2025-11-05T12:00:01Z
- Activate CEO Michael J. Wolf’s annual slide deck includes a section examining AI search and spatial computing.
- Regarding AI search, Wolf details licensing agreements and third-party systems, including the rise of GEO companies.
- Wolf also details how AI will power the next generation of smart glasses and VR that Apple and Meta have invested in.
Michael J. Wolff has spent years predicting where the technology and media industries are headed. Our latest annual slide deck examines two industries at the cutting edge of technology: AI search and spatial computing.
A media veteran, he served as president and COO of MTV Networks in the 2000s and later served on the board of Yahoo. For the past 15 years, he has led his own agency, Activate Consulting, specializing in Internet businesses.
In Wolf’s 2026 Technology and Media Landscape report, to be presented at the Journal’s Tech Live conference on Wednesday, the CEO outlines the rise of AI-powered search and spatial technologies, including smart glasses, and how the segment will mature. His predictions touch on major players in AI such as OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as companies investing heavily in spatial hardware such as Apple and Meta.
Scroll through to be the first to see where Wolf breaks down both industries and where he sees each heading.
“Is there really a new gateway to the web?” Wolf asks in his section on AI search.
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Activate research shows that AI platforms will see a 1.5x increase in monthly users from 2024 to 2025.
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According to the company’s research, 128 million people use generative AI every month.
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The primary use case for generative AI that Activate discovered was concept explanation.
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Activate research found that 26% of adults use both AI and traditional search platforms.
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The company predicts that by 2029, 38 million more Americans will be the first to use AI in their search queries.
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Wolf wrote that AI has added a new step of “processing and planning” to people’s search habits.
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According to Activate, visits to Google have increased by 17% since the launch of AI Overviews.
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However, Google’s referral traffic decreased by an estimated 10 percentage points.
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Publishers, on the other hand, have licensing and revenue-sharing agreements with AI companies.
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Third parties like Tollbit and ProRata.ai have sprung up between publishers and AI companies.
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Wolf breaks down the differences between SEO and the newcomer “GEO.”
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The GEO market is growing, and third parties like Geostar and Botify are promising to help optimize performance in the age of AI.
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According to Activate research, 41% of non-AI users are concerned about privacy.
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AI platforms aim to monetize through advertising, subscriptions, and e-commerce.
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Wolf also delves into the spatial technologies driving AR headsets and smart glasses.
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Apple, Meta, and Google are among the companies investing in spatial computing, betting that it could become the next big platform.
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Spatial computing includes AR, VR, MR, and AI glasses.
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Use cases for AI glasses include navigation and shopping.
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According to research by Activate, 49% of AI glasses owners use AI glasses for social media.
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Wolf predicts that spatial computing will be used across advertising, games, and vehicles.
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Meanwhile, the number of spatial computing apps is increasing.
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Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro headset lets users watch concerts and tour their homes. Its main rival is Meta’s Quest VR headset.
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Technology companies like Meta, Samsung, and Snap are taking different approaches to this technology.
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The past five years have seen a surge in the introduction of new smart glasses.
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What will the next generation of AI glasses look like? Wolf has an idea…
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He predicts that there will be a platform shift from smartphones to spatial devices.
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Meta uses spatial computing to establish platform independence from Apple and Google.
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According to Activate, technology super users are 4.3 times more likely to use AI glasses each month.
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Wolf considers how spatial computing could one day replace smartphones.
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Wolf predicts that ubiquitous spatial devices will need to be see-through, ambient, and connected.
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He believes that spatial devices will include weather and terrain data.
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To overcome the “cold start problem,” it was important to train the AI on “real world” data.
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According to Wolf, the spatial technology will be used in the medical, industrial and defense industries.
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CEO provides an overview of the spatial computing technology stack.
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Companies like Verizon and AT&T will benefit from better spatial technology, Wolf predicts.
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