The best AI newsletters

Astral Codex Ten publishes long-form essays on AI safety, rationality, politics, science and culture, alongside reader book reviews and weekly open threads. Readers get argumentative, carefully reasoned writing plus community news such as meetups, surveys and grant-related projects.

The Pragmatic Engineer is a newsletter by Gergely Orosz covering Big Tech and startup engineering from the inside, with deep dives into AI tooling spend, developer infrastructure, and industry events. Readers get practical, data-backed analysis useful for software, AI, and engineering leaders.

Interconnects AI is a technical newsletter from inside frontier AI labs, covering open-weight model developments, geopolitics of AI regulation, and the future direction of AI research and engineering. Readers get analysis of model releases, policy moves, and grounded takes on AI progress without hype.

Grant Sanderson's mailing list for the 3Blue1Brown channel announces new math videos and occasional project updates. Recent issues reflect on AI's role in mathematics, the funding and value of math research, and the making of a video about a hard IMO problem.

In-depth analyses of technology companies and sub-industries, focused on AI, semiconductors, cloud, software and ad tech. Issues combine expert interviews, alternative data and earnings previews to argue where value is shifting in the AI stack.

Weekly analyses of China's AI, chip, robotics and EV sectors, built from primary sources such as filings, industry-body data and government announcements. Issues pair specific figures with an interpretive reading, for example on robot supply-chain financing, BYD battery share and draft AI export controls.

Latent.Space is a technical newsletter and podcast covering how leading AI labs build agents, models, inference infrastructure, and AI for science. Recent issues cover open-source inference economics, how AI-native engineering firms structure compensation, and programmable GPU data centers.

Platformer is an independent newsletter covering AI, social platforms, and the people shaping technology. Readers get analytical reporting and commentary on industry news such as regulatory actions against AI companies and leadership changes at major tech firms.

Weekly digest of Simon Willison's blog covering hands-on experiments with LLMs and coding agents, event live blogs, and short notes on new releases and tools. Readers get practical write-ups of what he built, what he learned, and roundups of links, quotes and open source releases.

A weekly newsletter from a product manager covering AI product management, growth strategy, and job-hunting for PM roles, with companion podcast episodes and written deep dives. Readers get practical guides on Claude Code-based growth systems, model PM careers, and product strategy in the age of AI.

Big Technology is an independent newsletter by journalist Alex Kantrowitz covering big tech and its effects on society, largely through interviews with tech executives and analysts. Recent issues cover Google's frontier AI push, robotics progress at Rivian's Mind Robotics, and the scale of the AI infrastructure buildout.

Transformer covers AI policy and politics, including legislation in Congress, lobbying by AI companies, and the super PACs funding the midterms. Readers get original reporting, interviews and analysis, plus a weekly briefing on what matters in AI.

Ethan Mollick's newsletter explores how AI is changing work, education, and everyday life, drawing on his research and hands-on experiments with agentic AI tools. Readers get practical examples of rapidly advancing AI capabilities, along with reflections on management, delegation, and the pace of progress.

ByteByteGo explains complex software and system design concepts in simple terms through short articles and illustrated refreshers. Readers get clear breakdowns of how companies like Shopify, Uber, and others build large-scale systems, plus practical engineering topics such as RAG chunking and testing.

Kent Beck writes about software design, testing and programming technique, framing them as ways of improving human relationships among developers. Issues mix practical techniques such as refactoring tests with reflections on working with AI coding tools and mental models for feedback loops.

Tomas Pueyo's newsletter explores big-picture questions about the future, covering AI, crypto, history, and society through long-form analysis. Readers get in-depth essays that connect historical patterns to present-day technology and economic shifts.

TheSequence is a publication covering machine learning, AI, and data science, with weekly-style editorial pieces, research deep dives such as recursive self-improvement and learned update rules, and AI industry analysis. Readers get concise explanations of AI research developments, business news, and robotics coverage.

Essays from Princeton's AI researchers (including Arvind Narayanan) arguing that AI is a transformative but normal technology rather than a path to superintelligence. Recent issues cover AI agent evaluation methods, whether AI should aim at augmenting rather than automating human labor, and debates over AI safety and existential risk.

DiamantAI is a technical newsletter explaining AI internals through hands-on experiments, such as layer-pruning Mistral 7B and analysing how words steer image models. It also covers new tools and tutorials for building AI agents and RAG systems.

Newcomer is a deeply reported newsletter on the inner workings of the startup and venture capital industry, written by Eric Newcomer and collaborators. Readers get analysis of fundraising, neocloud and AI infrastructure finances, fintech milestones, and promotion of the associated podcast and AI show.

Technical deep dives into machine learning systems, covering LLM architecture, inference costs and AI agent infrastructure. Issues explain mechanisms step by step and tie them to current model and platform releases.

Lenny's Newsletter publishes in-depth podcast-style interviews and practical advice on product management, growth, AI tools, and careers for product leaders and founders. Recent issues cover hands-on AI model reviews, AI-powered video workflows, and interpretability research on how large language models think.

Understanding AI is a newsletter that explains how AI works and how it is reshaping the world, mixing explainers on new models and techniques with commentary on AI companies and creative uses. Readers get clear, accessible analysis of AI developments, industry controversies, and practical applications.

Exponential View, by Azeem Azhar, offers analytical essays and data-driven briefings on AI, the AI economy, and broader technology and geopolitical trends. Readers get concise analysis of market dynamics, company financials, and long-range thinking about how artificial intelligence may reshape work and society.

Jakob Nielsen shares short UX articles and weekly roundups on usability, with a strong focus on how AI changes design practice and user behavior. Readers get research-backed findings, usability guidance, and his commentary on AI interaction styles and design principles.

Refactoring is a weekly newsletter by Luca for engineers and managers, offering practical ideas on engineering leadership, technical strategy, and building high-performing teams. Readers get Monday idea roundups, interview episodes with engineering leaders, and in-depth essays on topics like API and MCP server design.

SemiAnalysis is a paid research newsletter covering semiconductors and their business implications, including datacenter buildout, chip manufacturing equipment, and AI policy. Each issue offers deep-dive analysis with forecasts, supply-chain detail, and data models for investors and industry professionals.

Matt Stoller's BIG examines monopoly power, antitrust, and corporate concentration through commentary on AI stock bubbles, Federal Reserve policy, and travel industry pricing. Readers get a critical, politically pointed take on how concentrated corporate power shapes prices, markets, and everyday costs.

Venkatesh Rao's personal essay newsletter about building with AI agents, the Divergence Machine theory of world history, book club readings, and ideas about humanism and technology. Readers get long, idiosyncratic essays that mix personal reflection, historical framing and speculative commentary on the future.

Long-form essays on frontier AI, covering interpretability, AI safety scenarios, and how free societies might handle concentration of power. The author draws on political theory, history and literature, and has written from inside an AI lab.

Elena Verna shares growth, marketing, and product insights drawn from her work leading growth at an AI company, covering topics like AI pricing and packaging and life as an operator-creator. Readers get candid, experience-based takes on how modern tech and AI-native companies operate and monetize.

Packy McCormick's Not Boring newsletter offers tech strategy, analysis, and philosophy, often through long essays on companies and emerging technologies. Recent issues include a weekly optimism roundup of good news and in-depth essays on AI world models and startups.

A finance blog newsletter from the Financial Times that offers witty, irreverent commentary on markets, AI-sector excess and financial oddities. Readers get sharp analysis mixed with pop-culture references and historical context on money stories.

A free bonus issue of The Pragmatic Engineer covering software industry news through the lens of senior engineers and engineering leaders. Recent issues look at internal vibe-coding tools at companies like Ramp and Stripe, a major Firebase outage and its incident response, and DHH's claim that hand-written coding is over at 37signals.

Kyla's Newsletter offers in-depth economic analysis that connects topics like AI, oil, Treasuries, and consumer sentiment to everyday experiences. It features long-form essays, interviews with figures such as Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, and reflections on labor versus capital and how people perceive the economy.

Build Mode is PostHog's newsletter on building software products, especially AI features, with practical lessons from their own experience. Readers get concrete tactics on AI product strategy, multiplayer collaboration tools, and how engineering roles change as AI writes more code.

Essays on AI agents, frontier lab economics and agent governance, mixing original simulation experiments with analysis and occasional fiction. Readers get a thoughtful, idiosyncratic view of how AI systems behave and how institutions might respond.

Andrew Chen, a venture capitalist, writes essays on how AI, consumer apps and growth dynamics are reshaping tech markets. Readers get opinionated analysis of network effects, product retention and viral loops, drawn from firsthand experience.

Tom Yeh's newsletter teaches AI math, algorithms and model architectures through hand-worked examples and Excel spreadsheets, plus announcements for guest seminars. Readers get step-by-step walkthroughs of topics such as RNNs and small language models, with downloadable live calculations.

Research nonprofit blog on AI timelines forecasting, AGI and superintelligence risk, and policy proposals for managing frontier AI development. It publishes forecasting model updates, regulatory proposals, and testimony on AI safety.

Ankit Panda writes essays on nuclear strategy, arms control and verification, and the intersection of nuclear risk with AI. Readers get expert framing of nuclear policy debates and original conceptual arguments.

A personal essay newsletter from Brian Dunning-style natural philosophy writer exploring AI's cultural impact, parenting, and civilizational themes through polemic and literary references. Readers get reflective, opinionated takes on technology, culture, and history rather than news or practical guidance.

Long-form technical articles on machine learning and AI research, covering new model releases, architectures and the history behind them. Issues include in-depth explainers, literature reviews and video lectures with transcripts.

Melanie Mitchell writes essays on developments in AI, examining claims about AI capabilities, risks and the nature of machine intelligence. Readers get critical, informed commentary that challenges hype and anthropomorphic framing.

Groundbreaker is a finance newsletter that argues today's AI boom mirrors the 2006-2008 subprime mortgage crisis, using analysis of reset schedules, price dynamics, and earnings quality. Readers get a contrarian, historically grounded framework for judging whether apparently cheap, growing AI-sector valuations hide the same kind of borrowed or unsustainable earnings.

A newsletter of essays on technology, culture, and the moral life, drawing on literature, philosophy, and history. Readers get reflective critiques of AI discourse and modern technology, plus occasional archive reposts and a commonplace book of curated links and quotations.

Amelia's Substack publishes analysis on robotics, AI and economics, including how frontier AI could affect robot progress, data-driven looks at the industrial robotics industry, and the labor-market effects of AI. Posts mix original reasoning with sourced data and co-authored research.

A history-of-ideas newsletter that uses past scientific and technological episodes, such as Kuhn's paradigm shifts and Bell Labs' machine learning work, to think about where AI is heading. Its essays are long, carefully argued and well sourced, with a focus on how progress actually happens.

In-depth analyses of AI and semiconductor supply chains, covering topics such as co-packaged optics testing, Chinese LLM economics and laser vendor competition. Each issue maps the vendors, prices, production stages and bottlenecks, and names the listed companies involved.

Helen Toner's Substack on navigating a world with very advanced AI, covering the vagueness of AGI definitions, AI jaggedness, and the risks of personalized AI. Readers get careful, expert-informed argument about AI capabilities and governance, with occasional guest essays.