Google says it needs more time to upgrade Assistant to Gemini on most Android devices; Google previously planned to complete the transition by the end of 2025  —  The transition from Assistant to Gemini will continue into 2026.  —  Google wanted to remove Assistant from most Android phones …

METR: Claude Opus 4.5 has a 50% task completion time horizon of about 4 hours and 49 minutes, more than double that of Claude Opus 4 released earlier this year  —  We estimate that, on our tasks, Claude Opus 4.5 has a 50%-time horizon of around 4 hrs 49 mins (95% confidence interval of 1 hr 49 mins to 20 hrs 25 mins). While we're still working through evaluations for other recent models, this is our highest published time horizon to date. [image]

Waymo says it temporarily suspended its ride-hailing service in San Francisco during a citywide blackout, as downed traffic lights appeared to halt its vehicles  —  - Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email  —  Love what you read?  Love that it was free?

Google advises some employees on visas, including H-1B visas, not to travel outside the US due to processing delays, following new social media screening rules  —  - Google and Apple are advising some employees with visas not to travel outside the US, per memos viewed by Business Insider.

US CHIPS Act-funded SMART USA Institute, focused on digital twins for chipmaking, says the Department of Commerce will terminate its $285M five-year contract  —  SMART USA, a $285-million center devoted to digital twins, loses funding  —  The head of a U.S. CHIPS and Science Act-funded center devoted …

DataLane, which is using AI to build an identity graph to map local businesses across the US, raised a $22.5M Series A led by Amplify Partners  —  DataLane, which is building an identity graph for every local business, raised a $22.5 million Series A led by Amplify Partners, co-founder and CEO David Patterson-Cole tells Axios Pro.

Q&A with Harvard economist Jason Furman, who consults for OpenAI, on the similarities between the AI boom and the dot-com era, AI's impact on jobs, and more  —  A leading economist isn't overly concerned about the fallout from the AI bubble bursting, if it happens.  But first...  Three things to know:

A look at Tokyo-based neocloud provider Datasection, which sources say has a $1.2B+ contract giving Tencent access to a large share of its 15K Blackwell chips  —  Contracts with Chinese tech giant have rapidly turned Datasection into one of Asia's biggest ‘neoclouds’

Surveillance tools exported by China, based on US tech and obtained by Chinese companies, to countries like Nepal are being used to stifle Tibetan refugees  —  The white dome of Boudhanath rises like a silent guardian over the chaotic sprawl of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, crowned by a golden spire that pierces the sky.

Chinese AI chipmaker Moore Threads announces a new generation of chips slated for mass production from 2026, just weeks after its blockbuster IPO in China  —  Moore Threads Technology Co. introduced a new generation of chips aimed at reducing artificial-intelligence developers' dependence …

S&P Global: data center deals hit $61B globally in 2025; debt issuance nearly doubled YoY to $182B, with Meta raising $62B debt since 2022, ~50% of that in 2025  —  Global data centers dealmaking surged to hit another record high this year, driven by a rush to build out the infrastructure required for energy-intensive AI workloads.

A profile of Josh Woodward, the head of Google Labs who is credited with turning around the Gemini app, growing its MAUs from 350M in March to 650M by October  —  Josh Woodward may not be a household name in Silicon Valley.  But inside Google, everybody knows about him.

Inside NeurIPS 2025, and how it has transformed from a small academic conference into a massive industry event with 24,000+ attendees, yacht parties, and more  —  It used to be a small gathering just for nerdy researchers.  Now there are yacht parties—and everyone is feeling bubbly.