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Jobless Growth Is Normal Now, Chrome Wins By Doing Nothing, 95% AI Fails take two

Plus: Doubling your PM salary, Microsoft's secret Apple rescue, and Communication frameworks that work

Author

Alastair Preacher
October 31, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 19 minutes

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What’s cooking this week? 🥘 

Goldman declares jobless growth normal (productivity without people, finally), Chrome crushes AI browsers by shipping nothing (security nightmare meets distribution moat) and another 95% AI adoption failure rate story (abdication ≠ augmentation). Meanwhile quantum gets verifiable (not just theoretical flex) and blind people can literally read again.

📰 Not Boring → Jobs paradox, browser war delusions, AI platform land grabs

⌚️ Productivity Tapas → Multiplayer local AI, unified workspace canvas, presentation tools

🍔 Blog Bites → AI-first culture blueprint, PM salary doubling strategy, Microsoft's Apple rescue decoded

🎙️ Pod Shots → Communication frameworks that actually work (the most underrated senior skill)

Let's go 🚀

📰 Not boring

The Great AI Jobs Paradox

So which is it? Goldman calls it "jobless growth"—GDP expands whilst job creation outside healthcare turns negative. Some insist they need more humans because of automation. Both are probably true: AI eliminates routine tasks whilst creating demand for fewer, higher-skilled oversight roles. The big issue? The job market is definitely not booming. And Goldman warns the full labour market consequences may not appear until the next recession, when companies traditionally "restructure and streamline." 

The AI Browser Wars Get Messy

  • AI Browser wars update: Strawberry claims to crush Atlas and every other competitor.

  • Whilst Microsoft Edge now has Copilot Mode. 

  • Does it matter? Chrome's distribution advantage dwarfs AI features, and AI browsers remain fundamentally insecure, as evidenced by more Brave research on Comet vulnerabilities

Here's Chrome's genius: it can wait. AI browsers are systematically vulnerable—Brave found you can hide malicious instructions in screenshots that are invisible to humans but read by the AI. If you're signed into your bank whilst summarising a Reddit post, you've potentially given an attacker access to your money. Why rush to add AI when your distribution advantage means you can let competitors solve the security nightmare first?

AI Platform Power Plays

  • Reddit sues Perplexity for allegedly ripping its content to feed AI. Perplexity argues it's impossible for them to sign a licence agreement as they are an application-layer company that doesn't train AI models on content. Although apparently they are a willing customer of those that do…

  • Talking of Perplexity, here's a 42-page document on how to use AI at work to get more done. It's Perplexity centric (but uniformly relevant) and covers 3 themes: Block Distractions, Scale Yourself, Get Results

  • PayPal signs deal with OpenAI to become the first payments wallet in ChatGPT

  • GitHub's Agent HQ aims to solve enterprises' biggest AI coding problem: Too many agents, no central control

  • Anthropic launches (pilot) of Claude for Excel: test scenarios without breaking formulas, debug and fix errors, build models or fill existing templates plus more. Currently limited to 1,000 beta users on Max, Team and Enterprise plans

  • OpenAI made ChatGPT better at sifting through your work or school information. The 'company knowledge' update allows ChatGPT to be used as a search engine for workspace data

The AI stack is consolidating. Reddit suing Perplexity exposes the tensions: Perplexity claims it doesn't train models, yet it's buying from those who scrape Reddit's data. Digital equivalent of receiving stolen goods. Meanwhile, the real power plays are at the integration layer—PayPal embedding itself as ChatGPT's first payments wallet, Claude infiltrating Excel, ChatGPT becoming your work search engine. More land grabs for where actual work happens.

AI Gets Everywhere Else

  • Latest Yelp assistant brings smarter search, seamless connections, instant answers and a more conversational experience; menu vision is pretty neat, point your phone at a menu to see photos, details and reviews

  • Pinterest rolls out new tools to give users more control over GenAI content; nice de-sloppification of your feed

  • Whilst at the other end of the spectrum Meta is allowing users to restyle Instagram Stories using Meta AI (type prompts to add, remove, or change elements in photos and videos)

  • And OpenAI moves to generate AI music in potential rivalry with startup Suno

  • Google announced Pomelli allowing you to create on-brand marketing content for your business

  • Amazon unveils AI-powered augmented reality glasses for delivery drivers

  • Last week we talked about Google AI Studio; one thing I missed was the ability to annotate when you vibe code and then have Gemini action them directly in the code. Nice touch

The spectrum is fascinating: Pinterest lets you dial down AI-generated slop (finally), whilst Instagram encourages you to AI-restyle your Stories into oblivion. OpenAI moving into music generation signals something predictable: once you've built infrastructure for generating media, why limit yourself to one modality? Every moat in creative industries is being simultaneously attacked by the same handful of foundation model companies. Suno's headstart won't matter if OpenAI bundles music into ChatGPT's 800 million users (see distribution beats product again, episode 365,652).

Infrastructure, Breakages & Acquisitions

Fragility and consolidation. The AWS outage: a race condition in DynamoDB's DNS system deleted all IP addresses, cascading through EC2, Lambda, ECS, EKS, and Fargate. Damage estimates reached hundreds of billions. Two independent systems designed for redundancy collided in an edge case that left an empty DNS record. When your DNS fails, everything fails, and we've built a world where "everything" includes smart homes, government services, and a good chunk of the global economy. I’m sure AI will fix this…

Actually Living in the Future

  • Google announces working quantum computing breakthrough—the first verifiable quantum algorithm running on hardware that surpasses classical supercomputers, achieving 13,000x speed advantage using their Quantum Echoes algorithm to compute molecular structures

  • People with blindness can read again after retinal implant

  • Jordanian government rolls out Siraj, an AI learning assistant, to 1.6M students and 90K teachers nationwide – built by one person in under a month using Replit

  • No really we are living in the future—Nike says its first 'powered footwear' is like an e-bike for your feet

This is the stuff that makes you pause. Google's quantum breakthrough is the first verifiable algorithm on hardware that surpasses classical supercomputers—"verifiable" means repeatable on any quantum computer of similar calibre, making it scalable rather than a one-off parlour trick. The retinal implant: 80% of participants with advanced AMD gained clinically meaningful vision—people who couldn't recognise faces can now read. Jordan deployed AI learning for 1.6 million students in under a month, one person, using Replit. The future isn't evenly distributed, but chunks are arriving faster than expected.

⌚️ Productivity Tapas: Time-Saving Tools & Tips

  • Parallax: Multiplayer local AI. Say what? Build your own AI cluster to run the best large language models across multiple devices, no matter their specs or location - unlocking more powerful local LLMs

  • Nimo: This looks neat. Nimo unifies all your AI productivity tools and workflows in one infinite intelligent canvas. Put Sheets, Notion, Gmail, and all other apps in on workspace then use AI across them all doing different things.`

  • Alai: Create high quality presentations with AI - first pass looks as good if not better than Gamma

  • The one day loop: (Process not an app) Go from idea to prototype to testing and decision in a day with this process as used by the Gamma Product team

    Remember. Product Tapas subscribers get our complete toolkit - 460+ personally tailored, time-saving tools for PMs and founders. Your shortcut to efficiency and what's hot in product management 🔥

Check the link here to access.

🍔 Blog Bites - Essential Reads for Product Teams

Strategy: From AI Tools to AI-First Culture - The Leadership Blueprint

Mark Laurence explores how organisations can transform from AI-curious to AI-reflexive through leadership-driven cultural change. His approach emphasises that becoming AI-first isn't about buying software—it's about building fluency-led transformation from the top down. Read the full article here.

💡 "An AI-reflexive mindset happens when people and organisations turn to AI as a first instinct, at the right times (and just as importantly, when they're skilled at deciding when AI is not the answer)."

Key Takeaways

• Leadership first: AI literacy must start with senior leaders who experience measurable productivity gains and visibly model “people + AI” ways of working.

• Culture & communication: Leaders should demonstrate AI use, send clear expectations, and adopt prompting frameworks that mirror excellent human communication.

• Training that matters: Invest in high-quality, role-specific programs that teach how AI works and how to use it responsibly—beyond button-press tutorials.

• Organisation & councils: Create internal AI councils with cross-level representation (interns through execs) to drive grassroots momentum and shared ownership.

• Regular cadence: Fortnightly check-ins (e.g., breakfasts, “promptathons”) keep learning live and surface new use-cases quickly.

• Practical roadmap: A 12–24 month plan focused on literacy, council formation, and policy/practice improvements (iterate policies as leaders become AI-literate).

• Risk management: Provide guidance early to prevent shadow AI use and accidental exposure of sensitive data.

• Strategic leverage: For senior leaders, AI’s highest value is strategy, analysis, planning and decision support—powered by personalised assistants (CustomGPTs/Gems).

• Productivity & toolset: Proper integration multiplies capacity (the “two extra FTE” effect); maintain a core stack (large models, retrieval/notes, generation, multimodal tools).

• Fundamentals & mission: Scale depends on basics (sleep, exercise, nutrition) and a mission to spread AI literacy and cultural transformation across the business community

Mark Laurence | Bill Kerr - Opensource CEO

Career: The Strategic Blueprint for Doubling Your Product Management Salary

Craig Unsworth explores a systematic approach to dramatically increasing your earning potential in product management. Rather than relying on passive career progression, he outlines a deliberate strategy combining capability development, strategic visibility, and market leverage. Read the full article here.

💡 "You get paid more when you lead more. Not necessarily by job title alone but by having scope and impact."

Key Takeaways:

• Market Intelligence: Research salary benchmarks using Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and peer networks to understand total compensation packages

• Target Setting: Plot your salary milestone (e.g., £100k → £200k) with a realistic 12-24 month timeline

• Scope Mapping: Document current responsibilities versus target scope for next two levels up

• Leadership Transition: Shift from "doing product" to "leading product" through expanded team size, budget ownership, and strategic responsibility

• Narrative Evolution: Transform your story from "I delivered feature X" to "I led initiative X that delivered business outcome Y"

• Cross-functional Thinking: Extend beyond UX/Engineering into GTM, Growth, P&L, and Partnerships

• Win Portfolio: Create 3-4 high-visibility wins combining strategic importance, measurable outcomes, and scalable impact

• Documentation Strategy: Record metrics, your specific role, learnings, and stakeholder testimonials for each achievement

• Personal Branding: Use documented wins to build internal and external reputation

• Strategic Capabilities: Develop market insight, competitive positioning, and product vision skills

• Business Acumen: Master unit economics, P&L management, and growth levers

• Leadership Skills: Build expertise in indirect influence, stakeholder management, and change leadership

• Internal Visibility: Present work to C-suite, write internal case studies, and speak up in leadership forums

• External Presence: Publish articles, speak at meetups, and engage actively in product communities

• Sponsor Development: Cultivate advocates who will champion you in promotion and salary discussions

• Market Leverage: Consider external opportunities as salary bands often increase more dramatically between companies

• Equity Understanding: Evaluate long-term compensation through equity and profit-sharing opportunities

• Timing Strategy: Align promotion conversations with successful projects, budget cycles, and company value events

Craig Unsworth | Chiefly Product

Strategy: When Your Biggest Rival Becomes Your Lifeline

Tom from Strategy Breakdowns explores the untold story behind Microsoft's 1997 "rescue" of Apple, revealing how a seemingly simple $150 million investment masked one of tech history's most complex strategic negotiations. This deep dive uncovers the real leverage points and hidden settlements that shaped two decades of tech dominance. Read the full article here.

💡 "We have to let go of this notion that for Apple to win Microsoft has to lose. We have to embrace a notion that for Apple to win Apple has to do a really good job, and if others are going to help us, that's great, because we need all the help we can get."

Key Takeaways:

• Negotiation Leverage: Despite near‑bankruptcy, Apple held powerful legal and commercial bargaining chips—QuickTime/code‑theft claims worth billions, a decade‑long GUI copyright dispute, and valuable Mac Office customers—while Microsoft depended on those premium Mac users.

• Hidden Deal Structure: The $150M headline concealed a far larger multi-year package (roughly $500M–$2B) made of five parts: equity (non‑voting preferred), patent cross‑licenses, software commitments, lawsuit settlements, and joint development.

• Strategic interdependence & antitrust: Microsoft needed Apple alive to avoid DOJ scrutiny given Windows’ dominance; keeping Apple viable but weak served as an antitrust defence (later echoed by IE browser defaults in the 1998 DOJ case).

• Long-term consequences: The settlement bought Apple time to create the iPod/iPhone/iPad and re‑enter growth; Microsoft preserved desktop control but missed mobile—cross‑licensing still limits big IP fights between them.

• Missed opportunities & costs: Microsoft later sold its stake for $550M (an enormous unrealised gain in hindsight); Oracle and Dell explored alternate paths (Ellison eyed a $1B bid; Dell suggested liquidation).

• Bottom line: A complex, multi‑layered deal that masked huge legal, strategic, and financial trade‑offs—preserving two dominant companies and reshaping the tech landscape.

Tom, Strategy Breakdowns

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🎙️ Pod Shots - Bitesized Podcast Summaries

Remember, we've built an ever-growing library of our top podcast summaries. Whether you need a quick refresher, want to preview an episode, or need to get up to speed fast - we've got you covered.

Check it out here

🏗️ "Communication is the most underrated skill. It's the thing that matters most as you get more senior."

Wes Kao, co-founder of Maven and former Chief of Staff at altMBA, has spent years teaching executives how to communicate with clarity and influence. In this conversation, she breaks down the exact frameworks she uses—from structuring high-stakes emails to anticipating objections before they derail your pitch.

Wes Kao | Lenny’s Podcast

🎥 Watch the full episode here

📆 Published: April 6th 2025 🕒

Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins. Time saved: 90 mins! 🔥

Key insights from the full article:

  • 📧 Sales, Then Logistics — why you need to sell the "why" before diving into the "how"

  • ✂️ Concision isn't brevity — it's about economy of words, not just being short

  • 🗺️ Signposting — how to guide your reader through complex ideas without losing them

  • 🎯 MOO Framework — anticipate the Most Obvious Objection before they raise it

  • 😎 Keep your cool — the real-time tactics for handling pushback in meetings

  • ⬆️ Managing up — how to influence decisions without formal authority

  • 📝 CEDAF — the delegation framework for maintaining high standards

  • 💾 Swipe files — steal from yourself to speed up communication

  • 🧠 Preparation beats talent — great communicators rehearse, revise, and refine

👉 Read the full breakdown — sent separately, check your inbox or click below

That’s a wrap.

As always, the journey doesn't end here!

Please share and let us know what you would like to see more or less of so we can continue to improve your Product Tapas. 🚀👋

Alastair 🍽️.

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