March 6, 2025

Agents, agents everywhere

Hi there,

Our AI agent market map is out now.

We mined the CB Insights database to map 170+ startups across 26 categories spanning infrastructure, horizontal applications, and industry verticals. 

We also provide an outlook on AI agents’ progress, limitations, and future directions. Get the free report here.

And now, here is this week’s Hot or Not.

Hot: Autonomous shopping

Imagine this: You have a personal AI agent who notifies you that the specific hair dryer you’ve been eyeing is on sale. 

Your agent confirms that it will arrive before your next trip, so you give it the go-ahead to make the purchase for you.

As AI agents develop, this is the future we’re heading toward: one where they control the buying process.

What’s going to happen amid the shift?

• Companies holding the keys to first-party transaction data will win
• Traditional loyalty programs will die
• The customer relationship will be owned by a select few AI agents

Dive deeper into these 3 predictions — and what they mean for you — in The Future of the Customer Journey.

Not: AI agent reliability

What’s the top challenge in AI agent deployments? Reliability & security. 

Nearly half (47%) of organizations, from SMEs to large enterprises, we recently surveyed cited this as a concern. 

Vendors in the landscape are responding. Based on our briefings with 20+ AI agent startups in Q1’25, companies are using 5 primary methods to build user trust: 

• Transparency
• Human oversight
• Technical safeguards
• Security & compliance 
• Continuous improvement 

Learn more in our AI agent market map.

Hot: Big tech in quantum

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have been ramping up their efforts to commercialize quantum technologies.

Most recently, Amazon debuted Ocelot, its first quantum chip, which it says can cut error correction costs by up to 90% — a major leap toward building practical, scalable quantum computers.

But big tech companies aren’t the only key players in the quantum information landscape — the space is filled with nascent markets that are still up for grabs.

From major public players to emerging startups, learn more about the companies defining the quantum future.

The +1

Source: u/Israbelle via Reddit

Foot fetish. What is your main takeaway from this? I didn’t know people measure hand breadth. I actually don’t know what that is tbh.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal 

Co-Founder & Exec Chair

P.S. The divide between open-source and closed-source AI models is reshaping tech industry dynamics. Want to learn more? Download this briefing with our analysts.

Get started with CB Insights

CB Insights' emerging technology insights platform provides all the

analysis and data from this newsletter. Our data is the easiest way to discover and respond to emerging tech. 

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here