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MTS · 2 min · Nov 7, 2026

AI demand could grow sharply through diffusion alone

HBHerbie Bradley · AI Researcher & Writer

Herbie Bradley says markets depend on AI diffusion, not only capability gains, and many firms still underuse tools they already provide.

In this episode

Full analysis
  1. 0:53Fast takeoff remains a low-probability scenario5 min
  2. 17:27Enterprise AI gains depend on changing workflows4 min
  3. 21:35Anthropic’s RSI threshold is not a full acceleration loopPro pick 4 min
  4. 5:26Realistic AI evals require extensive data work3 min
  5. 11:38Benchmark gains can diverge from real-world utility3 min
  6. 14:00AI demand could grow sharply through diffusion alone2 min
Up next · FoundersMore products make enterprise customer acquisition pay offPro pick 5:43
“And so demand could easily, you know, 10x, 100x from here just with current capabilities.”
HBHerbie Bradleyat 16:13 · MTS
16:13

Takeaways

  1. Market outcomes hinge on diffusion as well as capability progress.
  2. Many firms provide AI seats, but intensive use remains limited.
  3. Bradley sees demand growing 10–100x with current capabilities.

About this segment

Herbie Bradley says markets depend on AI diffusion, not only capability gains, and many firms still underuse tools they already provide. He sees demand from today's capabilities potentially rising 10–100x.

HB

Herbie Bradley

Herbie Bradley is an AI researcher, writer, and stealth startup founder.

  • Theo Jaffee, Host · Co-founder & host, MTS

    One of the first members of a16z's new media team; earlier hosted the Emergent Ventures-backed Theo Jaffee Podcast.

  • Sophia Dew, Host · Host, MTS

From “Anthropic Sees Imminent RSI Acceleration | Herbie Bradley”, Nov 7, 2026. Watch the full episode

Answers “What will AI look like in the next few years?” See all 169 answers

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

  1. 14:06

    to surpass the best humans or other things like this if the AGI centrists are right then does that imply that we will see some sort of market crash or correction, or have the markets not fully priced in the capabilities maxi perspective yet? Oh yeah, I think these two things are mostly divorced, and the markets themselves are mostly dependent on the rate of diffusion. And right now there's a huge overhang in terms of the amount of capabilities that exist, and what people are actually using them for, what companies are using them for in the real economy. And so that diffusion cycle will continue even if we froze capabilities progress and then the markets would depend on like how big is the level of demand from that. How true is that? Like what would you consider current capabilities that would be able to have economically beneficial useful applications that

  2. 14:57

    haven't been diffused? Like one clear example I can think of is the school system I think could be massively improved with current AI and this hasn't happened but this to me is more political constraints because public schools are not subject to economic incentives in the way private businesses are. So, could we imagine that, you know, there are just like insurance companies run by boomers who don't understand the latest tech who aren't using it where it would be helpful? I mean, more or less, yes. I think it is just across all the big, let's say, white-collar domains, where there are large companies, AI adoption has progressed to the point where many of these companies have bought Claude code seats or GPT seats for all their employees, but the intensity of use is not there. And there is still the fact that you ultimately need some

  3. 15:46

    degree of creativity or open thinking in order to be able to figure out what are the best applications of AI for your company, for your team, for your job. And a lot of people are just sort of not really doing that. And as a result, You see situations like, you know, a Fortune 500 company has chat GPT seats for everyone, but only 1% of the company is like using it by, is like maxing out the subscriptions and everyone else is like sort of not really using it very much or they're not really using the most useful applications. Just like we're still very, very early in this diffusion cycle, I think.