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Jon Keegan

On the first day of “shipmas,” Sam Altman gave to me...

Yesterday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that to wrap up the year, the company would celebrate “shipmas” and launch and demo a new product or feature each day for the next 12 days, or as he put it, “The 12 Days of OpenAI.”

For the first release, OpenAI announced the “full” version of its latest OpenAI o1 model and a new $200 per month ChatGPT Pro tier that offers unlimited access to the company’s latest models. OpenAI o1’s biggest feature is its ability to use multistep “reasoning” to solve complex problems.

For that extra fee, you can ask ChatGPT to solve the “most challenging” math, science, and programming problems, which it can answer in one to three minutes.

OpenAI seems to be taking cues from its business partner Microsoft by embracing some confusing branding for its growing portfolio of services.

Now, when you pay for ChatGPT Pro (not to be confused with the $20 per month ChatGPT Plus), power users can choose to use “o1 Pro Mode,” which can be used to “ask the model to use even more compute to think even harder on some of the most difficult problems,” one engineer said.

In the livestream of the announcement, Sam Altman sat with three male OpenAI developers who worked on the products and walked through some pretty wonky and boring demos.

In one example, which lives up to a viral TikTok moment, one of the developers asked ChatGPT to “list the Roman emperors of the second century, including their dates and accomplishments.” It took the o1 model 14 seconds to answer.

Another demo involved uploading a hand-drawn sketch of a theoretical space-based, solar-powered AI data center to ChatGPT and asking it to estimate the surface area for a part of the contraption. After 10 seconds, ChatGPT returned an estimate along with a step-by-step solution including formulas and explaining its assumptions.

The demo for “Pro Mode” involved identifying a protein based on six criteria, which it completed in 53 seconds.

Introducing ChatGPT Pro

Introducing ChatGPT Pro

For the first release, OpenAI announced the “full” version of its latest OpenAI o1 model and a new $200 per month ChatGPT Pro tier that offers unlimited access to the company’s latest models. OpenAI o1’s biggest feature is its ability to use multistep “reasoning” to solve complex problems.

For that extra fee, you can ask ChatGPT to solve the “most challenging” math, science, and programming problems, which it can answer in one to three minutes.

OpenAI seems to be taking cues from its business partner Microsoft by embracing some confusing branding for its growing portfolio of services.

Now, when you pay for ChatGPT Pro (not to be confused with the $20 per month ChatGPT Plus), power users can choose to use “o1 Pro Mode,” which can be used to “ask the model to use even more compute to think even harder on some of the most difficult problems,” one engineer said.

In the livestream of the announcement, Sam Altman sat with three male OpenAI developers who worked on the products and walked through some pretty wonky and boring demos.

In one example, which lives up to a viral TikTok moment, one of the developers asked ChatGPT to “list the Roman emperors of the second century, including their dates and accomplishments.” It took the o1 model 14 seconds to answer.

Another demo involved uploading a hand-drawn sketch of a theoretical space-based, solar-powered AI data center to ChatGPT and asking it to estimate the surface area for a part of the contraption. After 10 seconds, ChatGPT returned an estimate along with a step-by-step solution including formulas and explaining its assumptions.

The demo for “Pro Mode” involved identifying a protein based on six criteria, which it completed in 53 seconds.

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Jon Keegan
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Amazon rolls out updated Trainium chip, new AI models at re:Invent conference

A flurry of product announcements from the developer conference in Las Vegas present a road map for Amazon’s AI computing dominance.

AWS CEO Matt Garman
tech
Jon Keegan

Amazon AWS and Google set up rare partnership as rivals try to prevent massive network outages

In October, Amazon AWS suffered a major outage, disrupting services for Snapchat, Reddit, Roblox, Venmo, and United Airlines, among others.

As more and more businesses move their cloud computing to AWS or Google Cloud, the risks of such large outages increase.

To address this, an unusual partnership between rivals AWS and Google seeks to let customers quickly and easily move their data and services between the platforms.

In a press release, Robert Kennedy, VP of network services at AWS, said:

“This collaboration between AWS and Google Cloud represents a fundamental shift in multicloud connectivity. By defining and publishing a standard that removes the complexity of any physical components for customers, with high availability and security fused into that standard, customers no longer need to worry about any heavy lifting to create their desired connectivity. When they need multicloud connectivity, it’s ready to activate in minutes with a simple point and click.”

AWS and Google Cloud collaborate on multicloud networking | Google Cloud Blog

AWS and Google Cloud collaborate on multicloud networking | Google Cloud Blog

To address this, an unusual partnership between rivals AWS and Google seeks to let customers quickly and easily move their data and services between the platforms.

In a press release, Robert Kennedy, VP of network services at AWS, said:

“This collaboration between AWS and Google Cloud represents a fundamental shift in multicloud connectivity. By defining and publishing a standard that removes the complexity of any physical components for customers, with high availability and security fused into that standard, customers no longer need to worry about any heavy lifting to create their desired connectivity. When they need multicloud connectivity, it’s ready to activate in minutes with a simple point and click.”

tech
Rani Molla

Tesla’s Chinese-made EV sales jumped 10% in November

Tesla sales from its Shanghai plant jumped 10% in November, only the third time those sales have risen in a month this year, Bloomberg reports. These figures don’t break down what share of sales are within China — Tesla’s second-biggest market — or exported, but typically most made there are sold locally.

The news is a rare bright spot these days for the company’s car sales, which are continuing to decline in much of the world amid fierce competition, especially from Chinese automakers, against Tesla’s aging lineup. The FactSet analyst consensus expects Tesla’s global sales to drop 7% in 2025, the second annual decline in a row.

tech
Rani Molla

Apple retires AI head to show it’s serious about AI

Yesterday, Apple announced that its AI head, John Giannandrea, who presided over the company’s largely subpar endeavors into generative AI, would retire at the relatively young age of 60.

Giannandrea is set to leave the company this spring — right around the time Apple’s long-delayed, AI-powered Siri is expected to debut, with Microsoft’s corporate VP for AI, Amar Subramanya, taking the reins.

The move signals that Apple, which has invested far less in AI than its Big Tech peers — and has comparatively little to show for it — is finally getting serious about the technology.

“We believe that Subramanya represents the right hire at the right time with the clock ticking on Apple’s AI strategy heading into next year with outside hires a necessary move to improve the AI strategy,” writes Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “We believe that this was a major reset while expecting more outside hires from Cook & Co. to get Apple on the right track when it comes to AI while further preparing the company for its AI Siri launch by mid 2026 which has been delayed due to development challenges and now represents a major turning point in the company’s history.”

The company put it this way: “This moment marks an exciting new chapter as Apple strengthens its commitment to shaping the future of AI for users everywhere.”

John Giannandrea to retire from Apple

John Giannandrea to retire from Apple

The move signals that Apple, which has invested far less in AI than its Big Tech peers — and has comparatively little to show for it — is finally getting serious about the technology.

“We believe that Subramanya represents the right hire at the right time with the clock ticking on Apple’s AI strategy heading into next year with outside hires a necessary move to improve the AI strategy,” writes Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “We believe that this was a major reset while expecting more outside hires from Cook & Co. to get Apple on the right track when it comes to AI while further preparing the company for its AI Siri launch by mid 2026 which has been delayed due to development challenges and now represents a major turning point in the company’s history.”

The company put it this way: “This moment marks an exciting new chapter as Apple strengthens its commitment to shaping the future of AI for users everywhere.”

tech
Rani Molla

OpenAI declares “code red” on Google three years after Google declared “code red” on OpenAI

Google’s recent AI hot streak, which includes the much-lauded release of Gemini 3 last month, has OpenAI worried — so much so that CEO Sam Altman has declared a “code red” to improve its flagship product, ChatGPT, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Scholars of chatbot history might remember that after OpenAI’s ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, Google declared a “code red” to fight the existential threat the new AI technology posed to Google’s search dominance.

And here we are today!

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