A few stories in this issue circle around intent. We’re shifting from static inputs to dynamic signals, and it’s becoming clear that attention isn’t enough. Intent is what moves the needle. If attention was hard, deciphering intent is the next level.

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1. Real-time world generation just got real

Google DeepMind just unveiled Genie 3, a significant leap in AI-generated environments. It can create richly detailed, navigable worlds in real time from a text prompt, like “a rainy street in Venice”, “hiking the Himalayas”, or “flying a helicopter over coastal cliffs”. Then it lets you interact inside them at 24 fps with surprising consistency.

Genie could become a foundation for next-gen trip planning, training, and storytelling. You could simulate a destination, navigate routes, test hospitality workflows, and train agents, all inside rich, synthetic environments. It’s not yet production-ready, but it shows where spatial computing, embodied AI, and content generation are headed.

This is what building for the next interface might look like.

2. AI summaries are killing the click

New data from Pew confirms that when Google shows an AI-generated summary, users are far less likely to click through. Across 900 tracked users, link clicks dropped from 15% to 8% when an AI summary appeared; clicks on the summary’s cited sources happened just 1% of the time. More users also ended their session entirely after seeing an AI overview. The most common sources were Wikipedia, Reddit, and YouTube. Overall, about one in five Google searches now includes an AI summary. Most summaries (88%) cite three or more sources, but those sources get very little traffic. Mention ≠ click.

According to Propellic founder Brennen Bliss, AI summaries show up way more often than one in five for top-of-funnel searches like “best places to visit in winter.” Destination content is being scraped and summarized and traffic is dropping.

Brennen is seeing smart travel marketers shift their strategy in three ways:
→ Prioritizing bookable content. AI can summarize a guide, but it can’t complete a booking.
→ Getting cited in summaries. Being mentioned is the new Page 1
→ Doubling down on bottom-funnel terms. Queries like “book whale watching in San Diego” still drive clicks.

3. From layout to intent

Eric Schmidt believes traditional user interfaces are on their way out. The WIMP model (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pull-downs) was designed 50 years ago in Xerox PARC. In the age of AI agents, interfaces won’t be fixed; they’ll be generated on the fly, shaped by user intent rather than static design.

4 Google Ads enters AI mode

Google is preparing to scale ads within its conversational AI search experience, marking a fundamental shift from keyword-based targeting to contextual conversation targeting. Google is briefing agencies and brands on how ads in AI Mode will function, targeting ads based not just on a user's query but on the entire context of the AI conversation. With over 100 million users already engaging in AI Mode and ads set to expand before Q4 of this year, travel brands that optimize for full conversation context, not just keywords, will be better positioned to reach high-intent travelers. Read + Search Engine Land

5. The art of the pitch

I came across this breakdown of Vinod Khosla's approach to pitch decks. His core principle is that you have to maximize the message-to-ink ratio. Every pixel must earn its place. Anything that weakens the story belongs in the appendix or the trash. A few of his rules:

• Titles are messages, not topics ("Market Opportunity" becomes "The $12B problem every CEO complains about")

• Narrative beats data. Stories move people, not charts. Unless the chart tells a story.

• Appeal to emotions, especially fear and greed. Logic doesn't move money.

• You have 5 minutes. VCs make their minds up early and use the rest of the pitch to justify their decision.

6. What Y Combinator wants next

YC just released its Fall 2025 request for startups, and it’s a clear signal of where early-stage interest is heading. The focus is on startups that treat AI as a foundation. A few themes that stand out:

• AI-powered vocational training. The AI boom needs more than engineers…it needs skilled tradespeople. YC is looking for startups that use AI, AR/VR, and simulation to retrain electricians, welders, and technicians in weeks instead of years. Kind of an AI bootcamp for hands-on work.

• Video as a computing primitive. YC sees video becoming real-time, personalized, and cheap. Product demos starring you, listings staged with your furniture, and TikToks made for one viewer.

• The 10-person, $100B company. AI lets small teams move like giants. The new benchmark is revenue per employee.

• AI-native enterprise software. YC is looking for tools with AI at the core of the workflow. Sales platforms that write and refine emails, HR systems that screen and interview, accounting software that fills data gaps with smart prompts. Systems that track and execute.

7. Ryanair’s public callout on air traffic delays

Ryanair published a “League of Delays,” ranking the worst air traffic control systems in Europe. The airline says ATC delays are getting worse despite fewer flights than before the pandemic, and blames mismanagement by the EU Commission and national Transport Ministers. Read + Ryanair

The airline says delays are getting worse despite fewer flights than pre-pandemic, and the tone is pure Ryanair, but the frustration isn’t just theirs. Delays don’t just inconvenience travelers; they disrupt schedules, drive up costs, and mess with everything downstream. If you’re building anything that touches real-world logistics, especially in air travel, treat infrastructure as a risky variable, particularly in Europe. You can design the perfect trip, but if the plane can’t take off on time, the whole thing falls apart.

8. Earn your way to automation

Greg Isenberg shared a practical AI startup playbook. No fundraising. No hype. Just real pain, handled manually at first, then replaced with AI. He calls it the “leveraged agency” model:

1. Start by solving a boring, high-friction B2B problem manually (e.g. retyping passport info from PDFs into booking systems, chasing hotel confirmations for group trips, manually refunding airline taxes, consolidating supplier invoices across currencies, pulling accessibility data from inconsistent listings...)

2. Use that deep context to automate it with AI agents.

3. Keep charging service-level pricing for what’s now mostly software.

4. Layer in productized tiers once you’ve got traction.

It’s not flashy, but it’s a clear path to $1–5M ARR without venture capital. And for travel, it’s especially relevant: so much of the industry runs on repetitive workflows, human bottlenecks, and legacy backends.

If you're hunting for startup ideas, you might be able to forget the pitch deck. Find the pain, do it yourself, then automate. Many of the AI-native winners will be “workflow-first”, not always "product-first".

9. How United picks its next “White Lotus” route

Good WSJ profile on Patrick Quayle, the exec behind United’s network strategy. In the past year, they’ve launched routes to Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), Nuuk (Greenland), and Palma de Mallorca…offbeat but intentional moves based on a mix of demand data, credit card spend, and what’s trending on Instagram. The team tracks content signals (like the “White Lotus” bump for Thailand) alongside 10-year fleet plans. Read + WSJ

10. Stay22 keeps climbing

In my April deep dive on Stay22, I noted the company closed 2024 with $500M in GMV and 3,192 affiliate partners. Just three months later, they’ve reported $372M GMV in the first half of 2025, with transactions up 187% year over year. Their affiliate network has grown 40% to 4,458 partners. They’ve also rolled out new tools like Script Builder and Map Button, expanded into Asia with Agoda via Vio, partnered with Riot Games, Phocuswright, and Travel Massive, and grown their team by 50%. Stay22 is increasingly becoming an important element of the infrastructure powering travel’s creator economy.

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