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Morning Brief — Monday, October 26, 2026
Last updated: Mon 26 Oct
Edition 015 · · 5 stories · 5 min read · Markets
Today's dominant thread: the bill came due on the AI boom's promises — an Apollo economist says most companies have seen no financial payoff, while the first AI-generated feature arrives and proves the tools can produce output faster than they can produce value.
- AI has delivered zero financial payoff to most companies, Apollo economist says
- Grok publishes the first seven minutes of its AI-generated Odyssey
- The Cyberselfish author says Silicon Valley never grew up
- The AI wearables now on sale, and what they actually do
- GM and the robotaxi race lead this week's mobility briefing
AI has delivered zero financial payoff to most companies, Apollo economist says
An economist at Apollo Global Management said artificial intelligence has produced no measurable financial return for corporate America outside the technology industry, despite the enormous sums being invested in it. He described the payoff as effectively zero for most firms.
Why it matters to everyday Americans
If the return is not real outside tech, the money behind your tools is a bet rather than a return, and bets eventually get called in.
Source: TechCrunch
Grok publishes the first seven minutes of its AI-generated Odyssey
xAI released the opening seven minutes of an AI-generated adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. Reviewers described the footage as technically passable but short on artistry, inspiration and human interest.
Why it matters to everyday Americans
A machine-made feature film is now watchable, and the gap between watchable and worth watching is where the whole argument lives.
Source: TechCrunch
The Cyberselfish author says Silicon Valley never grew up
Paulina Borsook, whose 2000 book Cyberselfish criticised the tech industry's libertarian streak, says little has changed in the decades since. She called the industry worldview a 12-year-old view of the world, as her book returns to print.
Why it matters to everyday Americans
The people shaping AI are still arguing from a worldview written before any of these tools existed, and it is being republished because it still fits.
Source: TechCrunch
The AI wearables now on sale, and what they actually do
TechCrunch compiled a list of the most notable AI wearables on the market, including Muse Charm, Bee, Friend and Plaud. The devices range from pendant recorders to pins that listen to a conversation and summarise it later.
Why it matters to everyday Americans
Always-on AI you wear on your body is arriving faster than the rules governing what it is allowed to record.
Source: TechCrunch
GM and the robotaxi race lead this week's mobility briefing
TechCrunch's weekly mobility briefing centred on autonomy this week, with GM and robotaxis as its main subjects as legacy automakers position themselves against the pure-play driverless firms.
Why it matters to everyday Americans
Driverless cars are moving from demonstration to deployment, and the companies with the most to lose are now the ones building them.
Source: TechCrunch
The takeaway
Today's story isn't a smarter model — it's the gap between what AI can produce and what it is actually worth.
From the Archive — every edition, on the record.