“Anyone that’s properly using AI now knows that you tell it what you want, it gives you a plan, carries out the work, and you judge and tweak. You’re not a passive victim — you’re an active user with outcomes in mind.” — Keith Teare

Do we really want a no-hands job from Silicon Valley? That Was the Week newsletter publisher Keith Teare — who thinks all tech innovation results in human progress — thinks we do. No hands, no problem, Keith says. But I’m not sure. Especially given the powers-that-be giving us that no-hands job.

Keith welcomes the end of what he calls the “typed” and “touched” computing era — keyboards, mice, touchscreens, and all the manifold ways we have used our hands to interact with computers since the 1980s. That’s the outcome, he predicts, of the race to AGI. So far so good. But what happens if our no-hands AI future is controlled by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook? This week these four behemoths committed 00 billion to AI infrastructure investment in 2026 alone — 2 percent of all US GDP. These companies are racing to build (and own) the foundational mechanics of AGI.

That’s always how it’s been, Keith says, embracing our no-hands future. I’m less open-armed. What happens if we want our hands to fend off AGI? No, I’m not so keen on a no-hands job from Silicon Valley. Especially one couched in the altruism of human progress.

Five Takeaways

• The End of the Hand-Driven Computing Era. Andrej Karpathy: he no longer uses his hands to do his work. He speaks; the computer acts; he judges and refines. The keyboard, mouse, and touchscreen are entering their twilight. Keith called this two years ago. Software 3.0 has arrived.

• $700 Billion: The CapEx Explosion. Four private companies — Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta — are spending $700 billion in 2026 on AI infrastructure. Two percent of US GDP. This kind of spending usually happens via governments or wars. Meta was punished by Wall Street for it. Google was rewarded.

• Was the Internet Privately Built? Keith says yes. Andrew says ARPANET was a massive government investment. Keith says ARPANET was a university bulletin board. Andrew says that’s not exactly what ARPANET was. They agree government research matters. They disagree on how much credit it deserves.

• The Revenge of the Idea Guy. Sam Altman’s line. In the past, ideas needed expensive engineers to build them. Now, AI builds the plan and executes the work. Anyone with an idea and no engineering team can build things. The specialist isn’t dead — but specialists will use AI to scale themselves.

• Should Kids Use AI in Schools? The New Yorker says get it out. Keith says the question misunderstands AI. Proper use requires active judgment at every step. If schools understand that, they embrace AI. Andrew’s prediction: kids whose parents ban AI will eventually sue them.

About the Guest

Keith Teare is a British-American entrepreneur, investor, and publisher of the That Was the Week newsletter. He is a co-founder of TechCrunch.

References

That Was the Week newsletter: thatwa.st
Andrej Karpathy at Sequoia Capital AI Ascent 2026
Jessica Winter, "What Will It Take to Get AI Out of Schools?" The New Yorker, 2026

About Keen On America

Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.

Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow

Chapters:

00:00:31 Keith leads with Hand Job?
00:03:27 Karpathy: the end of typed input
00:04:30 CapEx: the real story
00:06:38 Was the internet privately built?
00:11:00 Big Tech earnings
00:32:00 The advertising agency is dying
00:40:22 Revenge of the idea guy
00:41:26 AI in schools
00:47:00 The hand job of the week