As 2025 comes to a close, consumer AI is entering a new phase. A small number of products now dominate everyday use, multimodal models have unlocked entirely new creative workflows, and the big labs have pushed aggressively into consumer experiences. At the same time, it is becoming clearer which ideas actually changed user behavior and which ones did not. In this episode, a16z consumer investors Anish Acharya, Olivia Moore, Justine Moore, and Bryan Kim look back on the biggest product and model shifts of 2025 and ahead to what 2026 may bring. They discuss why consumer AI appears to be trending toward a winner-take-most model, how subtle product design choices can matter more than raw model quality, and why templates, multimodality, and distribution are shaping the next wave of consumer products. Where do startups still have room to win? How will the role of the big labs continue to change? And what will it actually take for consumer AI apps to break out at scale in 2026? Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction & Market Overview 0:35 Who Won Consumer AI in 2025? 1:22 Major Model and Product Launches 2:24 Image and Video Model Innovations 4:05 Product Sensibility and User Experience 6:40 Advances in Image and Video Models 9:11 Under-hyped Products and Productivity Apps 10:21 Prosumer Tools and Power User Workflows 12:56 Gemini vs. ChatGPT: Distribution and Brand 14:04 Product Nuances: Onboarding and Engagement 16:09 Social Features and Group Chat 19:26 Sora, TikTok, and the Status Game 21:02 Challengers: Claude, Perplexity, Grok 23:37 Meta, Grok, and Rapid Model Progress 26:54 Predictions for 2026: Enterprise, Apps, and Multimodality 32:02 Startup Opportunities and App Generation 36:27 Favorite Products and Recommendations 42:19 Building Consumer Products in 2026 Resources: Follow Anish: https://twitter.com/illscience Follow Olivia: https://twitter.com/omooretweets Follow Bryan https://twitter.com/kirbyman01 Follow Justine: https://twitter.com/venturetwins Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details, please see a16z.com/disclosures.