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Industry · Week 44, 2026

Telecom & internet

What the field argues about, where people say it is heading, and what those ahead of the curve are doing.

Big Tech and platforms
1.2%
People quoted
5

AI-generated Questions, positions and links named by an AI model from the quotes and figures on this page. Every quote is checked word for word against its source; numbers come only from the surveys shown. How subject pages are made

Telecom & internet

Media

Telecom & internet

Opinions

The questions the field argues about, and each side in the words of the people who hold it.

Should internet services enable agents to transact, or keep bots from buying online?

Agent participation

The internet is heading toward agents becoming its most numerous participants, with bots able to transact online.

Well, I mean, you can talk about this, Mark, but we, you know, we're headed to a world where it looks like the main, the, the most numerous participants on the Internet will be agents and not people.

Chris DixonThe a16z Show, 22 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Bot restrictions

Online buying by bots reverses two decades of efforts to prevent them from transacting.

we spent 20 years trying to prevent bots from being able to transact on the Internet and now we're doing the opposite. We're trying to roll it back and allow bots to actually buy things on the Internet.

Erin GriffithHard Fork, 2 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Should internet access be integrated with programming, or kept separate?

Keep pipes separate

Combining internet distribution with programming has not worked well, apart from the distinct case of streaming services.

Integrating distribution and programming has never worked all that well. I mean, and we're not talking about. Okay, well, technically, you know, Netflix did that because it's programming and a streaming service, but we're talking about like actual pipes and programming.

Lucas ShawThe Town with Matthew Belloni, 26 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Integrated service

Internet access can block social media while still running most Android apps.

It just no social media. So social media is blocked because there is a huge growing market that want that. But it runs 99% of Android apps.

Christian SimpsonThe Game Business Show, 20 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Telecom & internet

Emotions

What published surveys counted when they asked people in and around the field.


Pulse

Pulse: what readers say

Readers who answered, not a representative sample.

Telecom & internet

Direction

The internet may shift from people as its main participants toward agents that can transact, reversing efforts to keep bots from buying online.

Well, I mean, you can talk about this, Mark, but we, you know, we're headed to a world where it looks like the main, the, the most numerous participants on the Internet will be agents and not people.

Chris DixonThe a16z Show, 22 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

we spent 20 years trying to prevent bots from being able to transact on the Internet and now we're doing the opposite. We're trying to roll it back and allow bots to actually buy things on the Internet.

Erin GriffithHard Fork, 2 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Telecom & internet

Goals and visions

Forecasts and visions, with when they were said and when they can be checked.

  1. Open

    Well, I mean, you can talk about this, Mark, but we, you know, we're headed to a world where it looks like the main, the, the most numerous participants on the Internet will be agents and not people.

    Chris DixonThe a16z Show, 22 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  2. What I will ask Anyone who values signal and values privacy is. Let's start fighting for the ecosystem. Let's start fighting to make sure the water signal and everyone else swims in are clean enough for us to survive.

    Meredith WhittakerMachine Gods, 28 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Telecom & internet

Ahead of the curve

What practitioners ahead of the curve say they do now.

  1. Fight for an online ecosystem with cleaner signal and privacy protections.

    What I will ask Anyone who values signal and values privacy is. Let's start fighting for the ecosystem. Let's start fighting to make sure the water signal and everyone else swims in are clean enough for us to survive.

    Meredith WhittakerMachine Gods, 28 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Telecom & internet

Topics and industries

Where this field meets other topics, careers and industries.

Week 44, 2026 · 5 people quoted

Telecom & internet

Discussion

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