📝 09/06/25: LDN Tech Week, Zapier Agents, Altman's "Gentle Singularity"
📌 This Week’s News Highlight: London Tech Week, VCs and the 5x AI Shift
I dropped into a few sessions at London Tech Week this week, where AI was threaded into everything. A few takeaways worth sharing, especially if you’re building:
• AI adoption is scaling about 5x faster than the internet did, so the early-mover advantage is very real
• Most businesses aren’t debating if AI fits, but where it fits, internal adoption is a strategic edge
• Whether AI takes your job is still up for debate. But someone using it more effectively probably will
• VCs are excited but still grounded, more than ever they want to see clear market pull, real traction and strong revenue paths, not just AI hype
For founders, you don’t need to be AI-native, but you do need a point of view on how it enhances your product, your team, or your customer’s experience.
Here's UKTN's highlights
🤖 I Built a Simple Email Agent That Now Replies for Me
This week I connected a Zapier Agent to my inbox and it now drafts replies automatically in gmail. It's basic but surprisingly useful. I’ve saved time and cleared out messages quicker.
📎 Find one here: Zapier AI Agents
🍏 Apple WWDC: Quiet on AI, Loud on... Glass
Apple’s WWDC updates landed this week. The new Liquid Glass interface looks ok, but is less readable imo, some think it’s a stepping stone toward smart glasses, getting users ready for this style of interface.
Other highlights worth noting: real-time translation, on-device intelligence, and other AI-lite updates. But no big language model announcements. They’re playing the long game, as always...
☕ Starbucks Launches an AI Assistant for Baristas
Meet Green Dot Assist, Starbucks’ new generative AI tool that instantly helps baristas with inventory, training and order support via tablet in stores. It’s part of a broader trend of AI embedded into frontline workflows without trying to replace the humans.
📎 Full press release → Starbucks AI assistant
💡 Thought of the Week: AI, The Gentle Singularity?
Sam Altman shared his latest vision for where we’re headed, and it’s surprisingly calm. He describes a "gentle singularity" where AI doesn’t explode, but quietly transforms how we live and think. Two immediate predictions:
• In 2026, AI starts proposing new ideas and philosophies (beyond supporting cognitive work as it does today)
• By 2027, robots will be walking the streets and supporting us in manual tasks irl
Although he goes on:
In the most important ways, the 2030s may not be wildly different. People will still love their families, express their creativity, play games, and swim in lakes.
The key now according to Altman is to solve for 2 main concerns:
1. The alignment problem: can we guarantee that AI is evolving in a way that positively impacts humanity - he thankfully calls out social media as an example of a technological innovation that negatively impacts humanity long term.
2.The concentration of power problem: can we make superintelligence cheap and widely available to the majority, whilst ensuring power is not too concentrated with any one person, company, country.
He finishes with:
May we scale smoothly, exponentially and uneventfully through superintelligence.
📎 Read the blog → The Gentle Singularity
🔗 Sneaky Links
• Meta finalises multibillion-dollar stake in Scale AI and poaches its 28-year-old CEO
📎 Read on Reuters
• Vibe coding doesn’t scale
GitHub’s CEO says AI tools are great for prototyping, but real product building still needs engineering depth.
📎 Read on Business Insider
• UK bets big on AI drug discovery
The UK wants to lead globally on AI-driven drug development, with public and private support accelerating progress.
📎 Read on Open Access Government