Larco says that even though enterprises have big budgets and a frantic desire to implement AI solutions, adoption often stalls because \u201cthey don\u2019t know where to start.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fun thing about consumer and prosumer\u2026is that people already have in mind what they want to use it for,\u201d Larco continued. \u201cAnd so they purchase it, and if it meets the need, they just keep using it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, adoption is quicker, and startups building AI products don\u2019t have to guess whether they\u2019ve actually achieved product-market fit or have just won a contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re selling to consumers, you\u2019ll know very quickly if it\u2019s fitting a need or not, and you\u2019ll know quickly whether you need to pivot or make some changes to your product or totally scrap it and start something totally different,\u201d Larco said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Techcrunch event<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
And in today\u2019s anxiety-inducing economy, consumer tech products that manage to scale demonstrate an especially strong product-market fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are early indications that consumer tech is having a moment. Late last year, OpenAI launched apps in ChatGPT, allowing users to shop with the Target app, scour the housing market with Zillow, book trips with Expedia, or make a Spotify playlist, all through the ChatGPT chatbot experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAI is gonna feel like concierge-like services, which will do everything for you that you have in mind,\u201d Larco said. \u201cThe question is, which of it should be specialized, and which should be general purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n
Or put differently, as OpenAI works to make ChatGPT the new operating system of the consumer internet, which legacy companies \u2014 like Tripadvisor or WebMD \u2014 will continue to exist in their own right, and which will get eaten by OpenAI?<\/p>\n
While Larco does think 2026 is going to be a \u201cgangbuster\u201d year for M&A, she\u2019s interested in investing in startups that \u201cOpenAI isn\u2019t going to want to kill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOpenAI doesn\u2019t manage real-world assets,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll build an Airbnb competitor because I don\u2019t think they\u2019re gonna want to manage homes\u2026I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to build any of these marketplaces that require real humans because they don\u2019t want to manage the humans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from which startups can fill the gaps, Larco is watching out for what happens if OpenAI \u201cdecides to pull an Apple or Android where they take a 30% cut of all the traffic they send you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Airbnb gonna want to play ball with that?\u201d she asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Overall, Larco predicts new monetization strategies and fresh business models will emerge from the evolved consumer experience online.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial has to change\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n While doomscrolling on Instagram about Trump\u2019s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, Larco noticed something. She had come to the platform to get news on the escalating crisis, but instead she was overwhelmingly flooded with AI-generated Maduro slop<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While deepfakes have been steadily becoming mainstream on social media, this was one of the first major news events where AI-generated slop muddied the waters of the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt that point, I was like, if I\u2019m just gonna be watching AI-generated videos and photos, I want it to be funny,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Larco says she has been inundated with enough realistic-looking AI videos on social media that she just assumes it\u2019s all AI at this point, and she\u2019s not alone. If we all start to assume that nothing we see on Meta\u2019s platforms or TikTok is real anymore, the question will be, where do you get the real stuff?<\/p>\n Larco says others might fill in the gaps of where to find truthful, non-AI content as platforms like Reddit<\/a> and Digg<\/a> make moves to verify humanity. But for Meta? Maybe it just becomes an entertainment company, a platform for user-generated short films.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we should move on from getting your news from [Meta],\u201d Larco said. \u201cYou are just getting funny videos from there. It\u2019s not social media. It\u2019s just gaming and entertainment media.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Meta-Ray-Ban-Display-Navigation-Lifestyle.jpg\")
Meta Ray-Ban displayImage Credits:<\/strong>Meta \/ Meta<\/p>\n