grammarly buying an email app seems random.
but zoom out and it’s actually one of the smarter ai distribution plays we’ve seen. this wasn’t about email tech. it was about access.
grammarly has the ai writing engine. what it didn’t have was a native space where users actually write. most of its users interact through a browser extension... helpful, but lightweight. superhuman, on the other hand, has deep engagement. it’s where professionals spend hours writing real, high-stakes content: emails to investors, customers, teammates.
it’s not the only example. perplexity is going after search, not because it has the best model, but because that’s where users already go to ask questions. the product reshapes a familiar behavior (googling) with a better experience. but the real unlock is how it’s getting there... not just through the web, but through oem deals like motorola, where perplexity is the default assistant. that’s ai in your pocket without the user even opting in. it’s distribution at the operating system level.
this is what smart ai m&a looks like: infrastructure meets distribution. grammarly just turned a bolt-on tool into a daily writing workflow.
the best models won’t win on capability alone. they’ll win on where they show up.
distribution > tech