Special Reports — Beginners in AI

Special Reports are how Beginners in AI covers the biggest 2026 AI shifts in depth. Every report is grounded in primary sources, packed with charts, and written so a smart beginner walks away with a real mental model — not a news summary.

New volumes ship roughly monthly. Subscribers get the PDF version first, by email, the day each one drops. The free web version always stays live.

Available reports

Coming next

Subscribers get each one the day it drops. Roadmap is not fixed — report order shifts with the news.

What goes into a Special Report

• Primary sources only. Vendor docs, peer-reviewed papers, regulatory filings, named executives. No second-tier press, no recycled blog content.
• Original chart pack. Every report ships with charts built from public data — not stock graphics.
• Named figures + named companies. Specific people, specific products, specific numbers. Vague generalities get cut.
• Spoke posts. Each report has 8–15 supporting deep-dive posts on the specific topics inside it — so you can go a layer deeper on anything that grabs your attention.
• Downloadable PDF. For subscribers. Designed to share with a colleague or a teenager.
• Grounded tone. No hype, no doom. The report tells you what’s actually happening — with limits, failures, and open questions called out clearly.

Frequently asked questions

How often does a new Special Report ship?
Target cadence is monthly. Real cadence shifts with the news — if a category is moving fast (AI video right now), we publish early. If a category is quiet, we wait until there’s enough new signal to justify a deep dive.

Are the reports free?
The web version of every report is free, no paywall, no email gate. The PDF version is delivered to newsletter subscribers. Subscribe to get future PDFs automatically.

Can I share or republish a report?
You can share the web URL or the PDF freely with colleagues, friends, family, or your team. For republication on another site, please get in touch first.

How do you decide which reports to write?
The criterion is simple: is this a 2026 AI shift that’s getting covered badly elsewhere — either with too much hype, too much doom, or too little real reporting? If the answer is yes and we have the sources, it goes on the report list.

Can I suggest a report topic?
Yes — tell us what to cover. Subscriber requests carry real weight here.

Are these the same as your regular blog posts?
No. Regular posts are shorter, faster, and topic-specific. Special Reports are longer (typically 3,000–5,000 words), more thoroughly sourced, fully illustrated with original charts, and built around a single thesis. Think “Stratechery quarterly” vs “daily news.”

Sources

• Each Special Report includes a full Sources section with primary citations — vendor docs, regulatory filings, named research, and named press where applicable.
• Stanford AI Index 2026 — foundational data on AI capability, deployment, and economics.
• Anthropic News, OpenAI News, Google AI Blog — vendor primary sources for model capabilities and releases.

You might also like

• AI for Every Profession — the full index of 347 profession-specific AI guides.
• AI Tools Directory — the full catalog of AI tools by category.
• AI Glossary — every AI term, in plain English.
• Start Here — the 30-minute path for AI newcomers.
• Recommended Reading + Listening + Watching — the books, podcasts, and films we recommend in the newsletter.
• The Beginners in AI Newsletter — daily, free, in plain English.