Eugenia Kuyda on software’s “YouTube moment”

In this episode of ACCESS, Ellis Hamburger and Alex Heath interview Eugenia Kuyda, the founder and CEO of Wabi, an app for building mini-apps within its platform. Eugenia discusses the inspiration behind Wabi, aiming to provide personalized software solutions and a new platform for app creation and discovery, contrasting it with the current app ecosystem's limitations and dark patterns. She envisions Wabi as a "YouTube moment for apps," emphasizing the platform's unique features like data privacy, social integration, and the ability to create and share AI-powered "prompt containers." The conversation also explores the challenges of content moderation, competition with existing app stores, and the future of AI companionship, drawing from Eugenia's experience with Replica. She shares her concerns about the lack of purpose and potential unintended consequences in AI companion development, advocating for a more thoughtful approach that complements rather than substitutes human relationships.