Google’s YouTube to launch cheaper streaming packages that could potentially compete with Netflix
Google’s YouTube announced today that it will launch 10 genre-specific packages early next year that will cost less than its existing $82.99-per-month YouTube TV.
While the company didn’t specify how much these new packages will cost, they’re expected to come in well under the price of the full YouTube TV bundle. That could put its price point in line with other major streaming services like those offered by Apple, Disney, and Netflix. YouTube already commands the largest share of TV viewership in the US, and lower-priced subscription options could widen its lead even further.
That’s unwelcome news for other streamers, particularly Netflix, which has faced investor pressure since reports emerged about its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount has since launched a hostile counterbid, but Netflix’s stock continues to struggle. Shares are down nearly 2% today.
While the company didn’t specify how much these new packages will cost, they’re expected to come in well under the price of the full YouTube TV bundle. That could put its price point in line with other major streaming services like those offered by Apple, Disney, and Netflix. YouTube already commands the largest share of TV viewership in the US, and lower-priced subscription options could widen its lead even further.
That’s unwelcome news for other streamers, particularly Netflix, which has faced investor pressure since reports emerged about its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount has since launched a hostile counterbid, but Netflix’s stock continues to struggle. Shares are down nearly 2% today.
Elon Musk tells Google executive that “Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla”
Not one for modesty, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to a post on X by Jeff Dean, chief scientist at Google DeepMind, by saying, “Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla.” He added, “This will be obvious in hindsight.”
Dean had noted that Waymo vehicles have driven riders 96 million miles autonomously without a driver, alluding to the fact that Tesla’s Robotaxi service still requires safety operators in the front seat in both its locations.
Tesla currently operates about 30 Robotaxi vehicles in Austin and 120 in the Bay Area, while Waymo had more than 2,500 across the country (at least 200 in Austin and 1,000 in the Bay Area) as of late November. Musk has said Tesla would remove safety monitors in Austin and that it would scale to 500 vehicles there and 1,000 in the Bay Area by year-end, but the clock is ticking on reaching those goals.
Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2025
Tesla, of course, is more focused on the 6.7 billion miles its vehicles have driven with Full Self-Driving tech, driver assistance software that requires a driver be present and paying attention. The idea is that, with a software update, millions of Teslas could be turned into potential robotaxis.
Read more on Tesla and Waymo’s battle for driverless supremacy here.
Amazon announces major AI investment in India a day after Microsoft
Amazon said today that it plans to invest more than $35 billion in India by 2030, adding to the nearly $40 billion it has invested in the country so far. The latest investment is focused on AI-driven digitization, boosting exports, and expanding employment, the company said.
The news comes just after Microsoft revealed it would spend $17.5 billion on the subcontinent from 2026 to 2029 to accelerate the nation’s AI infrastructure.
India has become a strategic battleground for global tech firms thanks to its rapidly growing digital economy, vast developer base, and government support for AI infrastructure. Together, the back-to-back announcements underscore how aggressively both cloud giants are ramping up their global AI spending as they race to build — and profit from — the next generation of computing.
India has become a strategic battleground for global tech firms thanks to its rapidly growing digital economy, vast developer base, and government support for AI infrastructure. Together, the back-to-back announcements underscore how aggressively both cloud giants are ramping up their global AI spending as they race to build — and profit from — the next generation of computing.
OpenAI races to release updated ChatGPT in response to Gemini, the WSJ reports
OpenAI could release an updated GPT-5.2 as soon as this week as it races to respond to Google’s Gemini 3 chatbot. Last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red” in response to the threat, as Google appeared to leap to the front of the pack with its high-scoring AI model.
Altman has directed OpenAI teams to pause work on its quest for AGI and the Sora 2 video generation app, and double down on its core flagship product, ChatGPT, as it faces new pressure from competitors, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Altman seems to be panicking that if the company’s core product falls out of favor, it may not be able to generate the cash needed to pay for the $1.4 trillion worth of deals it has signed, according to the report.
Altman has directed OpenAI teams to pause work on its quest for AGI and the Sora 2 video generation app, and double down on its core flagship product, ChatGPT, as it faces new pressure from competitors, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Altman seems to be panicking that if the company’s core product falls out of favor, it may not be able to generate the cash needed to pay for the $1.4 trillion worth of deals it has signed, according to the report.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is nearing 900 million weekly active users, according to a new report from The Information, up from 800 million in October. The Microsoft-backed chatbot has notably higher usership than Google’s Gemini, which as of its last earnings call had 650 million monthly active users. (ChatGPT’s monthly number is likely much higher than its weekly stats.)
Still, The Information notes that thanks to the success of Google’s latest AI model, app downloads have jumped and visits to its website are growing much more swiftly than those to ChatGPT’s — stats that have contributed to a “code red” situation at OpenAI.
Falling behind its rivals and facing internal tension, Meta reportedly preps new “Avocado” AI model
2025 turned out to be quite a chaotic year for Meta’s big AI dreams.
This year was supposed to be all about Llama 4, Meta’s open-source AI model that never fully launched.
In a frenzied pivot to get back in the race, Mark Zuckerberg undertook an AI all-star hiring spree for his new Meta Superintelligence Labs, spending oodles of cash on NBA-sized pay packages to lure recruits.
So how’s it all going within the company? Things aren’t exactly humming along, according to CNBC.
It reports that the new team has encountered friction within Meta’s corporate structure. The cloistered team is apparently working on a new frontier AI model code-named “Avocado,” which, despite Mark Zuckerberg’s passionate open-source AI manifesto, might turn out to be a proprietary, closed-source model.
Per the report, the many in the company were expecting Avocado to be released before the end of this year, but it’s now planned for Q1 2026.
A Meta spokesperson said, “Our model training efforts are going according to plan and have had no meaningful timing changes.”
Updated to include comments from Meta
In a frenzied pivot to get back in the race, Mark Zuckerberg undertook an AI all-star hiring spree for his new Meta Superintelligence Labs, spending oodles of cash on NBA-sized pay packages to lure recruits.
So how’s it all going within the company? Things aren’t exactly humming along, according to CNBC.
It reports that the new team has encountered friction within Meta’s corporate structure. The cloistered team is apparently working on a new frontier AI model code-named “Avocado,” which, despite Mark Zuckerberg’s passionate open-source AI manifesto, might turn out to be a proprietary, closed-source model.
Per the report, the many in the company were expecting Avocado to be released before the end of this year, but it’s now planned for Q1 2026.
A Meta spokesperson said, “Our model training efforts are going according to plan and have had no meaningful timing changes.”
Updated to include comments from Meta
Microsoft invests tens of billions for AI infrastructure in India and Canada
In two separate announcements this morning, Microsoft committed to investing tens of billions on AI infrastructure in India and Canada. In India, the company said it will invest $17.5 billion — its largest-ever investment in Asia — from 2026 to 2029, “to advance the country’s cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, skilling, and ongoing operations.”
Microsoft also said it’s adding to its investments in Canada for a total of CA$19 billion (roughly $13.73 billion) between 2023 and 2027 to “build new digital and AI infrastructure needed for the nation’s growth and prosperity.” This includes more than CA$7.5 billion in outlays over the next two years.
Google’s Waymo is now doing more than 450,000 paid autonomous rides per week, CNBC reports. That’s nearly double the 250,000 it reported doing in April, as the service expands to cities across the country and widens its lead against Tesla.
Google to bring ads to Gemini chatbot in 2026
It’s an end of an era: ads are finally coming to Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini, AdWeek reports, citing agency buyers. Details are sparse but the search giant, which makes the vast majority of its revenue from ads, plans to turn on the ad spigot in its flagship chatbot sometime next year.
Google recently rolled out ads in AI Mode, its AI browser search option, after doing the same with its AI Overviews earlier in the year.
This is all happening as competitor OpenAI, which is in dire need of more revenue, disputes multiple reports of advertising coming to ChatGPT.
This is all happening as competitor OpenAI, which is in dire need of more revenue, disputes multiple reports of advertising coming to ChatGPT.
The AI bubble may be constrained by energy supply
Big Tech companies like OpenAI, xAI, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are racing each other to spend tens of billions of dollars on massive AI data centers.
But no matter how many Nvidia GPUs you acquire through a complex partnership, there is one factor that may limit the industry’s AI dreams: energy.
A new analysis by the Financial Times found that the tech industry is currently moving forward with plans to build out a staggering 44 gigawatts’ worth of computing infrastructure. The problem is that there’s only about 25 gigawatts of power coming online in the next three years, creating a 19-gigawatt gap, according to the report.
Even with the full support of the Trump administration, it could be hard for all the tech companies to get the power they want, something that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as well as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella have both noted is the main obstacle to rapid AI expansion.
A new analysis by the Financial Times found that the tech industry is currently moving forward with plans to build out a staggering 44 gigawatts’ worth of computing infrastructure. The problem is that there’s only about 25 gigawatts of power coming online in the next three years, creating a 19-gigawatt gap, according to the report.
Even with the full support of the Trump administration, it could be hard for all the tech companies to get the power they want, something that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as well as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella have both noted is the main obstacle to rapid AI expansion.
Things Netflix said it would never do, then did
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Waymo says its robotaxis are involved in 80% fewer injury-causing crashes than human-driven cars
Even with an exemplary safety record, Waymo will have to defend itself vigorously each time one of its autonomous vehicles illegally passes a school bus or kills a cat.
Report: SpaceX planning for IPO late next year
SpaceX has told investors that it is planning for an IPO in late 2026, according to a report from The Information.
Elon Musk’s rocket company is in talks for a share sale for employees and investors that would put the company’s valuation at $800 billion, making it the world’s most valuable private company, recapturing that crown from OpenAI.
Per the report, all of SpaceX including Starlink would be listed as one company, rather than spinning off Starlink, which Musk had discussed a few years ago.
Per the report, all of SpaceX including Starlink would be listed as one company, rather than spinning off Starlink, which Musk had discussed a few years ago.