Andreessen Horowitz Partners Predict 2026 AI Trends

Four partners at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz recently debated what 2026 might bring to the AI world. The discussion took place on a podcast episode that aired on December 29, 2025. The partners focused on some of the biggest consumer LLMs, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Cursor, Perplexity, and Grok.

Key predictions centered on the evolution of multimodality and the competitive landscape. Justine Moore suggested that video and image capabilities could provide Gemini with a significant edge. Meanwhile, Olivia Moore identified ChatGPT's push into apps as a defining factor for the coming year. The partners also discussed market dynamics, noting that while ChatGPT currently holds a massive lead in user numbers, the market is evolving rapidly.

Image and video capabilities are predicted to be crucial in 2026. Justine Moore, an investment partner, stated that Gemini 3's video and image models might give it a significant leg up over ChatGPT. She noted that there is "always nearly infinite demand" for these capabilities among both professional and everyday users.

Moore explained that viral trends often originate from new capabilities in top-tier models. "So many new viral trends are created around new capabilities of the best-in-class image and video models," she said. This dynamic could drive users toward new products, potentially helping Gemini overcome ChatGPT's name recognition.

Beyond simple image generation, the partners emphasized the importance of true multimodality—the ability to process text, images, and audio simultaneously. Moore asked, "What happens when you can put a video in and get images out that are related to or the next iteration of the video?" She predicted these changes would have a significant impact on the design world, where combining text and images is common.

The success of ChatGPT's internal version of an app store could be its "defining question for the next year," according to partner Olivia Moore. At launch, partners for this feature included companies like Spotify and Zillow.

Anish Acharya, another partner, highlighted the importance of the model's software development kit (SDK). This tool allows developers to build their own applications for ChatGPT. Acharya stated that the SDK could be crucial for both consumer and enterprise use. Combined, these features are designed to allow ChatGPT to function more like a traditional app store.

Olivia Moore observed early signs that the world of LLM assistants is trending toward "winner take all, or at least winner take most." Currently, ChatGPT holds a substantial lead in user numbers, with between 800 and 900 million weekly active users.

Comparatively, Google's Gemini reached approximately 35% of that scale on the web and around 40% on mobile devices. Other models, such as Claude, Perplexity, and Grok, fall between 8% and 10%.

Growth in the enterprise sector may also fuel consumer usage. Weekly messages in ChatGPT Enterprise increased by approximately eightfold in 2025. Moore suggested that widespread adoption in professional settings could translate to consumer usage: "If we're entering a world now where people have to use ChatGPT for their company or as part of their work, that could really translate into consumer usage."

However, the market remains volatile. Moore noted that "things are changing very quickly," pointing out that Gemini is growing its desktop user base at a faster rate than ChatGPT.

For startups looking to enter the AI space, the partners offered specific advice. Bryan Kim, a partner, warned against competing directly with dominant models in text-only formats. He suggested that startups should steer clear of text-in, text-out models because existing models are too dominant.

Instead, Kim advised finding a unique niche. "You have to be creative around, what is the angle that you can go steal people away from?" he said. This implies that success will likely come from specialized applications or unique multimodal capabilities rather than general-purpose text generation.