2026 in LLMs (so far)
On Friday I gave the closing keynote at the WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America in San Jose. I tied together the key trends from the past year into a chronological exploration of everything that happened in 2026. The video is on YouTube; here are my annotated slides and
The recent keynote at the WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America in San Jose provides valuable insights into the trends shaping the Large Language Model (LLM) landscape in 2026. By reflecting on the past year, the speaker was able to identify and connect key developments that have significant implications for the industry.
The fact that this information was presented at a developer-focused conference and is now available on YouTube and annotated slides indicates a clear effort to disseminate knowledge and stimulate discussion among those building applications on top of LLMs. As the app ecosystem continues to evolve, understanding the trajectory of LLMs is crucial for developers looking to integrate AI capabilities into their products.
To watch next: The future of LLM adoption in app development will likely depend on advancements in areas like model interpretability, multimodal interaction, and edge AI. Keep an eye on how developers leverage these technologies to create more sophisticated and user-friendly applications, and monitor industry leaders' commentary and product announcements for indications of where the technology is headed.
Originally reported by simonwillison.net. AppNewsletter adds analysis for ai & agent economy readers.