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Welcome to the Tech Brew Ride Home for Thursday, March 19, 2026 I'm Brian McCullough. Today, in three parts, I'll make the case that Q1 of this year the AI race has basically become a land grab for design and development tasks. Major League Baseball fully embraces our new prediction market overlords even if they're behind in AI. Apple is still making big money from AI and Uber is still placing bets in the self driving race. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech, Everybody is moving fast to landgraab on the AI developer and even the designer space. Here's example number one Google has updated Stitch to let users turn natural language prompts into UI designs, introducing an AI native software design canvas and a reasoning design agent quoting the Deep View. If you can use natural language prompts to build complex websites and apps, doing the same for design should be no different. And that's exactly what Google Stitch sets out to do. The redesign tool, launched in beta on Tuesday, lets users of all experience levels collaborate with AI to create and iterate on software designs. The Stytch tool is intended to let users skip the initial tedious steps of creating wireframes or rough outlines that map out the layout and jump straight into building websites and apps with UIs focused on users goals and inspirations. While Stytch can do a lot for users of all experience levels, the Deep View's designer, Lucas Crespo does not think it is a tool that sets out to replace designers, but rather helps them to get things done sooner. To me, it feels closer to downloading a Figma UI kit or starting from a hyper custom template, says Crespo. Very useful when you are in a rush. Very useful for a first draft, but not a substitute for knowing what to do with it. If you have a high bar as a designer and want to do differentiated stuff with the platform, users can also integrate their own images, text or code into the project Then they can stitch screen screens together and click Play to view the app workflow and the platform can even generate the next logical screens so users can see the entire journey mapped out. Lastly, through the Stytch McP server and SDK, Stytch can also be implemented into other tools and skills. Stytch is available to all users for free via Google Labs. It is an intuitive process that I tried for myself as someone with barely any background in website or app design, and I had a lot of fun just noting this. On top of that, Figma's stock closed down 7.98% on March 18 after this was announced. Figma is down around 80% since the company's IPO in August of 2025. I think they got out the door just in time before the buzzsaw of Vibe AI headed their way. Example number two OpenAI has agreed to acquire Astral, which makes Python tools, for Quoting Bloomberg. The deal, which hasn't yet closed, will bring Astral's team into OpenAI's Codex effort, OpenAI said Thursday. Codex has more than 2 million users, the company said, a number that's tripled since the start of this year. Astral's suite of tools will push codecs, which can write software features, fix bugs and run tests, into a broader suite of developer services. Astral has always focused on building tools that transform how developers work with Python, helping them ship better software faster, the startup's founder, Charlie Marsh, said in a statement, adding that the company will continue evolving its open source tools within OpenAI. OpenAI is currently in a race with competitors, including Anthropic, Microsoft and startups like Cursor to woo corporate customers using AI as coding assistants. Cursor is currently in talks with investors to raise money at a valuation of $50 billion, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, Anthropic is nearing an annual revenue run rate of $20 billion. I'm going to underline that point here by quoting from a different the Deep View piece. It's clear that AI coding tools have largely shifted the jobs of software engineers. The capabilities of tools like Claude code, OpenAI's codecs, cursor and more have alleviated the burden of writing code by hand. As such, developers are becoming product engineers rather than software engineers, kerry Briske, VP of generative AI Software at Nvidia, told the Deep View. You're more of an architect now rather than just a typer. These tools have shifted the tide so much that practically anyone can code, from complete novices to hardcore engineers. One tech executive told us how her 12 year old daughter is using Replit to build an app to track her sports performance and provide tips to improve her technique. The fight to come out on top in AI coding is about more than just speeding up the developer workflow, though. If AI coding tools are a gateway to a larger transformation of knowledge work, then whoever wins over software engineers may win over white collar industries broadly. According to RAMP data from March, Anthropic already has a massive lead among enterprises, capturing more than 73% of enterprise spending among first time AI buyers. And with its existing popularity among developers, the company may have an edge in what could be a major metamorphosis of the way we work in the months and years ahead. End quote. And I'm going to make the case that this is example number three, because if everybody wants companies to pay them to have AI take over coding and design duties, what happens to the designers and the coders from the Is AI gobbling up jobs in the tech industry? File Crypto.com CEO Chris Marzilek says the company cut around 12% of its workforce, or around 180 roles, saying the layoffs target roles that do not adapt as it integrates AI. Quoting the Block, Marzilek said in an X post that the cuts target roles that do not adapt as the company implements what he described as enterprise wide AI. Affected team members have been notified and are receiving transition resources, he said. We are joining the list of companies integrating enterprise wide AI. Companies that do not make this pivot immediately will fail. Companies that move slowly will be left behind. Companies that move immediately and pair the best AI tools with top performers will achieve a level of scale and precision that was previously impossible, marzilek said in the post. The job cuts come as multiple crypto firms have announced layoffs in recent weeks, with some citing AI integration strategies alongside market conditions. Crypto exchange Gemini said in February it plans to cut up to 200 positions, representing about a quarter of its workforce. Its founders, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, said the move would help reduce our total expenses in line with our headcount reduction and meaningfully accelerate our path to profitability. Payments firm Block also cut roughly 40% of its workforce last month as CEO Jack Dorsey pushed a smaller and flatter AI focused operating model. A small number of employees were later rehired, including at least one case described as a clerical error, according to LinkedIn posts from affected workers. Messari, a crypto data platform, announced a leadership transition and layoffs earlier this month. CEO Eric Turner stepped down, with Chief Technology Officer Derek and Lee assuming the role Lee said in an X post that the company parted ways with many teammates as part of a restructuring to become an AI first company. The exact number of affected employees was not disclosed. End quote. Major League Baseball has made polymarket its official prediction markets platform, giving it exclusive data access. Polymarket will restrict contracts that pose integrity risks to the game. Apparently quoting the Journal, MLB signed a licensing deal with polymarket, which as the league's official prediction markets platform, will have exclusive access to its data and iconography. Polymarket also agreed to work with MLB to restrict event contracts that pose integrity risk, where outcomes triggered by the actions of, say, pitchers, managers or umpires could be subject to manipulation. The agreement arrives with the baseball season's opening day just a week away and with MLB dealing with the fallout from two of its players facing federal charges for allegedly manipulating their on field performance. Many pro sports leagues, including mlb, have aligned with traditional sports books in recent years. But the sudden rise of the prediction markets, fueled by millions of traders eager to place yes or no wagers on sports and other real world events, has opened a new front that a number of leagues have opted to no longer ignore. The advent of prediction contracts hasn't been embraced by all. Several US States have taken legal action to block event wagers from being accessed by their residents, and polymarket only recently won approval to offer platform to Americans. In a related move, MLB signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the government agency that regulates prediction markets. The document, which MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig signed Wednesday, stipulates that the two sides will exchange information related to the competitive integrity of baseball games. In today's world, it is really important not to be chasing developments, but try to be involved and in front of those developments, said Manfred, speaking alongside Selig at a Miami hotel the morning after Venezuela beat Team USA to win the World Baseball Classic. Professional sports leagues in America have at this point all embraced sports gambling, which is now legal in most states. They have to this point been more wary of prediction markets, which allow users to bet on yes or no wagers on everything from the outcome of sporting events to election victories. Their primary concern has revolved around their ability to identify suspicious activity that could threaten games. In October, the National Hockey League became the first league to line up with polymarket and its biggest rival Kalshi, in an official capacity, believing that working directly with the platforms will give it the ability to help shape what sort of markets are offered. The agreement with the CFTC is a new concept and could lay the groundwork for other leagues to follow suit. It effectively serves to open lines of communication between MLB and the cftc, similar to relationships sports leagues currently have with state gambling regulators. Perhaps most important, it is a sign that MLB is prepared to work with the federal government as it attempts to maintain its control over prediction markets. The Trump administration has continued to argue in favor of regulations at the federal level. We need to understand and work together with the league to know what could potentially be easily manipulated on the field, selig said. We don't necessarily have all that information from our background as derivatives regulators. End quote.
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How did I not know Rack has Adidas?
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deal just so many good brands?
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This episode is brought to you by Focus Features. Would you let AI pilot your plane? Raise your child? Decide your future? On March 27, Focus Features presents the AI Doc, or how I Became an Apocalyptomist. Critics and audience at the Sundance and Southwest Film Festivals call it the most urgent movie of our time. The AI doc, or how I became an apocalyptomist. Rated PG13 only in theaters March 27.
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Who says Apple isn't participating in the AI bonanza? According to App Magic, Apple's revenue from Gen AI apps grew from around $35 million in January 2025 to a high of $101 million in August, with 75% of that coming from ChatGPT alone and only about 5% of that coming from Grok. Quoting the Journal Apple is on pace to surpass $1 billion in artificial intelligence revenue this year, a tidy sum that demonstrates the company's AI advantage, even as it struggles to deliver an AI strategy of its own. Its Siri Chatbot is still weak by modern standards. What Apple does have, though, that the other AI players don't, is a dominant position making devices, however fancy. OpenAI, Google, anthropic and Xai make their chatbots. IPhones are still a primary way to deliver them to consumers. That means they typically pay the App store tax roughly 30% of subscription fees in the first year and 15% a year thereafter, though rates vary by country. Generative AI apps paid Apple nearly $900 million in App Store fees in 2025, according to the analysis firm AppMagic. Three fourths of the revenue Apple rakes in from Genai Apps in its App store comes from ChatGPT, according to App Magic. Next, at about 5%, is Xai's Grok. Apple's revenue from Genai apps rose from about $35 million in January 2025 to a high of $101 million in August. Sales have fallen from their peak, partly because ChatGPT downloads have declined, according to the data. As a proportion of Apple's total sales, $1 billion is small. Yet Genai Apps are a growth driver for Apple's services business, which investors have focused on in recent years because it has grown faster than device sales and boasts higher profit margins. Apple's dominant share at the top of the smartphone market affords it another luxury time to get its own AI strategy right. Uber plans to invest $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031, contingent on meeting autonomy milestones, starting with $300 million at signing to deploy around 50,000 Level 4 robotaxis quoting the Verge Uber and Rivian are joining forces to deploy 50,000 fully autonomous robotaxis over the next several decades, the company is announced Thursday. As part of the deal, Uber will invest $1.25 billion in Rivian, contingent on Rivian meeting certain autonomy milestones, starting with an initial $300 million at signing. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval. The news signals a big vote of confidence in Rivian's nascent autonomy efforts, which include designing its own custom AI chips to power level four autonomous vehicles. Uber, meanwhile, has been on something of a robotaxi partnering spree, corralling a variety of companies from all parts of the globe while promising access to its hundreds of millions of customers. Rivian and Uber said the first phase of their partnership will involve deploying 10,000 autonomous R2 vehicles as robo taxis in several cities, starting with San Francisco and Miami in 2028. The company said they expect to expand to 25 additional cities by 2031. Rivian's autonomous robotaxi fleet will be available exclusively on Uber's app. In many ways, it's similar to the deal that Uber made with Lucid last summer, including the $300 million initial investment and the promise of tens of thousands of robotaxis. Did Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe see that deal and ask why not us, too? To be sure, Rivian's autonomous Capab still largely theoretical, the company has yet to deliver, let alone publicly demonstrate most of what it says it's working on. Last year, Rivian rolled out its so called Universal Hands Free driving feature, covering 3.1 million miles of road in the US and Canada for second generation R1 vehicles via a December 2025 software update. And later this year it expects to release Point to Point Hands Free Driving, which includes navigating turns, intersections and on off ramps. Rivian also plans on adding LIDAR sensors, a crucial component of Level 4 autonomy, to its R2 vehic later in 2026. If Rivian hits all the milestones laid out in the agreement with Uber, the companies say they will deploy thousands of unsupervised Rivian R2 robotaxis across 25 cities in the US, Canada and Europe by the end of 2031. The inclusion of Europe is sure to excite Rivian watchers, given that the company has yet to establish a presence overseas. The companies also say they will have the option to negotiate the purchase of up to 40,000 more autonomous vehicles beginning in 2030, making it a total of 50,000. The money from Uber comes at an especially crucial moment for Rivian, as it enters into the initial production phase for the R2. As of the beginning of this year, Rivian said it had about $6 billion in cash, including around $1 billion from its partnership with Volkswagen. But the company will likely spend upwards of $2.5 billion this year alone, ramping up the R2's production. The $300 million investment from Uber will help soften that blow a bit, but not much. Meanwhile, Uber is facing its own set of challenges. The company has announced numerous deals with a wide var autonomous startups like Motional, Neuro and Wave, and automakers like Lucid and Volkswagen. Uber wants to be the go to network for all robo taxis in the future, offering a variety of sweeteners to potential partners such as fleet services and training data. Still, the company will need to overcome doubts that it will remain relevant and continue to be a source of income for millions of drivers worldwide as more robo taxis hit the road. End quote. I think I mentioned on here before at some point that from age 14 to roughly age 19, off and on after school and during the summers in college I worked at Blockbuster Video. I have about every three months or so a recurring dream where I'm either back working at Blockbuster or I go home and find that someone has reopened my old Blockbuster as sort of a nostalgia play. So the new Game on Steam Retro Rewind, the video store simulator, basically feels like it has come to me out of my subconscious. I downloaded it this morning. We'll kick the tires tonight. Hope you live long enough that all of your childhood nostalgia gets gamified. Talk to you tomorrow.