Amazon's AGI team lead Rohit Prasad is leaving at the end of 2025; AWS SVP Peter DeSantis will lead a group combining AI, silicon, and quantum computing teams (Todd Bishop/GeekWire)

GeekWire

Amazon AI chief Rohit Prasad leaving; Infrastructure exec Peter DeSantis to lead unified AI group

Amazon AI chief Rohit Prasad is leaving at year's end, according to a memo from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Peter DeSantis, a 27-year veteran who h...

Techmeme

Amazon

By Todd Bishop / GeekWire. View the full context on Techmeme.

The Academy signs a multi-year deal that will give YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars, beginning in 2029 and running through 2033 (Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter)

Oscars Bolts from ABC to YouTube Starting in 2029

Oscars Bolts from ABC to YouTube Starting in 2029

Techmeme

The Academy signs a multi-year deal that will give YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars, beginning in 2029 and running through 2033

By Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter. View the full context on Techmeme.

Meta say it has frozen its third-party Horizon OS headset program, announced in 2024 with Asus and Lenovo as the first partners to build headsets (Ben Lang/Road to VR) https://www.roadtovr.com/meta-horizon-os-third-party-headset-cancelled-asus-lenovo/

Techmeme

Meta says it has “paused” its third-party Horizon OS headset program, announced in April 2024 with Asus and Lenovo as its first partners to build the headsets

By Ben Lang / Road to VR. View the full context on Techmeme.

Gemini 3 Flash is priced at $0.50 per 1M input tokens and $3 per 1M output tokens, compared to Gemini 2.5 Flash's $0.30 per 1M input and $2.5 per 1M output (Tulsee Doshi/The Keyword)

Google

Gemini 3 Flash: frontier intelligence built for speed

Gemini 3 Flash offers frontier intelligence built for speed at a fraction of the cost.

Techmeme

Gemini 3 Flash costs $0.50 per 1M input tokens and $3 per 1M output tokens, above Gemini 2.5 Flash

By Tulsee Doshi / The Keyword. View the full context on Techmeme.

Google makes Gemini 3 Flash the default model in Gemini app and Search's AI mode; it scored 33.7% without tool use on Humanity's Last Exam vs. GPT-5.2's 34.5% (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)

TechCrunch

Google launches Gemini 3 Flash, makes it the default model in the Gemini app | TechCrunch

Google is making Gemini 3 Flash the default model in the Gemini app and oAI model for Search

Techmeme

Google makes Gemini 3 Flash the default model in the Gemini app and Search

By Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch. View the full context on Techmeme.

Google unveils Gemini 3 Flash that it says offers Pro-level performance with lower latency, higher efficiency, and reduced costs compared to 2.5 Pro (Abner Li/9to5Google)

9to5Google

Google announces Gemini 3 Flash with Pro-level performance, rolling out now

Following last month's launch of Gemini 3 Pro, Google today announced Gemini 3 Flash for consumers and developers.

Techmeme

Google unveils Gemini 3 Flash, which it says has Pro-grade reasoning with lower latency, outperforming 2.5 Pro “while being 3x faster at a fraction of the cost”

By Abner Li / 9to5Google. View the full context on Techmeme.

Google sues the Chinese-speaking cybercriminal group known as Darcula, behind an alleged US text message phishing ring, in the US, seeking a restraining order (Kevin Collier/NBC News)

NBC News

Google sues Chinese scam ring over E-ZPass and USPS phishing texts

Google says the group’s tools enabled scammers with little technical skill to impersonate agencies like the IRS and the USPS at a massive scale.

Techmeme

Google sues the Chinese-speaking cybercriminal group known as Darcula, allegedly behind a US text message phishing ring, in the US, seeking a restraining order

By Kevin Collier / NBC News. View the full context on Techmeme.

Google brings its vibe coding tool Opal to Gemini on the web, letting users create their own custom apps called Gems; the mini apps can be reused later (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

TechCrunch

Google's vibe-coding tool Opal comes to Gemini | TechCrunch

The company on Wednesday said it is integrating the tool, which lets you build AI-powered mini apps, inside the Gemini web app, allowing users to c...

Techmeme

Google brings its vibe coding tool Opal to Gemini on the web, letting users create their own custom AI-powered mini apps, called Gems, which can be reused later

By Sarah Perez / TechCrunch. View the full context on Techmeme.

Sources: Google is working on a new initiative to make its AI chips run PyTorch better and is working closely with Meta, as the two discuss Meta using TPUs (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/business/google-works-erode-nvidias-software-advantage-with-metas-help-2025-12-17/

Techmeme

Sources: Google is working on a new initiative to make its AI chips run PyTorch better and is working closely with Meta, as the two discuss Meta using more TPUs

From Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.

OnePlus 15R review: the new $700+ device is fast with a big battery and a vibrant 165Hz OLED, but one less camera than 2024's 13R and only four years of support (Igor Bonifacic/Engadget)

Engadget

OnePlus 15R review: A 165Hz display and big battery for $700

The OnePlus 15R has many of the same strengths as the more expensive OP15, but shaves off $200 off by compromising on cameras.

Techmeme

OnePlus 15R review: the $700+ phone is fast with a big battery and a vibrant 165Hz OLED, but has one fewer camera than 2024

By Igor Bonifacic / Engadget. View the full context on Techmeme.