EDITION OF OCTOBER 9, 2026
Consumer AI: the business model remains to be built
In an interview published by TechCrunch, Olivia Moore, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, argues for consumer AI funded through more than subscriptions alone. Her analysis highlights the importance of professional uses and the limits of a ranking in identifying markets still to be developed.
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How to fund consumer AI remains an open question in the analysis of Olivia Moore, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Her interview with TechCrunch highlights a gap between services available to individuals and revenue largely tied to work, while presenting advertising and less expensive models as possible avenues.
Can consumer AI find revenue beyond subscriptions? In an interview published by TechCrunch, Olivia Moore, the Andreessen Horowitz partner responsible for this sector, argues that it can. She believes AI revenue has so far come mainly from subscriptions and token consumption, with a focus on businesses and users with professional needs. This interpretation describes a market whose revenue does not necessarily reflect the diversity of possible uses.
The report on the top 100 consumer AI applications that she published on Monday sheds light on this tension. TechCrunch presents ChatGPT as the leading player in the ranking and notes the continued presence of Suno and ElevenLabs. Moore particularly emphasizes that several categories, including social apps, dating, commerce, travel, finance and health, have no representatives in it. This absence relates to her ranking: it is not enough to establish that these sectors lack products using AI.
In Moore's view, some services currently described as consumer products primarily meet work-related needs. She cites product creation with Lovable or Replit, marketing with Higgsfield or HeyGen, and work organization with Fireflies AI or Granola. According to her, Gamma, ElevenLabs and Cursor started with consumers before becoming, within 18 months, businesses whose activity was predominantly geared toward professional customers. The distinction between individual users and the consumer market therefore needs to be clarified when examining revenue.
The partner suggests looking beyond direct payment. She believes many users would prefer free access supported by advertising, with the option to pay to remove the ads. This is a commercial hypothesis put forward by an investor, with no demonstration in this interview of its profitability for the services concerned.
She also envisages greater use of less expensive models and open source models for certain uses. Her argument is that not every task requires the capabilities of the most advanced models. The economic challenge could then be to match technical costs to the usefulness of the service. However, the interview provides no numerical comparison to measure the potential savings or determine which applications could sustainably rely on advertising.