el producto #435 🚀
Apple AI Search, Amazon AI Agents, ByteDance smart glasses, Figma web creator, LLM dark patterns, Mastering Product taste, Working with agency + intention & more
Hi friends 👋
Happy weekend, and welcome to a new edition of el producto
🎰 The week in figures
$1.4T: Stripe processed $1.4T in 2024, or 1.3% of global GDP
$5.1B: DoorDash acquiredUK-based delivery platform Deliveroo for around $3.9B as part of an overall effort to expand into more international markets. As well, they’re grabbing restaurant and hospitality tech developers SevenRooms in a $1.2B all cash deal (they make tools that help service businesses like restaurants and hotels manage bookings and collect guest information)
$3B: OpenAI is reportedly about to acquire AI-powered coding start-up, Windsurf (formerly Codeium) for around $3B, making it the biggest acquisition OpenAI has ever made—if it goes through. Windsurf was previously valued at $1.25B following a $150M funding round last August. If successful, the acquisition would allow OpenAI to compete with rivals such as Anthropic, whose chatbots already have AI-powered coding capabilities, allowing programmers to write code and fix bugs
$2.9B: Coinbase agreed to acquire the options trading platform Derebit for $2.9B
$900M: Anysphere, which sells the popular Cursor application, has reportedly raised a $900M round at a $9B valuation
$900M: Tim Cook said Apple could take a $900M hit from tariffs just this quarter
$105M: Amsterdam’s digital bank Finom just secured €92.7M (~$105M) in fresh growth funding. Co-founder Kos Stiskin said: “Our core operations are already cash-flow positive. Every new euro goes straight into winning more clients, not plugging gaps.” Launched in 2020, Finom now serves 100,000+ small and mid-sized businesses across Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy
💰 Q1 earnings
Disney beats expectations with Disney+ gaining 1.4M subscribers and a 13% increase in domestic parks revenue. Plans for a new Abu Dhabi park
📰 What’s going on
Apple is actively looking at bringing AI search features into Safari, replacing the default Google Search engine within the year. Apple is talking to Perplexity, Anthropic, and OpenAI to bring AI search to Safari, but despite its existing OpenAI ChatGPT integration, it needs to make sure it can “switch” so it secures the very best AI search provider
Anthropic launched an API for AI-powered web search, enabling devs to build apps that tap into current web data without managing search infrastructure
French AI startup Mistral AI officially launched a new version of its chatbot, Le Chat, called Le Chat Enterprise, which has been designed specifically for enterprises and corporate users. Le Chat Enterprise integrates with popular third-party content management systems such as Microsoft’s SharePoint and Gmail/Google Drive, etc, and offers tools to help enterprises, like an AI agent builder
Google just dropped Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview I/O Edition (yes, that’s the name; they just keep getting worse and worse), and it’s a turbocharged upgrade to its flagship model. This souped-up Gemini 2.5 is billed as smarter, faster, and cleaner across key benchmarks, giving Google a solid lead in the AI arms race. For developers, it’s a code-lover’s dream: more accurate function calls (translation: it makes fewer dumb guesses about what your code is supposed to do), faster editing, and creates apps that actually behave like you told them to. Currently, the model leads the WebDev Arena Leaderboard, a benchmark that measures how well an AI can design polished, functional web apps
Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft’s AI Chatbot service, now has a Mac app too
Amazon is working on a new project called “Kiro” that uses AI agents to help product development teams write code. It’s a web and desktop app that can be customized to work with first-party and third-party AI agents
Figma Make is Figma’s new tool for creating websites, app prototypes, and marketing assets, challenging competitors like Canva, Adobe, and WordPress
ByteDance is building AI-powered smart glasses that record what you see, whisper suggestions in your ear, and turn real life into monetizable content. The glasses will pair with its Doubao chatbot, shoot high-res video, and offer voice-activated AI support on the fly. Think: first-person livestreams, automated captions, trend alerts, and product links floating in your POV
Meta is building smart glasses too, but with a new “super-sensing” vision feature capable of recognizing people by name
Uber and Pony.ai have announced a strategic partnership to deploy Pony.ai's autonomous robotaxis on Uber's platform—beginning in the Middle East later this year, with plans to expand globally
📚 Good reads
LLM dark patterns. We’ve entered the era of emotionally manipulative autocomplete. LLMs are now serving you praise with a side of product placement. And it’s more than just annoying. It’s engineered. They’re called LLM “dark patterns.” These sneaky UX tricks are designed to steer you into actions you didn’t really choose—like buying, subscribing, or sharing—whether you meant to or not. They’re like UX dark patterns, but now they talk back
When agency meets intention. Gian Segato's recently viral essay offers a compelling lens on how AI can supercharge individual and entrepreneurial capacity, putting agency, not permission, at the center of economic participation in this AI-enabled age, and what it means. Yet, this surge in agency may come with a cost: the risk of uncoordinated action. In an era where everything is buildable, the hard part becomes choosing what not to build - and making those decisions coherently. AI expands what’s possible; only thoughtful organisations will turn possibility into meaningful progress
Deep shifts in how we experience tech are coming. This essay by Pete Koomen (Y Combinator’s GP) draws on the metaphor of the horseless carriage to show how, similar to every new technology, LLM-powered systems are beginning to be built by mimicking old patterns before unlocking their own potential. As agentic systems rise, Koomen argues that product design must move beyond polished interfaces and give users access to system prompts. We're witnessing a shift: as we move from deterministic systems to agentic, probabilistic ones (think LLMs + AI), rigid architectural constraints are going to leave more space to the user context
Mastering Product taste: lessons from Stripe, Square, and others. First Round Review explores how Stripe and Square define and refine their product taste, emphasizing user-centric design and the importance of cultural alignment. Prioritizing feedback and fostering a holistic team culture are key to creating products that resonate deeply with users
Niches are larger than you'd think. CJ Gustafson dives into how focusing on niche markets can yield surprising value. By honing in on a specific audience, you not only build stronger connections but also create "earned secrets" that resonate deeply, enhancing trust and pricing power. It's all about leveraging community and consistency to grow engagement and grow your brand
[off-Product] 40 lessons at 40. As I completed a new significant spin around our closest star last week, I took time to reflect on work, purpose, impact, and life in general. Not the typical el producto article, but I hope you enjoy it!
That’s a wrap for this week! 🌟
I’d love to hear your thoughts—what stood out to you, and how are you thinking about integrating these insights into your Product strategy? Reply to the email or drop a comment on Substack to share your take. And if you found this valuable, forward it to a fellow PM, Product enthusiast, startup founder or entrepreneur who’d enjoy the read
See you next week! 👋
Angel