Coté

Also: sovereign AI, Claude Code auto mode, FCC bans foreign routers, Walmart digital price tags

KubeCon EU 2026

KubeCon is crazy big. James says something like 13,500+ people. They’re going for another infrastructure grab: all the stuff used to run AI. It’s worth asking who they’re competing with there. I have no idea how OpenAI and Claude run the AI PaaSes they’v built - the ones that everyone is bonkers for. Do they run on Kubernetes?

If not, that’s the competition. Pay attention to them showing up - or not - at future KubeCons.

On the topic of platform engineering, here’s some quick thoughts on platforms as brought up in another great keynote from Abby Bangser. Preview: not that she’d say it, but Kubernetes is the bottleneck. Throw in how fast developers can move with AI, and that becomes even more clearer than ever.

Claude Crazy

There’s a little collection of us who’ve started using Claude code for real life and knowledge worker stuff - that is, not for programming. I’ve talked about this on our podcast, there’s a great dive into it on Reasoning this week (audio or video), and here’s a crack at me typing it up.

I know, I know: starry eyed and all that. The thing with this is that it’s not about replacing programmers, it’s about removing the bullshit that blocks you from getting stuff done. Listen to the end of the Reasoning episode for an explanation of that.

Now, pardon me as I got off to get some shit done.

Related to your interests

• Broadcom donates Velero to CNCF - and it could reshape how Kubernetes users handle backup and disaster recovery - “During a briefing with the press before the announcement, Broadcom VMware representatives sought to reassure the community that it is ramping up open-source support and contributions - especially for Kubernetes, the largest CNCF project - using KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe as the venue to make these announcements. "
• Here’s more on VMware at KubeCon.
• GKE and OSS innovation at KubeCon EU 2026 - Round-up of Google stuff from KubeCon.
• Oracle Embraces AI At JavaOne - “Oracle announced that it has restarted Project Detroit, which should lead to closer integration with foreign AI libraries and tools, starting with JavaScript using V8 and Python using CPython. In concert with Project Panama, this will give Java the ability to access AI technologies written in languages outside the Java ecosystem. After Project Detroit ships, expect to see lots of Java wrappers around the cool libraries that developers use in other environments.” And: “Oracle will need to convince other corporate stakeholders with case studies and by its own example that it’s possible and safe to integrate AI into an enterprise Java application in a way that provides business value.”
• Getting real about agentic AI projects - what’s working, and what’s not? - A round-up of elusive enterprise AI ROI.
• FinOps expands focus to ROI, AI efficiency in cloud era - “Generative AI accounts for more than half of public cloud services used by enterprises, with large companies investing heavily in governance and oversight.” That from the Flexera 2026 cloud report. Seems insanely high. Did the half of workloads that replaces just disappear? // Indeed, I think this is more about the number of survey respondents saying they use AI (but not how much they spend). From the Flexera survey: “GenAI has become pervasive. In terms of public cloud services used by all organizations, GenAI has jumped 8 percentage points to the third-place spot (58%), and nearly half say they use it extensively.”
• Auto mode for Claude Code - “I remain unconvinced by prompt injection protections that rely on AI, since they’re non-deterministic by nature.”
• Developer AI Tooling in 2026: Trends Shaping How We Build
• Why aren’t AI productivity gains higher?
• Datadog bets DIY AI will mean it dodges the SaaSpocalypse - “for AI systems to win trust, their output must be both explainable and verifiable. Using its own models makes that easier for Datadog, she said. They have also helped the company to create a tool that watches AI platforms while they work and can detect signs they are producing hallucinated output.”
• Edera spent years calling KVM less secure. Here’s why it changed its mind. - “That investment deserves to be met, not worked around. Edera should work within that architecture. This summer, it will.”
• The Control Plane: The Next Frontier of Infrastructure Sovereignty - Here’s all the governance and management functions it takes to make something enterprise-y.
• Why sovereign AI is now a top enterprise priority
• I’m OK being left behind, thanks! - “Why should I invest in learning the equivalent of WordStar for DOS when Google Docs is coming any-day-now?” This is a fine strategy. Do what works for you, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, etc.
• The Secretary of War didn’t really mean it, contends US government lawyer as Anthropic gets its first day in court - Walk-back in progress.
• US FCC blocks new foreign-made consumer routers - Wow, that is a huge move. Better go buy whatever gear you want now.
• iOS 26.4 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.4 - Many small things, including new emojis and Music features.
• Walmart digital price tags are coming to every US store by end of 2026 - When your customers don’t want digital transformation. // Also, the outrage reminds me of the anti-capitalist/WTO funk of the 90’s. What a simpler time it was when you could express your rage by throwing a brick through a Starbucks window and call it a day.
• The Corporate Bullshit Receptivity Scale: Development, validation, and associations with workplace outcomes - the paper. Related: “We need to find some path back to trusting that individuals will do their jobs, without every responsibility being visible to an entire organisation, without follow-ups being scheduled by a cadre of overpaid managers with their overfed metrics.”
• Explore The Marginal Revolution Generative Book by Tyler Cowen

Wastebook

• “…a toxic cocktail of Nextdoor, InfoWars, Fox News, Joe Rogan and thinking that empathy and reading entire books is gay.” Ben Collins
• “I’ve got stickers on my laptop older than you.”
• “People don’t like wearing things on their faces and don’t trust those who do” Neal Stephenson

Logoff

Install Claude Code. Ask it to do your next task. Do that for a week. Report back.

A note to email subscribers: I’m moving the newsletter from substack to micro.blog. It might be a little rough and weird. I did some formatting, but it’s not done yet. For example, the content is a little wide, eh? It’ll iron out. We’ll see. Eventually it’ll work. Probably.