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BMW is now running advertisements on the dashboard screens of its vehicles, and the company is framing it as a feature rather than an intrusion. Drivers who paid six figures for a car are finding commercials waiting for them at idle. It is a stark reminder that ownership increasingly means renting an experience back from the manufacturer.
That tension between users and platforms connects directly to a broader argument gaining traction online — that we may be entering what some are calling a de-enshittification moment. The idea is that years of degraded digital experiences have finally pushed users and regulators toward demanding better, and that the pendulum is beginning to swing back toward products that actually serve the people using them.
Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, a quieter but revealing conversation is happening around artificial intelligence investment. A piece in the Times captures insiders arguing that even if an AI bubble were to burst, the infrastructure and talent left behind would be worth the wreckage. It is a remarkably candid admission that the bet is partly on the cleanup, not just the dream.
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