2026.26: Summer Vibes

Ben Thompson shares his experience with 'vibe coding' an app for organizing his garage, highlighting the fun and potential of AI technology. Apple's Siri AI will not launch in Europe due to the Digital Markets Act, as discussed on Dithering Tuesday and in a Daily Update. Sharp Tech released a summer mailbag episode covering memory chips, vibe coding, and various listener questions.

Welcome back to This Week in Stratechery As a reminder, each week, every Friday, we’re sending out this overview of content in the Stratechery bundle; highlighted links are free for everyone. Additionally, you have complete control over what we send to you. If you don’t want to receive This Week in Stratechery emails there is no podcast , please uncheck the box in your delivery settings https://stratechery.passport.online/member/account/delivery . On that note, here were a few of our favorites this week. A Vibe Coding Adventure. It is thrilling to be an analyst in the age of AI, particularly because the questions seem so weighty. Are software companies doomed? Will white collars work exist in a decade? Might chip policy lead to war in the Taiwan Strait? All valid And, at the same time, fretting about the future can foreclose an appreciation at how incredibly awesome this technology is, and that the possibilities really are endless. You can do anything — even organize your garage. That might sound silly, but technology, for all of its importance, is also fun, and I’m having a blast https://stratechery.com/2026/my-vibe-coding-adventure-the-app-and-the-experience-ten-takeaways/ . — Ben Thompson Apple in Europe but not Siri AI . It was a footnote to Apple’s announcements at WWDC two weeks ago, but as expected, the now-fully-function Apple Intelligence products — aka Siri AI — will not be released in Europe because of the company’s ongoing battle with European regulators over the Digital Markets Act. On Dithering Tuesday, Ben and Gruber had a great 15-minute discussion https://dithering.passport.online/member/episode/no-siri-for-eu?guid=https%3A%2F%2Fdithering.passport.online%2Fmember%2Fepisode%2Fno-siri-for-eu about how maddening the situation continues to be, but I also appreciated the end of Ben’s Daily Update on Tuesday https://stratechery.com/2026/apple-price-increases-apple-intelligence-and-the-e-u/ , which covered the same topic and explained why Apple’s own policies may well be what creates the long-term competitive changes the EU hopes to see. — Andrew Sharp A Midsummer Mailbag on Sharp Tech. Every time a major holiday approaches, we try to celebrate on Sharp Tech with an extended mailbag that, thanks to the listeners, tends to be a lot of fun. Ben and I did that again for this week’s episode https://sharptech.fm/member/episode/a-summer-break-mailbag-memory-mania-vibe-coding-mafia-pr-caffeine-intake-garages-and-how-to-fix-soccer , and in addition to thoughts on the future of the memory chip market and more of Ben’s experience with vibe coding, we hit questions on our daily caffeine intake, Sam Altman’s PR strategy, data centers in the ocean, and how to improve international soccer. Come for both substance and pre-vacation goofiness, and whether you’re traveling next week or not, happy 4th of July — AS Stratechery Articles and Updates Apple Price Increases, Apple Intelligence and the E.U. https://stratechery.com/2026/apple-price-increases-apple-intelligence-and-the-e-u/ — Apple is finally raising prices, but they’re not shipping Siri AI to the E.U. Memory Chips and China, Microsoft and Chinese Models https://stratechery.com/2026/memory-chips-and-china-microsoft-and-chinese-models/ — The big three memory makers may come to regret opening up the door to Chinese memory makers; Microsoft, meanwhile, is very incentivized to use Chinese models. My Vibe Coding Adventure, The App and the Experience, Ten Takeaways https://stratechery.com/2026/my-vibe-coding-adventure-the-app-and-the-experience-ten-takeaways/ — My experience and reflections on vibe coding an app that I plan on actually using regularly. An Interview with Figma CEO Dylan Field About Design and AI https://stratechery.com/2026/an-interview-with-figma-ceo-dylan-field-about-design-and-ai/ — An interview with Figma CEO Dylan Field about building Figma, and why he believes AI gives the company a tailwind. Sharp Text by Andrew Sharp Hopes, Fears, and the Wizards https://sharptext.net/2026/hopes-fears-and-the-wizards/ — A window into Washington Wizards fandom during a very big week, after a very long decade. Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber Asianometry with Jon Yu Sharp China with Andrew Sharp and Sinocism’s Bill Bishop Greatest of All Talk Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson This week’s Stratechery video is on Anthropic’s Safety Superpower https://stratechery.com/2026/anthropics-safety-superpower/ .