Issue

    Intercom Turns Fin Into a Developer Platform

    Three years after launching its Fin customer service agent, Intercom is opening it up to third-party developers via an API. There’s a catch: It’s open to anyone spending at least $250,000 on Intercom, but the company promises usage rates that are “by far the cheapest in the industry.” Until today, Fin had been confined to […]
  8. Issue

    HubSpot Moves Breeze Agents to Outcome-Based Pricing

    HubSpot is restructuring how it charges for its Breeze AI agents, moving to a model in which customers pay for results rather than by usage. It’s a significant bet that the company can deliver measurable value at a moment when business leaders are scrutinizing every AI line item. “Businesses are being asked to make big […]
  9. Issue

    Microsoft Debuts MAI-Transcribe-1 Speech-to-Text Model That Tops Whisper, GPT, Gemini Flash

    Microsoft’s AI division has been notably active in building out its first-party portfolio. It has developed everything from foundation models and vision capabilities to speech and image generation and diagnostic orchestration. Now, the company is adding another piece: MAI-Transcribe-1, a multilingual speech-to-text model that’s now available in public preview on Microsoft Foundry. MAI-Transcribe-1 is trained […]
  10. Issue

    Claude Users Say Tokens Are Disappearing Too Fast. Anthropic Isn’t Saying Much.

    The more I think about it, the more I see rate-limit toggling by Anthropic and its peers as similar to the era before unlimited talk, text, and data on our smartphones. Back then, we scrambled to tell people to contact us outside peak hours so we wouldn’t use all of our allotted monthly minutes. This […]

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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