Inklings #027 📧

Microsoft will roll out its Copilot "super app" in limited preview "in the coming weeks," with additional elements entering preview later this month, consolidating its Copilot brands into three tabs: Home for chat, Code for coding, and Autopilot for agentic work, the latter a rebrand of its Scout agent. The Verge reported the launch, which unifies what the newsletter calls a mess of Copilot options and brands, though the business model remains split between usage-based pricing in the app and license-based pricing for Copilot integrations elsewhere.

Inklings 027 📧 Aside from out-Googling Google https://spyglass.org/why-didnt-google-build-muse/ with their AI personal assistant Muse https://spyglass.org/metas-amusing-muse/ , it's arguably more impressive that Meta appears to have out-Apple'd Apple by turning the just-okay Quest into what sure sounds like a better version of the Vision Pro. Yes, Apple's device undoubtedly still has nicer touches here and there, but that doesn't really matter when you completely flubbed the big stuff – quite literally https://spyglass.org/vision-pro-start-up/ . With the caveat that I've not yet tried it, the Meta VR Glasses sure sound like https://spyglass.org/meta-muse-connect-keynote/ what Apple should have waited https://spyglass.org/vision-pro-launch-disaster/ to ship as the v1 of Vision Pro... Aside: the Cleveland Guardians are back in the playoffs . Taylor Swift has a new song entitled "Cleveland " . Even the city's orchestra is making headlines ⚾️🎤🏈 today. The stars are aligning for a truly magical 3-14 season from the Browns. I Note... 🛩️ The Copilot "Super App" Lands – Well, more like it will be arriving soon-ish – some elements will be in limited preview "in the coming weeks", other elements will be in preview later this month. It feels like Microsoft wanted to get this out there now with all the other agentic activity https://spyglass.org/thoughts-on-the-great-ai-agent-race-a-super-ai-rebrand-attempt/ – and perhaps a few more options https://spyglass.org/the-swiss-assistant/ dropping soon, including from key frenemy https://spyglass.org/microsoft-vs-openai/ OpenAI. Overall, this sounds good on paper – unifying what has been a mess https://spyglass.org/microsoft-copilot-copilot-copilot/ of Copilot options and brands into three tabs: Home, Code, and Autopilot. The latter is the rebranding of their Scout agent, and as I've said before https://spyglass.org/copilot-ai-super-app/ , is great branding when paired with Copilot – a huge achievement for Microsoft https://spyglass.org/microsoft-office-brand-ruined/ Basically, 'Home' is for chat and 'Cowork' which is funny since Anthropic just unified these https://spyglass.org/inklings-metas-camera-less-glasses-apples-surveillance-claude-unifies-prime-bundles-dario-writes-bond-jack-bond/ :~:text=%F0%9F%A4%96%20Anthropic%20Merges%20Claude%20Chat%20and%20Cowork , 'Code' is for coding, and 'Autopilot' is for agentic work. And they're not trying to go after Muse https://spyglass.org/metas-amusing-muse/ though there is a name/cute face option for your agent – not the cloud blob guy https://spyglass.org/microsoft-copilot-bot-face/ nor Clippy , this is all about work but might those worlds collide at some point https://spyglass.org/bring-your-own-ai/ ? . So it's a question of how much the deep Office integration will matter alongside the ability to mix and match models from other vendors. Again, that sounds compelling on paper – certainly for orgs that are Microsoft shops. But that was the case with the other instantiations of Copilot https://spyglass.org/microsoft-copilot-ai-strategy/ and it hasn't really mattered https://spyglass.org/bing-copilot-ai-search/ to date. I would say that perhaps the product is key here, but Teams has long been a crap product and that hasn't really mattered, so it's gotta be something else. Again, maybe it's the model picker https://spyglass.org/ai-overkill/ . Because the business model still sounds a bit convoluted usage-based in the app but license-based for the Copilot integrations elsewhere . Verge 📺 Premium Streaming Ads – A change to the Disney+ subscriber agreement would seem to suggest that the service may soon try to inject ads into their higher-priced tiers that have typically been ad-free. Hopefully this is just around sports, where such practice is obviously the norm https://spyglass.org/netflix-ads/ due to how those broadcasts are constructed which is, around ad breaks . But it also feels inevitable that ads will creep into all tiers eventually. Death. Taxes. Ads. Everywhere https://spyglass.org/you-are-the-product/ . Even https://spyglass.org/apple-adds-apple-ads/ Apple https://spyglass.org/apple-push-ads/ . There's simply too much money to be made – especially when those paying the highest prices are likely the most lucrative base to advertise to. That was always a mismatch. So will prices come down as a result? LOL. I'm sorry, you must be new here. WWND? What Will Netflix Do https://spyglass.org/netflix-vs-youtube/ ? Polygon ⚖️ DoJ Rides to Apple's Rescue https://9to5mac.com/2026/09/22/u-s-government-urges-supreme-court-to-reverse-apple-contempt-ruling-over-app-store-commission/?ref=spyglass.org – At first glance, this may seem like some political funny business – which this current DoJ clearly isn't above https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/23/trump-press-ban-brief?ref=spyglass.org – did Tim Apple https://spyglass.org/tim-cook-donald-trump-apple-eu/ get his buddy https://spyglass.org/apple-china-tariffs-exemption/ in the Oval Office to help here? But actually, this may be far more in the technical legal weeds. Apple has been arguing that, again, technically, they shouldn't be able to be held in contempt https://spyglass.org/tear-down-the-app-store-walls/ over their 27% commission funny business https://spyglass.org/apples-cut/ because that rate was never a part of the ruling. The Judge would undoubtedly argue that Apple violated the spirit of her ruling https://spyglass.org/epic-apple-beatdown/ with their again, comical as it actually raises rates https://spyglass.org/apples-lol-fee/ on developers when they have to take care of their own payment processing separately actions. But her move to put that rate at 0% was obviously over-the-top in the other direction , and subsequent appeals made clear some kind of commission was likely permissible. But if Apple can get this all further https://spyglass.org/apple-app-store-cut-death/ delayed https://spyglass.org/apple-denied/ ... well, that may just save the App Store business and thus, the all-important https://spyglass.org/apple-services-business-iphone/ Services business for Apple. For now https://spyglass.org/play-store-30-percent-cut-app-store/ , at least. 9to5Mac I Wrote... I Quote... "I've seen Steve say it, and I've seen Tim say it. And so having the opportunity for me to say it was pretty magical. Kind of goosebumps." – John Ternus on his https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=543zTHAylEY&ref=spyglass.org first " one more thing https://spyglass.org/the-ternus-note/ " moment in an Apple keynote https://spyglass.org/iphone-duo-event/ . Thoughts On... Asides... - On a scale of 1 to Begrudgingly, how much do you think Apple wanted to renew any sort of contract with Qualcomm ? But this is seemingly about patent licensing not actual chips any longer https://spyglass.org/stepping-out/ :~:text=%F0%9F%8D%AA%20ARM%20to%20Scrap%20Qualcomm%20Chip%20Design%20License%20in%20Feud%20Escalation ... Six Colors https://sixcolors.com/link/2026/09/apple-renews-qualcomm-patent-deal/?ref=spyglass.org - AT&T is scorning Apple's new ' iPhone Handoff ' feature to easily swap your phone number between devices. Not even charging extra https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/t-mobile-charging-for-iphone-handoff/?ref=spyglass.org , just not offering it. We're a long way from that special relationship as the iPhone launch partner, it seems https://spyglass.org/iphone-duo-event/ ... 9to5Mac https://9to5mac.com/2026/09/23/att-iphone-handoff-support/?ref=spyglass.org - Meta is racing Roblox to create the AI Gaming Slop market. Maybe there will be an ephemeral Flappy Bird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flappy Bird?ref=spyglass.org hit here and there thanks to a boost by Instagram or Facebook , but come on... Verge https://www.theverge.com/games/999972/meta-horizon-create-studio-ai-games?ref=spyglass.org - Google is launching their first data centers in space test which sounds promising on paper and in labs , but also like none of this will be viable at any sort of scale for a decade at least. Shocker, I know https://spyglass.org/data-centers-in-space-elon-musk/ . NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/technology/google-suncatcher-ai-data-center-space.html?ref=spyglass.org - With Microsoft busy cleaning up Copilot, it sure seems like the Copilot+ PCs brand https://spyglass.org/nvidia-cpu-microsoft-surface-ai/ may not be long for this world either... Windows Central https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/the-copilot-pc-brand-is-dead-microsoft-and-pc-makers-quietly-pull-back-on-tarnished-windows-11-ai-pc-branding?ref=spyglass.org - YouTube beat out Netflix and Prime Video to maintain their Coachella streaming rights. Why? Beyond money, the festival cares about the wider reach a free tier brings in – another push https://spyglass.org/netflix-vs-youtube/ for Netflix there... Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-23/youtube-beats-amazon-netflix-to-clinch-coachella-livestream-through-2030?ref=spyglass.org 🔒 - Meanwhile, YouTube has weighed in on Meta's call for them to join their social media settlement https://spyglass.org/metas-poke-on-the-wrist/ : NFW. CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/23/tech/youtube-ceo-meta-child-safety-settlement?ref=spyglass.org - TikTok hasn't formally weighed in, but is blocking Meta from advertising the proposal on their network. So yeah, ditto. Axios https://www.axios.com/2026/09/11/tiktok-meta-ads-children-safety-settlement?ref=spyglass.org - Meanwhile, - After nearly two years on ice, Apple has oh-so-quietly put The Savant , the Jessica Chastain show they pulled at the last minute https://spyglass.org/the-savant-apple/ clearly worried about political pressure and backlash, back on the schedule. Deadline https://deadline.com/2026/09/jessica-chastain-the-savant-new-release-date-apple-tv-1237108228/?ref=spyglass.org - Bob Chapek strikes back Or tries to, with his new memoir taking aim at his fellow Bob https://500ish.com/a-cook-in-disneys-kitchen-978504b9a5b9?ref=spyglass.org , Iger . He ups the backstabbing claims to lays out a COVID-related conspiracy around Iger's abrupt exit to throw Chapek under that oncoming bus... NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/business/media/disney-bob-chapek-bob-iger.html?ref=spyglass.org I Wrote Soylent Green Edition ... I Spy... Speaking of Big Tech meddling in Hollywood, I meant to link to it a couple weeks back, but you can pretty clearly see why Amazon dumped Artificial https://spyglass.org/amazon-kills-openai-movie/ – aka the OpenAI "Blip" movie – to indie distributor Neon: the trailer alone is dark as fuck https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/artificial-trailer-andrew-garfield-sam-altman-1236693901/?ref=spyglass.org . This is, um, not going to help with the overall AI narrative challenges https://spyglass.org/ai-end-of-humanity/ . But if you can look past the guns in the bunker, Andrew Garfield sure seems to have Sam Altman's gait down perfect. 🎶 Listening to "Cleveland " by Taylor Swift 🍺 Enjoying a Northern Monk Amy Hastings IPA 🇬🇧 Sent from London, England