Listen to today’s podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nqwUyvLDEvs7bV985k-gQ
AI Daily Podcast 12/20/2025
Today’s podcast episode was created from the following stories:
Uber CEO says AI is turning his engineers into ‘superhumans’
By Theron Mohamed — December 19, 2025
Dara Khosrowshahi says AI is delivering practical wins across pricing, routing, recommendations, and support, generating hundreds of millions in benefits even as some warn of a bubble. He notes 80–90% of Uber developers use AI tools and that autonomous agents now help diagnose system issues. Rather than cut headcount, he’s hiring more engineers he calls ‘superhumans’ and expects driverless fleets to plug into Uber’s marketplace.
Sam Altman says OpenAI has gone ‘code red’ multiple times — and they’ll do it again
By Lee Chong Ming — December 19, 2025
Sam Altman says OpenAI has entered emergency ‘code red’ phases several times to respond to competitors like DeepSeek and Google’s Gemini 3. These six-to-eight-week sprints prioritize ChatGPT and rapid feature releases, exposing gaps the team moves quickly to close. Altman says staying paranoid and fast will remain central to how OpenAI competes.
Samsung announces world’s first 2nm mobile chip ahead of Apple
By Tim Hardwick — December 19, 2025
Samsung unveiled the Exynos 2600, the first 2nm mobile SoC built on its GAA process, promising major CPU, NPU, and GPU gains plus a new HPB thermal approach to sustain performance. The company claims up to 39% faster CPU and 113% faster NPU, with doubled graphics performance and 50% faster ray tracing for on-device AI and gaming. Apple is expected to reach 2nm with TSMC in 2026, setting up the next round of efficiency and performance competition.
Google’s new invite-only AI tool emails you morning briefings based on your Gmail, Calendar, and Drive — I tried it
By Henry Chandonnet — December 19, 2025
Google Labs is piloting CC, a Gemini-powered assistant that emails a personalized morning briefing from your Gmail, Calendar, and Drive, and takes task requests by email. In early testing it surfaced deadlines and promo offers well, but stumbled on summarizing some newsletters — useful triage with room to improve. It’s invite-only for personal accounts in the U.S. and Canada; enterprise accounts aren’t supported yet.
Capital One is wary about its rising Amazon cloud AI costs, Nvidia memo shows
By Geoff Weiss — December 19, 2025
An internal Nvidia memo says Capital One is concerned about escalating AI costs on AWS and is exploring alternatives such as neocloud providers and an in-house ‘AI factory.’ The move reflects a broader shift as enterprises chase generative AI while rebalancing cloud spend and embracing multi-cloud strategies. AWS says it continually lowers prices; Capital One says AWS remains a key partner even as it evaluates options.
ChatGPT、無料版＆廉価プランがひっそりと実質ダウングレード
By AJ Dellinger – Gizmodo US（中川真知子） — December 19, 2025
OpenAI quietly changed defaults so free and $5 Go users are routed to the lightweight GPT-5.2 Instant model, removing automatic switching to higher-cost ‘Thinking’ models. The shift likely reduces costs and gives users more control, but raises questions about handling sensitive queries that previously triggered more safety-aware models. Users can still pick ‘Thinking’ manually, but it now requires an explicit selection each time.
From McKinsey to PwC, here’s how elite consulting firms are racing to hire engineers — and train everyone else in AI
By Polly Thompson and Lakshmi Varanasi — December 19, 2025
Top consultancies like McKinsey, BCG, PwC, EY, and KPMG are retooling for AI by hiring more engineers and ‘hybrid’ consultants while launching massive upskilling programs. Firms report tens of thousands of technologist hires and new builder roles alongside classic generalists as client work shifts from advice to implementation and maintenance. Soft skills and business judgment remain essential as clients seek pragmatic, value-driven AI deployments.
