Tech Brew Ride Home: "Skills for Claude As A New AI Paradigm?"

Date: October 17, 2025
Host: Brian McCullough

Episode Overview

In this episode, Brian McCullough covers a busy day in tech news, focusing on the debut of "Skills for Claude" by Anthropic and its potential to reshape how users interact with AI agents. The discussion explores whether these "skills" mark a new paradigm, compares developments from OpenAI, and reviews broader impacts on the AI agent ecosystem. Other major topics include record-breaking game launches, Nintendo’s aggressive push for Switch 2, Wikipedia’s traffic challenges in the age of AI, Uber’s new AI-driven earning opportunities for drivers, and Apple’s big Formula One streaming deal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Anthropic’s "Skills for Claude": A New User Paradigm?

[00:34 - 09:22]

• Announcement Details:

  • Anthropic launched "Skills for Claude," letting users load folders of instructions, scripts, and resources to optimize AI performance for specific work tasks.
  • Quote from Brad Abrams (Anthropic Product Lead):
    • "Skills is a feature essentially to provide organizations building agents a way to teach Claude to do a good job in their specific context."
      — Brad Abrams [00:56]

• Real-world Applications:

  • Abrams describes using Claude to quickly generate a well-formatted PowerPoint about Haiku 4.5’s market performance.
  • The innovation reduces the need for elaborate prompting or constant context management.

• Industry Context:

  • Anthropic’s move parallels OpenAI’s recently-launched "Agent Kit" and a consumer ChatGPT tool for app integration.
  • OpenAI’s Agent Kit demoed with clients like Albertsons (optimizing ice cream sales) and tools for companies like Box, Canva, Evernote, and Ramp.

• Expert Analysis:

  • Simon Willison (Friend of the Pod):
    • Stresses "skills" are "conceptually extremely simple." Each skill is a markdown file with instructions, extra docs, and optional scripts.
    • Efficiency: Claude scans these skill files at session start, consuming just "a few dozen extra tokens" until needed.
    • Willison’s Big Picture:
      • Imagines a data journalist loading skills for everything from U.S. Census data sourcing to D3 visualizations.
      • "Congratulations. You just built a data journalism agent that can discover and help publish stories... with a folder full of markdown files and maybe a couple of example Python scripts."
        — Simon Willison [04:46]
    • "Claude code is, with hindsight, poorly named... It's best described as a general agent. Skills make this a whole lot more obvious and explicit."
    • Predicts a "Cambrian explosion in skills which will make this year's MCP rush look pedestrian by comparison." [06:24]

Notable Quotes

• "The thing that's interesting to me about Skills is basically about agents... being able to do the task you need at your own company using an Anthropic layer on top of Claude's PowerPoint skill."
  — Brad Abrams [00:56]
• "Skills are conceptually extremely simple. A skill is a markdown file telling the model how to do something… Very token efficient."
  — Simon Willison [03:52]
• "I expect we'll see a Cambrian explosion in skills which will make this year's MCP rush look pedestrian by comparison."
  — Simon Willison [06:24]

2. Gaming Milestones: Battlefield 6 and Nintendo Switch 2

[06:52 - 09:22]

• Battlefield 6:

  • Sold 7 million copies — the franchise's biggest launch.
  • Steam hit a 41.6M concurrent user record, attributed largely to the game’s release and Steam Next Fest.
  • Despite new hits, free-to-play classics like Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 still dominate playtime.

• Nintendo Switch 2:

  • Nintendo asks suppliers to build up to 25 million Switch 2 units by March 2026.
  • Expected to smash analyst sales estimates; share prices up 50% year-over-year.
  • Revenue growth projected at 68% quarterly.

Quote

• "Nintendo can be expected to sell roughly 20 million units of the Switch 2 this fiscal year, with any leftover consoles in inventory for the next fiscal year."
  — [07:50]

3. Wikipedia’s Traffic Decline Amid AI Scraping

[09:50 - 12:45]

• Problem:

  • Human traffic to Wikipedia has dropped 8% YoY. The cause? People get information from AI assistants and search snippets instead of visiting the site.
  • Marshall Miller (Wikimedia):
    • "AI chatbots, search engines and social platforms that use Wikipedia content must encourage more visitors to Wikipedia so that the free knowledge... can continue to flow sustainably." [10:45]
  • Fewer visits mean fewer volunteer editors and donors, threatening Wikipedia’s sustainability.

• Irony:

  • Wikipedia is more heavily used for AI training and web search than ever — but not directly by users.
  • Recent surge from Brazil triggered anti-bot systems and a subsequent slump in traffic.
  • Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales (in an upcoming embargoed interview) recently claimed they hadn't observed a drop in human visitors.

4. Uber’s New AI-Powered Income Stream for Drivers

[12:46 - 14:10]

• Initiative:
  • Uber now offers "digital tasks" in its app for drivers: things like uploading menus or recording voice samples for AI data labeling.
  • Pays drivers for quick, simple tasks—beyond ridesharing—integrating them into the "AI gold rush."
  • In competition with outfits like Scale AI (backed by Meta, valued at $29B).
  • Uber AI Solutions is now pitching these crowdsourced services to external enterprises.

Quote

• "Uber is giving some drivers in the US the option to earn money by completing tasks related to the company's nascent data labeling business, an area where the rideshare giant sees an opportunity to shine in the artificial intelligence boom."
  — [12:53]

5. Apple Snags Formula One US Media Rights

[14:11 - 15:40]

• Deal:
  • Five-year exclusive streaming rights for F1 in the US: $140M/year.
  • All races, practices, and qualifying streamed on Apple TV (included in base $12.99/month).
  • Some races and all practices free to view; F1TV Premium now bundled, not separate.

Quote

• "Apple TV will provide coverage of all Formula One events, including practice, qualifying and sprint sessions, as part of the streamer's existing $12.99 per month subscription, which comes ad free."
  — [14:35]

6. Weekday Longread Suggestions

[15:41 - End]

• AI data centers building on-site power plants.
• Profile: Joshua Kushner’s rise with Thrive Capital.
• OpenAI vs Hollywood: How Sam Altman Played Hollywood.
• TiVo’s last days and die-hard fans.

Brian also teases upcoming interviews and the relaunch of the Internet History Podcast, kicking off with Jimmy Wales.

Memorable Moments & Quotes

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |-----------|-------|---------| | 00:56 | "Skills is a feature essentially to provide organizations building agents a way to teach Claude to do a good job in their specific context." | Brad Abrams | | 03:52 | "Skills are conceptually extremely simple. A skill is a markdown file telling the model how to do something... Very token efficient." | Simon Willison | | 06:24 | "I expect we'll see a Cambrian explosion in skills which will make this year's MCP rush look pedestrian by comparison." | Simon Willison | | 10:45 | "AI chatbots, search engines and social platforms that use Wikipedia content must encourage more visitors to Wikipedia so that the free knowledge... can continue to flow sustainably." | Marshall Miller (Wikimedia) | | 12:53 | "Uber is giving some drivers in the US the option to earn money by completing tasks related to the company's nascent data labeling business..." | Brian / Quoting Bloomberg | | 14:35 | "Apple TV will provide coverage of all Formula One events... as part of the streamer's existing $12.99 per month subscription, which comes ad free." | Brian / Quoting CNBC |

Conclusion

This packed episode illustrates shifting paradigms across tech:

• AI agents moving from "smart completion" to real, programmable assistance via modular "skills."
• The gaming industry's blockbuster launches and hardware cycles.
• The vulnerability of foundational internet resources like Wikipedia in the face of AI aggregation.
• Gig platforms like Uber capitalizing on data labeling as a new frontier.
• Big Tech’s moves into streaming live sports content with exclusive deals.

Brian wraps with a forward-looking tease: upcoming interviews, the Internet History Podcast relaunch, and a direct ask for support from the podcast’s dedicated community.