Open models, unsettled economics
Open models are changing the price of intelligence and where control sits. The rapid shift in usage is another reason to question whether AI's economics have settled.
Topics
Systems and infrastructure
How AI, algorithms and agents shape the internet: its interfaces, protocols, architecture and data flows.
Ads won't be the backbone of the AI economy
AI will reach for the internet's familiar business model. I expect the more durable money to come from trusted information and transactions completed on our behalf.
Automated decisions: what marketers need to do
New transparency obligations start on 10 December 2026. Marketing teams need to know which automated decisions affect customers, what data drives them and what their privacy policy must explain.
The OAIC has been busy: new AI transparency resources
The OAIC has been busy. It has published new guidance, fact sheets and a flowchart on AI and automated decision-making transparency, ahead of obligations commencing on 10 December 2026. The requirements concern privac…
Astro is a thesis about where rendering belongs
Static by default, with interactivity where it earns its place. The islands pattern is the right primitive for the content sites I am building. The full argument, including the distinction between build-time rendering…
The transactional layer is going agentic
Websites do not disappear. They become backend infrastructure. By 2030 the transactional layer of the web is agents negotiating with brand APIs. The question worth asking now is not "how does my site rank" but "what d…
THE ICONIC documents a limited Australian UCP integration
THE ICONIC’s help page, dated 9 July, describes a limited Australian UCP integration: selected own-label products, a single-item purchase, linked accounts and Google Pay. Retailer documentation. The page gives its sta…
Why static-first architecture matters more than schema in a post-search world
Schema is not the answer. Why static-first architecture (Astro, edge) wins for llm retrieval, search crawlers, and agentic browsing in a post-search world.
ChatGPT shopping shifts its emphasis towards discovery
OpenAI says the first version of Instant Checkout did not give merchants the flexibility it wanted. It is putting more emphasis on product discovery while allowing merchants to use their own checkout experiences. Open…
Web iv is the intelligent and agentic web
My thesis on the next era of the web: intelligent systems acting on our behalf, and the need to return value to the people who create it.
UCP checkout begins rolling out in AI Mode and Gemini
Google says UCP-powered checkout is rolling out for US shoppers buying from Etsy and Wayfair in AI Mode and Gemini. Shopify, Target and Walmart remain on its coming-soon list. Google’s update. This moves the record be…
The economics of AI are yet to be determined
AI feels cheap. It feels cheap because investor capital is subsidising it. Four structural forces are converging that reframe the trajectory as an open question with significant downside.
Advisory: OpenClaw and AI agents
Don't deploy this in your business. Don't allow it on any device with access to company data or client information. The automation upside doesn't justify the liability.
AI discovery surface research: needs-driven economy insights
AI surfaces are not just answering questions; they're making recommendations, naming winners, providing decision-ready verdicts. Brands that don't appear are invisible at the point of decision.
ChatGPT advertising: what has changed and how to respond
ChatGPT has announced plans to test advertising in the U.S. This does not change current marketing in Australia, but it indicates where conversational AI is heading.
Google announces the Universal Commerce Protocol
Google has announced UCP, the Universal Commerce Protocol, with retail and platform co-developers. The ambition is a shared language across the shopping journey. Checkout for eligible US retailers in AI Mode and Gemin…
UCP: timeline and simple guide
Track the Universal Commerce Protocol from its January 2026 announcement through specification changes, Google rollouts and country-specific developments.
AI in marketing, what Australia's standards-led approach means for your team
No standalone AI Act. Standards-led, not legislation-led. But the automated decision-making disclosure obligation is binding from December 2026, and the ACL already applies to misleading AI outputs.
Stripe packages the work of selling through agents
Stripe has announced Agentic Commerce Suite, bringing product discovery, checkout and payment integration into one offering. Merchants connect their catalog and choose the agents they want to support, while keeping th…
TOON: a new way to structure data for language models
Token Oriented Object Notation is a compact, human-readable format for feeding structured data into LLMs. It's not a JSON replacement, but for the right shapes, it earns its place.
What AI whispering means in the context of agentic browsers
Hidden manipulation of AI agents through covert instructions. The user sees nothing unusual, but the agent reads an extra layer of meaning and acts on it.
Which API architecture powers the agentic web
GraphQL defines what is requested. gRPC defines how it is delivered. SOAP-based systems used additional standards to express terms. None yet define why. That missing layer is what comes next.
AIP vs MCP: context vs conduct
MCP is the internal wiring that makes the agent capable. AIP is the diplomatic code that makes the agent trustworthy. One enables thought. The other governs action.
Reasoning, human vs artificial: structured systems and intelligence
Reasoning is less a human privilege and more a universal function of structured systems. Humans reason through awareness and intent; machines reason through scale and structure.
The end of web crawling (probably)
Crawling is built on the assumption that information is public and predictable. The web isn't that anymore. My hypothesis is that APIs will replace crawling as the dominant model for how data moves.
The agentic layer: how autonomous agents reshape the web by 2030
By 2030, the transactional layer of the web will be dominated by autonomous agents negotiating with brand APIs. Websites won't disappear, but they'll become backend infrastructure.
Thinking in layers: UX, AX, and the agentic web
Three definitions for concepts emerging in the near future. UX is where meaning meets mechanism. AX is where machine trust is built. AIP is how they talk.
The three layers of the agentic web
How the emerging agentic internet separates use, intelligence, and control. UX is human trust. AX is machine trust. AIP is institutional trust.
ACP launches with Instant Checkout in ChatGPT
OpenAI and Stripe have introduced the Agentic Commerce Protocol alongside Instant Checkout in ChatGPT. The initial experience lets US users buy from US Etsy sellers within a conversation. Shopify merchants are describ…
ACP: timeline and simple guide
Track the Agentic Commerce Protocol from its September 2025 launch: who is behind it, how it works, specification changes and evidence of adoption.