TechCrunch's Russell Brandom recently wrote about the bleak economics of consumer AI, but in an interview, a16z partner Olivia Moore pushes back with a more optimistic view. Her new report on the top 100 consumer AI apps shows ChatGPT still the biggest player by far, while smaller apps like Suno and ElevenLabs are demonstrating real staying power.
Moore argues the revenue problem isn't about getting more households to pay. With only 2.2% of U.S. households currently paying for AI, she suggests the industry should look beyond subscriptions and toward ad-supported access, plus cheaper models for tasks that don't need frontier intelligence. She also points to whitespace: no top-100 entrants in social, dating, marketplaces, retail, travel, finance, or health.
Moore adds that what we call consumer AI is largely prosumer AI, with revenue concentrated in product-building, marketing, and work-management tools. She sees the blurring of consumer and enterprise as a defining feature of this moment, and says it's still very early for the category.