Microsoft Is ‘Below Them, Above Them, Around Them’

Hello, happy Sunday, and happy Memorial Day weekend to our American readers. Not only is it the unofficial start of summer—it’s also the beginning of a two-week break between Big Tech conferences. (Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who said the headline quote about OpenAI, took the stage this past week.) Stay tuned for our coverage of Apple’s WWDC the week of June 10.

Now, on to everything we published this week, along with our take on the latest tech and business news.—Kate Lee 

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Our stories

 🔏 "GPT-5 Is Coming, and It's Going to Be Amazing" by Dan Shipper/Chain of Thought: Dan attended Microsoft's Build developer conference, and between the keynote, his interview with CTO Kevin Scott, and the general vibe, one thing was clear: GPT-5 is the real deal. Read this for juicy details from the conference and an exclusive interview with Scott. 🔏 Paid subscribers have access to the full conversation with Scott, covering everything from what to build in the AI era to how businesses will change. We were surprised by Scott’s level of candor. 

 🔏 "Microsoft's Boring but Profitable Future" by Evan Armstrong/Napkin Math: Evan chose to watch the livestream of Build instead of attending it like Dan (he mostly streamed it while sitting poolside). Over the dozens and dozens of announcements, there were two that really mattered: a new line of PCs with upgraded silicon just for AI and a new software suite primed for AI agents. Together, they’ll remake how we think about knowledge work. Read this to learn how. 

“Coding With Devin: My New AI Programming Agent” by Dan Shipper/Chain of Thought: We hired four new engineers this week at Every. They're oddly familiar, impossibly futuristic, and all named Devin. No, this isn't a glitch in the matrix—Devin is an AI agent that can write code, fix bugs, and even prototype new apps from scratch. But is it truly an AI employee or just a fancy new productivity tool for programmers? Read this to find out what it's like to work with Devin and what it means for the future of software development.

 🔏 "Inside the Pod: A Guide to Launching a Successful One-person Company" by Rhea Purohit/Chain of Thought: Want to build a profitable internet business all by yourself? Ben Tossell, founder of Makerpad (acquired by Zapier), knows a thing or two about that. In this guide, he shares his secrets with Dan Shipper on how he leverages AI to find opportunities, run his company efficiently, and evaluate its performance. Read this if you're looking to become a solopreneur in the age of AI.