AI News Roundup December 2025: OpenAI, Sam Altman, and What's Coming in 2026

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Grab your coffee. Let's talk about what happened in AI this week.

The artificial intelligence landscape never stops moving, but you shouldn't need a PhD to keep up with it. Here's your quick morning brief on the biggest AI developments from the past week—perfect for that first cup of coffee before your day really starts.

Big Money Is Still Flooding Into AI

The AI investment train shows no signs of slowing down. According to TechCrunch, when investors were asked where they're placing their bets next year, the answer was overwhelmingly clear: AI, AI, AI.

And they're putting their money where their mouth is.

Resolve AI, a startup founded by ex-Splunk executives, just hit a $1 billion valuation with its Series A funding round. According to TechCrunch, the company is tackling AI-powered incident resolution—essentially helping companies figure out what went wrong when their systems blow up.

But the real headline maker? Disney dropping $1 billion into OpenAI. According to Ars Technica, the entertainment giant isn't just investing—they're licensing 200 characters for use in Sora, OpenAI's AI video generation tool.

Think about that for a second. Mickey Mouse and friends, generated by AI. Whether that excites or terrifies you probably depends on how you feel about AI-generated content in general.

The Product Launch Sprint Continues

OpenAI isn't resting on those Disney dollars.

The company just released GPT-5.2 after what Ars Technica describes as a "code red" threat alert from Google's competing models. The AI arms race is real, folks, and it's heating up.

Meanwhile, OpenAI's ChatGPT image generator is raising eyebrows for all the wrong reasons. According to Ars Technica, the new tool makes faking photos easier than ever. We'll circle back to why that matters in a minute.

In the coding world, Cursor—the AI-powered code editor that's been making waves—continues its acquisition spree. According to TechCrunch, they just scooped up Graphite, signaling that AI coding tools are consolidating fast.

And if you're into open-source alternatives, Mistral just dropped a new autonomous software engineering agent that's closing in on proprietary options, according to Ars Technica. The gap between open and closed AI models keeps shrinking.

The Darker Side of the AI Boom

Not everything in AI land is sunshine and venture capital.

Over in China, scammers have found a creative new use for AI. According to Wired, fraudsters are using AI-generated images of damaged goods—dead crabs, shredded bed sheets, you name it—to scam refunds from ecommerce platforms. It's a reminder that every tool can be weaponized.

Speaking of which, remember that ChatGPT image generator we mentioned? Combine that with the scammer playbook, and you can see why people are nervous.

Privacy concerns are also mounting. Ars Technica reports that browser extensions with 8 million users have been collecting extended AI conversations. Your chats with ChatGPT might not be as private as you think.

And in a deliciously ironic twist, Merriam-Webster crowned "slop" as its word of the year. According to Ars Technica, it's a dismissive verdict on junk AI content flooding the internet. When the dictionary itself is throwing shade at AI-generated content, you know we've reached a cultural tipping point.

What's Coming Next?

If you thought things were moving fast now, buckle up.

Sam Altman isn't content with just revolutionizing text and images. According to Wired, his new venture Merge Labs is spinning out of Forest Neurotech to build brain-computer interfaces using ultrasound. The goal? Reading brain activity directly.

Neuralink has competition.

And if you want to know what industry watchers are worried about, Wired published six scary predictions for AI in 2026:

The AI industry's first major layoffs
China potentially spreading propaganda to slow US data center expansion
The evolution of AI agents in unexpected directions

None of this is guaranteed, obviously. But the fact that these are the conversations happening in tech circles tells you where the anxiety lies.

The Bottom Line

AI is moving from the "wow, look at this cool demo" phase to the "holy shit, this is reshaping entire industries" phase.

Billions are flowing in. Products are launching weekly. Bad actors are getting creative. And the technology keeps pushing into new territories—from your code editor to your brain.

So what should you do about it?

Stay informed. Stay critical. And maybe keep a closer eye on those browser extensions you're using.

The AI revolution isn't coming. It's already here. And your morning coffee break is the perfect time to keep up.