Damian Pickett · No. 29
Friday 2 October 2026
Shopify’s new Canvas tool lets merchants build and customise online stores by chatting with its AI agent Sidekick, watching changes happen live. A real test of how far conversational building can go.
Amazon’s new Kindle lineup is its lightest and thinnest yet, with a front-flush display that drops the raised bezel entirely. A small, deliberate redesign rather than a spec-sheet exercise.
Affleck says he used AI on the Netflix film but would not use anything trained on copyrighted work or the work of a peer. A working line for the craft debate rather than a blanket stance.
Read · Lenny's Newsletter
Practical advice from AI-forward companies like Shopify, Ramp, Zapier, Duolingo, Intercom, and Whoop
With Shopify, OpenAI and Airbnb all pushing AI products out today, this playbook of real adoption tactics from Shopify, Ramp and others is a useful companion read.
Listen · Founders
A study of creative taste to sit alongside today’s Rick Baker interview and the animators debating AI’s limits.
Listen · David Senra
Tony Xu on building DoorDash is a good match for a day full of founders launching new consumer products.
Listen · Acquired
A story about craft and brand discipline, echoing today’s Apple photography campaign and Rick Baker’s practical artistry.
OpenAI is rolling out shopping features that let ChatGPT users try on clothes and accessories using their own photos and save favourites. Moves the assistant further into everyday retail.
Chesky talks about making Airbnb agent-friendly and why he thinks consumer AI needs a native operating system, not just apps bolted onto old interfaces.
Legato’s new AI hearing glasses aim to make hearing care more accessible by addressing the cost, comfort and stigma of traditional hearing aids.
The startup helps developers build AI agents that work over iMessage, SMS and email, betting that people will use agents instead of downloading apps.
Fervo Energy finished its first enhanced geothermal plant in under two years, with later phases expected to connect to the grid even faster.
New York’s new rule requires subscriptions to be as easy to cancel as they are to start. A small, practical consumer win.
The first two Metro games are getting free next-gen updates this month, a no-cost refresh for an older pair of favourites.
Samsung’s first clip-on earbuds are launching in South Korea, with a global rollout to follow, though details are still unconfirmed.
Apple’s Instagram account published a carousel of photos commissioned from Jake Michaels and Jason Nocito to showcase the iPhone Duo’s cameras, its latest marketing push for the device.
Audible unveiled three new features meant to deepen listeners’ connection to their favourite audiobooks, including AI character guides.
The extreme mountain climbing documentary has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score and is now available to Apple TV subscribers.
The award-winning Halide camera app has been updated to version 3.2, adding dedicated support for broadening manual control over the iPhone 18 Pro’s variable aperture camera.
Rick Baker talks through his career in special-effects makeup, from building Bigfoot for Harry and the Hendersons to his work with Eddie Murphy on Coming to America.
At SCAD AnimationFest, ten animators and an Oscar-nominated director discussed AI’s role in animation and why the human hand still matters to the craft.
Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter are also set to star in the Sony project from director Paul King, about the life of dancer Fred Astaire.
Danny McBride is directing the live-action film and co-wrote the script, with Bradley Cooper set to star.
Sixteen and a half months after rupturing his Achilles, Tatum gave an encouraging update on his recovery at Celtics practice.
Fernando Alonso has signed on for another year at Aston Martin for 2027, a decision the team says has been on the cards for some time.
Audi is developing a new Formula 1 campus close to Sauber’s long-standing Swiss headquarters, as the manufacturer builds out its F1 operation.
For almost 70 years, Bernard and Paul-Henri Cahier have captured every aspect of Formula 1 on camera, building one of the sport’s great photographic records.
A map from mapped.earth plots every lighthouse on the planet, along with lighted buoys and other charted lights, with the lights on the live version moving in real time.
