The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps

This Week

In this week's rundown, we reveal the top 100 Gen AI consumer apps changing creativity, communication, and even dating. Curious to see which ones made the cut and why?

We also look at the California AI Safety Bill, research from Mediaocean, new AI business models, and AI insights from travel industry CEOs.

Oh, and Lindy CEO Flo Crivello shares how their AI assistants learned how to rickroll customers (if you don’t know what that is, read on to find out).

Content Creation Apps Top The Popularity List

Andreessen Horowitz just released its latest Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps.

Oliva Moore, a partner at the firm, updates the top 50 web products and the top 50 mobile apps every six months and provides a rundown of emerging trends. 

Here are the highlights…

GenAI creative tools still make up the majority of the list. Fifty-two percent of the companies on the web list are focused on content generation or editing for image, video, music, and speech. 

Video saw three new entrants (Luma, Viggle, and Vidnoz), and music saw one (Udio).

Content editing for images and video is also commonly used on mobile apps. At 22% of the listmakers, it’s the second largest product category of the mobile ranks (Communication is the most common function among these apps, as many are AI chatbots and assistants). 

While startups are also emerging here, many of the highest-ranking new entrants to the list are legacy creative tools that have pivoted to become generative AI-first, like Meitu (#9), SNOW (#30), and Adobe Express (#35). 

One new category was added across both web and mobile: aesthetics and dating. This category encompasses three new entrants: LooksMax AI (#43), Umax (#44), and RIZZ (#49), all of which ranked on the mobile list. 

Finally, in many cases, Discord traffic is a leading indicator for apps that will climb the web and mobile ranks, especially in content generation. 

For the full list and write-up, visit a16z.

The Promise of AI Business Models [Webinar]

Section is hosting a fireside chat today with David Morse, former CRO of Hebbia AI, and Greg Shove, CEO of Section. They’ll discuss the promise of AI business models, the challenges of selling AI to enterprises, the potential of AI agents for user adoption, and the future viability of AI applications, questioning whether users will pay for ChatGPT-like interfaces. 

If you’re interested in which AI companies will stand the test of time, this is one to watch. 

You can register at Section. If you can’t make it live, the recording will be available a day or so later.

Tech Leaders Argue Against AI Safety Bill

The highly debated bill SB 1047, just cleared the Senate and is on its way to the California Governor’s desk.

The bill aims to prevent catastrophic events and human death and hold AI developers accountable — but not everyone is on board.

Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, two of the world's most cited AI researchers, have endorsed the bill. 

Even Elon Musk supports the bill, saying that even though “this is a tough call and will make some people upset,” the state should pass the bill, regulating AI just as “we regulate any product/technology that is a potential risk to the public.”

Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, on the other hand, isn’t a fan. 

“Regulating basic technology will put an end to innovation,” he wrote in an X post denouncing 1047.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, unsurprisingly says the bill could impose excessive restrictions on AI development, potentially hindering innovation.

Paul Roetzer, founder of the Marketing AI Institute, expressed concerns about its potential impact on the marketing industry. He acknowledges the importance of regulating AI for safety but warns that the bill might stifle innovation, particularly for smaller companies. 

SB 1047 mandates that companies developing advanced AI models (like OpenAI) implement safety measures and undergo third-party audits. If the bill passes, AI technologies will be subject to greater scrutiny and compliance requirements. 

Not necessarily a bad thing.

The bill's requirement for rigorous safety measures and third-party audits likely means that AI models and the tools built on those models will be held to higher accuracy, transparency, and ethical use standards. Given the proliferation of AI tools (and the tools claiming they have AI capabilities), instituting a few more hurdles might drive quality and stability - something sorely needed for a few of the tools I’ve used lately!

As we teeter on the brink of tighter regulation, SB 1047 offers promise and potential hurdles. While advocates argue it’s needed for safety and transparency, critics argue it will stifle innovation.

The question is whether balancing progress with responsibility can satisfy both sides of the debate. Will this legislation pave the way for safer AI—or will it hold back the innovation we’ve come to rely on?

We’ll have to wait and see.

Most Popular AI Use Case For Advertisers

According to a Mediaocean survey of 1,200 marketers, analytics and research have overtaken content creation as the top GenAI use cases in marketing.

The advertising tech company surveyed marketers from agencies, media companies, measurement firms, and tech platforms on their predicted 2H trends. 

Here’s what they found:

• Data analysis (45%) and market research (40%) are the top ways marketers use AI. Copywriting comes in third at 27%.

• Generative AI (Gen AI) fell to the second spot for the most important trend to watch, right behind CTV/streaming.

• Advertisers recognize AI as a game changer for advertising productivity, including using natural language queries to control ad platforms. 

You can download the report at Mediaocean.

8 AI Insights from Travel Industry CEOs

"In today’s world, embracing AI isn’t optional for leaders—it’s a critical responsibility."

After listening to the Travel Hero’s podcast from ITB Berlin with Charlotte Lamp Davies, I found these insights on AI from Leila Summa, Markus Stumpe and Christian Watts incredibly valuable.

Here’s what stood out to me:

From Leila (CEO, Play To Change)

• Start with a purpose. Understand why you’re implementing AI and define its scope clearly.

• AI is a crucial leadership responsibility, not just an optional tool.

• Simplifying complexity is key. Break down AI’s complex parts to ensure it integrates smoothly into your core processes.

From Markus (CEO, Cruisewatch)

• Stay open-minded by starting with small projects. Learn and iterate to reduce risks along the way.

• Tangible benefits matter. Show use cases to gain buy-in from leadership.

From Christian (CEO, Magpie Travel):

• AI may not change the end-user experience in travel, but it can drastically improve internal processes.

• This is the first tech where you don’t need a ton of developers—just the right attitude.

• Make sure your website has relevant information for AI agents and LLMs, not just humans. This includes lots of FAQs and answers to long-tail questions. That way, your brand will show up in more places.

You can listen to the podcast here. 

AI Learns to Rickroll: Is the Joke On Us?

AI learned how to rickroll customers last week.

Flo Crivello, CEO of Lindy, posted the story on X. Here’s what he said:

“A customer reached out asking for video tutorials.

We obviously have a Lindy handling this, and I was delighted to see that she sent a video.

But then I remembered we don't have a video tutorial and realized Lindy is literally rickrolling our customers.”

Crivello posted shortly after saying the issue was fixed across all their Lindies, followed by an outpouring of comments lamenting the change. It seems there’s a high demand for AI with rickrolling capabilities.

For those unfamiliar with rickrolling, it’s a bait-and-switch meme that started in 2007 on the forum 4chan. When users clicked on links to supposedly relevant content, they’d find themselves watching the music video of Rick Astley's 1987 hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up. Seventeen years later, people are still pranking their friends by sharing Astley’s song and the music video, which now has over 1.5 billion views on YouTube.

It's a classic internet prank—but what happens now that AI is in on the joke?

On one hand, funny incidents like this can make AI interactions feel more human and engaging, adding personality that can delight customers. On the other hand, if the joke isn't well-received or if the user feels they aren’t being taken seriously, it erodes trust and makes the AI seem less reliable.

Join the LinkedIn conversation here.