TLDR 2025-12-17
ChatGPT Image upgrade πΌοΈ, WB rejects Paramount π¬, faciliting AI dev adoption π¨βπ»
Warner Bros. Plans to Reject Paramount Bid on Funding, Terms (4 minute read)
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.
OpenAI's ChatGPT Updated to Make Images Better and Faster (2 minute read)
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.
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Science & Futuristic Technology
Sawing a Dam in Half (on Purpose) (18 minute read)
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.
If AI could interact and learn from the physical world, could it make more scientific advances? (3 minute read)
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.
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Programming, Design & Data Science
Is Your SEO Strategy Missing Half the Picture? LLM Visibility is no longer optional. (Sponsor)
If you're selling a tech product, ChatGPT and Perplexity are part of your customers' buying journey.
Semrush One tracks brand mentions across AI search platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode) alongside traditional SEO. One dashboard for everywhere customers can (or can't) find you.
30% off through Dec 31Facilitating AI adoption at Imprint (20 minute read)
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.
On the success of βnatural language programming' (7 minute read)
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.
Instagram Reels is coming to a TV near you (1 minute read)
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 (5 minute read)
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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