#229 - Gemini 3 Flash, ChatGPT Apps, Nemotron 3

Our 229th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 12/19/2025
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov (twitter.com/andrey_kurenkov) and Jeremie Harris (linkedin.com/in/jeremieharris)
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at contact@lastweekinai.comand/or hello@gladstone.ai
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at 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 (techcrunch.com/2025/12/17/google-launches-gemi…)
• (00:10:13) ChatGPT launches an app store, lets developers know it's open for business | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2025/12/18/chatgpt-launches-an-…)
• (00:13:35) Introducing GPT-5.2-Codex | OpenAI (openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5-2-codex)
• (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 (economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-i…)
•

• Applications & Business
• (00:23:16) OpenAI to End Equity Vesting Period for Employees, WSJ Says (bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-13/openai-…)
• (00:28:20) How China built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips (reuters.com/world/china/how-china-built-its-ma…)
• (00:36:47) China’s Huawei, SMIC Make Progress With Chips, Report Finds (bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-11/china-s…)
• (00:41:03) OpenAI in Talks to Raise At Least $10 Billion From Amazon and Use Its AI Chips (cnbc.com/2025/12/16/openai-in-talks-with-amazo…)
• (00:43:32) Amazon has a new leader for its ‘AGI’ group as it plays catch-up on AI | The Verge (theverge.com/news/846721/amazon-new-agi-leader…)
• (00:47:27) Broadcom reveals its mystery $10 billion customer is Anthropic (cnbc.com/2025/12/11/broadcom-reveals-its-myste…)
• (00:49:12) Vibe-coding startup Lovable raises $330M at a $6.6B valuation | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2025/12/18/vibe-coding-startup-…)
• (00:50:38) Fal nabs $140M in fresh funding led by Sequoia, tripling valuation to $4.5B | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2025/12/09/fal-nabs-140m-in-fre…)
•

• Projects & Open Source
• (00:51:10) Nvidia Becomes a Major Model Maker With Nemotron 3 | WIRED (wired.com/story/nvidia-becomes-major-model-mak…)
• (00:59:24) Meta introduces new SAM AI able to isolate and edit audio • The Register (theregister.com/2025/12/16/meta_sam_ai_audio)
• (00:59:54) [2512.14856] T5Gemma 2: Seeing, Reading, and Understanding Longer (arxiv.org/abs/2512.14856)
• (01:03:10) Anthropic makes agent Skills an open standard - SiliconANGLE (siliconangle.com/2025/12/18/anthropic-makes-ag…)
•

• Research & Advancements
• (01:03:47) Budget-Aware Tool-Use Enables Effective Agent Scaling (arxiv.org/abs/2511.17006)
• (01:08:21) Rethinking Thinking Tokens: LLMs as Improvement Operators (arxiv.org/abs/2510.01123)
• (01:10:50) What if AI capabilities suddenly accelerated in 2027? How would the world know? (x.com/EpochAIResearch/status/2000988562188329394)
•

• Policy & Safety
• (01:12:58) Update to GPdfT-5 System Card: GPT-5.2 (openai.com/index/gpt-5-system-card-update-gpt-…)
• (01:18:04) Neural Chameleons: Language Models Can Learn to Hide Their Thoughts from Unseen Activation Monitors (arxiv.org/abs/2512.11949)
• (01:20:47) Async Control: Stress-testing Asynchronous Control Measures for LLM Agents (arxiv.org/abs/2512.13526)
• (01:24:37) Google is powering a new US military AI platform | The Verge (theverge.com/news/841219/google-gemini-us-mili…)
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