Last Week in AI

Our 229th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!

Recorded on 12/19/2025

Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie Harris

Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]

Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/

In this episode:

Notable releases include OpenAI's GPT-5.2 Codex for advanced coding and Google's Gemini Free Flash for competitive AI application performance. Nvidia's new open-source Trion-3 models also showcase impressive benchmarks.
Funding updates highlight Lovable's $330M Series B, valuing the AI coding startup at $6.6B, and Faya's $140M Series D for AI model hosting, valued at $4.5B.
China makes significant strides in semiconductor technology with advances in EUV lithography machines, led by Huawei and SMIC, potentially disrupting global chip manufacturing dominance.
Key safety and policy updates include OpenAI's GPT-5.2 system card focusing on biosecurity and cybersecurity risks, while Google partners with the US military to power a new AI platform with Gemini models.


Timestamps:

(00:00:10) Intro / Banter
(00:02:09) News Preview

Tools & Apps
(00:02:56) Google launches Gemini 3 Flash, makes it the default model in the Gemini app | TechCrunch
(00:10:13) ChatGPT launches an app store, lets developers know it's open for business | TechCrunch
(00:13:35) Introducing GPT-5.2-Codex | OpenAI
(00:19:23) Story about OpenAI release - GPT image 1.5
(00:22:27) Meta partners with ElevenLabs to power AI audio across Instagram, Horizon - The Economic Times

Applications & Business
(00:23:16) OpenAI to End Equity Vesting Period for Employees, WSJ Says
(00:28:20) How China built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips
(00:36:47) China’s Huawei, SMIC Make Progress With Chips, Report Finds
(00:41:03) OpenAI in Talks to Raise At Least $10 Billion From Amazon and Use Its AI Chips
(00:43:32) Amazon has a new leader for its ‘AGI’ group as it plays catch-up on AI | The Verge
(00:47:27) Broadcom reveals its mystery $10 billion customer is Anthropic
(00:49:12) Vibe-coding startup Lovable raises $330M at a $6.6B valuation | TechCrunch
(00:50:38) Fal nabs $140M in fresh funding led by Sequoia, tripling valuation to $4.5B | TechCrunch

Projects & Open Source
(00:51:10) Nvidia Becomes a Major Model Maker With Nemotron 3 | WIRED
(00:59:24) Meta introduces new SAM AI able to isolate and edit audio • The Register
(00:59:54) [2512.14856] T5Gemma 2: Seeing, Reading, and Understanding Longer
(01:03:10) Anthropic makes agent Skills an open standard - SiliconANGLE

Research & Advancements
(01:03:47) Budget-Aware Tool-Use Enables Effective Agent Scaling
(01:08:21) Rethinking Thinking Tokens: LLMs as Improvement Operators
(01:10:50) What if AI capabilities suddenly accelerated in 2027? How would the world know?

Policy & Safety
(01:12:58) Update to GPdfT-5 System Card: GPT-5.2
(01:18:04) Neural Chameleons: Language Models Can Learn to Hide Their Thoughts from Unseen Activation Monitors
(01:20:47) Async Control: Stress-testing Asynchronous Control Measures for LLM Agents
(01:24:37) Google is powering a new US military AI platform | The Verge