Sam Lessin: Trusted big tech brands will beat startups in AI agent wars
Sam Lessin · SaaS Companies Beware: AI Is The New UI (Anthropic's Claude Code and Cowork) · More or Less Podcast · Jan 16, 2026 · at 12:34
Sam Lessin argues that because system-level AI agents require intrusive computer permissions, users will only trust incumbent tech giants rather than startups.
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“So like, I actually think when you think about the AI wars, which happens a lot, what's gonna happen is like in order to do good stuff beyond the like, you ask it a question or a chat bot, you give it access to such a level of scary security stuff, that the people that win are going to be the people with like the trusted brands and security and all that type of stuff. And I don't I think it's gonna make it even harder for startups to compete.”
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