Automattic vs Squarespace

Bluesky Plans Payments, Not Ads, for Monetization

At TechCrunch Disrupt, Bluesky CEO Toni Schneider and COO Rose Wang outlined plans to introduce payments within the coming months, positioning commerce and fundraising as alternatives to advertising. Schneider, who became CEO in March 2026, emphasized the decentralized network's existing organic buying and selling activity. Wang highlighted Bluesky's Public Benefit Corporation status and its infrastructure preventing user lock-in, contrasting with traditional social networks. The payments feature aims to support creators and users across the network, including other apps built on the AT Protocol. This strategy reflects a broader vision of disrupting the infrastructure layer rather than building just another app, with revenue flowing directly to value creators.

• Bluesky plans to introduce payments within the coming months.
• CEO Toni Schneider and COO Rose Wang announced the plans at TechCrunch Disrupt.
• Bluesky is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC).

Bluesky Expands AI-Powered Attie App for Building Sites

Bluesky announced at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 the expansion of its experimental Attie platform, enabling users to build interactive web experiences like games, quizzes, and websites using AI. Attie, initially focused on custom feed creation, now supports 'social vibe coding', where creators can build for their communities. The experiences run on the AT Protocol and can leverage Bluesky's distribution network of 47 million users, addressing the problem of audience discovery. Bluesky CEO Toni Schneider highlighted the shift from solo to collaborative creation, with suggestions based on public profiles. The platform allows bring-your-own AI models or open-weight options. Additionally, Bluesky is progressing on private data support, currently in alpha testing, aimed at boosting developer adoption. This move is part of Bluesky's broader strategy to reinvigorate its network by focusing on developers and communities.

• Bluesky announced the expansion of Attie to allow creating websites, quizzes, games, and polls.
• The tool supports 'social vibe coding' for building interactive experiences for communities.
• Attie runs on the AT Protocol and connects creators to their ATProto identity.

AI Leaders Discuss Pacing Frontier AI Development

A TechCrunch video feature discusses the proposal by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to 'pace the frontier' of AI development, following a doomsday warning from an Anthropic researcher. The plan involves independent safety evaluators and coordination among AI labs in democratic countries. It has received industry support from companies like OpenAI and Google, but also pushback from Nvidia's Jensen Huang, who opposes slowing down AI advancements. The video also covers other topics, including WordPress parent Automattic's boardroom coup and major deals of the week. The discussion explores the feasibility of companies agreeing on what slowing down means and who would enforce it.

• Dario Amodei outlined a plan to 'pace the frontier' of AI development.
• The plan includes independent safety evaluators and coordination between AI labs in democratic countries.
• Nvidia's Jensen Huang pushed back against the proposal.

Introducing SMS Campaigns: The Marketing Channel Your Customers Won’t Ignore

Squarespace announces the launch of SMS Campaigns, a new marketing channel integrated into its platform, allowing users to reach customers via text messaging.

August 2026 Product Updates

August 2026 Product Updates by Squarespace

Websites Are Boring — Embrace a Bifurcated Web

The author argues that widespread use of templates (Shopify, Squarespace, Webflow) and optimisation-for-conversion has homogenised websites, eroding brand distinctiveness. With the rise of AI, agents, and agentic commerce, discovery is shifting toward machine-driven flows that risk reducing websites to backend databases. The piece proposes a bifurcated web: a ‘Silent Web’ of machine-readable feeds for agents and a separate ‘Experiential Web’ focused on rich, human-first brand experiences powered by creative use of AI. The article cites industry projections for large economic impact from agentic commerce and multiple survey statistics showing consumer trust and adoption of AI shopping tools.

• The article states the rise of Shopify, Squarespace, and Webflow templates has produced mass homogenisation of websites.
• A McKinsey projection cited in the piece estimates agentic commerce could generate $1 trillion in the US B2C retail market by 2030 and $3–5 trillion globally.
• The article cites that 58% of Gen Z and millennials trust an AI agent to compare prices and recommend options.