TLDR 2025-12-17

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OPENAI'S CHATGPT UPDATED TO MAKE IMAGES BETTER AND FASTER

The new version of ChatGPT Image is designed to make and edit images more precisely. It can generate pictures up to four times faster than the previous image-generation model. OpenAI is creating a new section within ChatGPT specifically for making images. The company is aiming to cater to a mix of personal and professional uses.

WARNER BROS. PLANS TO REJECT PARAMOUNT BID ON FUNDING, TERMS

Warner Bros. plans to reject Paramount's hostile takeover bid due to concerns about financing and other terms. The board will urge shareholders to reject the tender offer. It views the company's existing agreement with Netflix as offering greater value, certainty, and terms than what Paramount has proposed. While Warner Bros.' agreement with Netflix bars it from soliciting proposals from other bidders, it is allowed to entertain incoming proposals.

IF AI COULD INTERACT AND LEARN FROM THE PHYSICAL WORLD, COULD IT MAKE MORE SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES?

OpenAI partnered with Red Queen Bio to introduce a new evolutionary framework that uses GPT-5 to optimize cloning protocols. The project involved the pilot of an autonomous robot to carry out the protocols. GPT-achieved a 79x cloning efficiency gain and introduced a new enzyme-based approach. While this is not a bio breakthrough, the novel optimization shows that GPT-5 is at the level of a competent PhD student at this task.

SAWING A DAM IN HALF (ON PURPOSE)

Fontana Dam started showing cracks in 1972, caused by concrete expansion. Engineers decided to give the concrete more room to grow rather than patching cracks as they appeared. They cut a relief slot all through the dam without draining the reservoir or causing any disruptions to the hydropower plant. This post explains how this was achieved. A video showing footage of the procedure is available.

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ON THE SUCCESS OF ‘NATURAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING'

Machines can now be programmed in our native tongues. This year, the industry has made significant progress on how to use AI agents and is seeing significant returns from that effort. There's still more work to learn how to use them efficiently, but there's no doubt that the technology is the future of programming. This will bring the power of computing to more places, more people, and more problems.

FACILITATING AI ADOPTION AT IMPRINT

Working on internal AI adoption is a thing every engineering leader will need to do. This post details how Imprint approached the problem, detailing the lessons learned during the process. It is still early for AI adoption, so focusing on the rate of learning is more valuable than anything else. Engineers leading the internal AI initiative must also be using the tools they are introducing.

INSTAGRAM REELS IS COMING TO A TV NEAR YOU

Meta has unveiled a dedicated Instagram Reels TV app. The app will debut on Amazon's Fire TV before expanding to other platforms. It will allow users to watch Instagram Reels' short-form, user-generated videos on bigger screens. Social video is increasingly capturing big-screen attention, with platforms like YouTube gaining more watch time on TV than anything else.

MESSAGING IS A MOAT, NOT A BUSINESS

Messaging platforms command astronomical acquisition prices, but they often flounder when left to stand alone in the public markets. Messaging is perhaps the most valuable loss leader in digital history. It creates massive utility, commands unparalleled user attention, and offers high retention, but captures almost no direct financial value of its own.

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PEOPLE ARE THE NEW OIL

When scarce resources become abundant, the bottleneck flips to whatever was cheap before.

THE GITHUB ACTIONS CONTROL PLANE IS NO LONGER FREE

GitHub is introducing a $0.002 per-minute platform fee for all GitHub Actions usage.

THE NON-SHARED BASELINE

Designers who rely too heavily on AI from the very beginning risk never developing vision and taste skills.

ALPHABET-OWNED WAYMO IN TALKS TO RAISE $15 BILLION IN FUNDING

Waymo is spending heavily to ramp up its fleet and continue expanding to more regions.

US THREATENS PENALTIES AGAINST EUROPEAN TECH FIRMS AMID REGULATORY FIGHT

The US has been pushing Europe to open up its tech sector to American firms, but the EU has not walked back broader regulation of company business practices and has proceeded with investigations of major US tech firms.

THIN DESIRES ARE EATING YOUR LIFE

Thick desires change you in the process of pursuing them, and while they may be difficult to achieve, they won't leave you feeling emptied out.