Tech Brew Ride Home - Now It’s Amazon’s Turn To Invest In OpenAI

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

ChatGPT ups its image generation game. Now it’s Amazon’s turn to invest in OpenAI. WBD says it still wants to go with the Netflix offer. Waymo’s raising money again. And the new AI sort of newsletter Google wants to put in your inbox every morning. OpenAI’s ChatGPT Updated to Make Images Better and Faster (Bloomberg) ChatGPT Images just got a major upgrade — and it could change how we all create (TechRadar) OpenAI in Talks to Raise At Least $10 Billion From Amazon and Use Its AI Chips (The Information) Coursera to buy Udemy, creating $2.5 billion firm to target AI training (Reuters) Warner Rejects Paramount’s Hostile Bid, Saying Netflix Deal Still Superior (WSJ) Waymo Seeking Over $15 Billion Near $100 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg) Waymo in talks to raise funds at $100bn valuation (FT) U.S. Threatens Penalties Against European Tech Firms Amid Regulatory Fight (NYTimes) Google wants its AI assistant CC to replace your morning scroll (The Verge) Betting on prediction markets has exploded over past two years (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's peak pollination season, and my business is scaling fast. To keep the nectar flowing, I need a phone plan with top priority data speed. That's why I chose GoogleFi Wireless. My connections stay strong even when the hive is buzzing. Plus, unlimited plans start at $35 a month. Now, that's a deal that doesn't stay. Explore Google Fi Wireless plans today. Plus taxes and government fees.

GoogleFi Wireless is not subject to data traffic deprioritization during times of high network usage. Welcome to the TechBrew Ride Home for Wednesday, December 17th, 2025. I'm Brian McCullough today. ChatGPT upsets image generation game. Now it's Amazon's turn to invest in OpenAI. WBD says it still wants to go with the Netflix offer. Waymo's raising money again and the new AI sort of newsletter that Google wants to put in your inbox every morning. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. You may have noticed that your CRM system has become crazy with bots and agents of late. At the TechBrew Ride Home, we love AI, but not when it's used to commit fraud or launch ransomware. Fortunately, Momoto, the creator of continuous verification, now offers the next generation

of Continuous Captcha. Momoto Continuous Captcha diverts only the agents and bots attempting to gain access to your CRM through registration forms. With Memoto, good agents can do what agents do best, enable your customers to have more productive experiences on your website or app, while stopping the bad agents from defrauding you and your customers. It's a win for everyone except the same. cybercriminals. Right now, our listeners can purchase a year of Momoto continuous

capture for $5,000, a 20% discount on their lowest price plan. To learn more, head to Momoto.aI.com. That's Momoto.a.com slash ride home. OpenAI has updated ChatGPT images to generate images up to four times faster and edit more precisely, and added a new section in ChatGPT's app and website specifically for images. Quoting Bloomberg, The updated software aims to let users make a number of edits to uploaded images, such as by changing the style from photorealistic to watercolor, or by giving each person pictured a new hat, all without losing track of details in earlier versions. In particular, opening eyes said the new model can keep the lighting, a person's appearance,

and a scene's composition steady through a variety of edits and changes. The company's previous image models sometimes tripped up keeping track of such details, particularly across multiple edits, end quote. and quoting TechRadar. There are a lot of other subtle improvements to the new model as well. It can produce denser text without developing into nonsense, show a crowd of small faces without producing too many oddballs, and it can keep track of elements across multiple edits

so you can change one aspect of an image without the AI deciding to mess with the other bits. Past models were easily confused by chain edits or overlapping instructions. The upgrade also makes for better combining and transforming of images. You can ask it to blend styles, move an aspect of one image to another, or remove everything except a single component and move it into a new setting. You also don't have to worry so much about the space between people or objects getting confused. Still, it's not perfect. Some outputs miss the mark. Occasionally, the model will misinterpret a phrase or render something too literally. But the difference now is that those moments feel like exceptions rather than the norm, or at least that's what OpenAI claims.

There's more to it than just what you can do with OpenAI's model. Adobe recently revealed that, it is embedding Photoshop and Acrobat into ChatGTPT. That means we're approaching a future where multiple editing platforms live side by side. You might prompt ChatGPT to design a poster, then click over to Photoshop to refine it without ever leaving the same window. The most positive interpretation of the upgraded ChatGPT images is that another level of high-quality visual creativity is no longer gated by technical skill or expensive software. But that comes with all of the caveats and uncertainties about how much of what ChatGPT produces is simply remixed, content scraped without consent from human artists, not to mention how much its use takes away

opportunities for professionals in the field. As much fun and as impressive as the results can be, it still means that users have to decide what exactly it means to, quote, make something in the first place, end quote. The information says Amazon is in talks to invest more than $10 billion in OpenAI at a greater than $500 billion valuation with OpenAI using AWS tranium chips as a part of the bargain. Quote, The Amazon investment would help OpenAI afford some of the commitments it is made to rent servers from cloud providers, including from Amazon Web Services. OpenAI last month announced it would spend $38 billion renting servers from AWS over the next seven years, making AWS one of

at least five cloud providers OpenAI uses to develop its artificial intelligence. The deal could also help Amazon find a new customer for its Traneum AI server chips, which compete with the Nvidia AI chips that OpenAI primarily uses today as part of the deal. being discussed, OpenAI plans to use train M chips, two of the people said. Amazon, however, won't be able to sell OpenAI models to its cloud customers as Microsoft, which owns about 27% of OpenAI equity, has secured an exclusive right to do so. Additionally, Amazon and OpenAI have discussed commerce partnership opportunities, one of the people said. OpenAI wants to turn ChatGPT into a shopping hub and has discussed earning fees for referring

customers to retailers. It isn't clear whether the Amazon OpenAI deal would involve any arrangement related to such features in chat GPT or AI-powered shopping features that Amazon is developing for its own apps. OpenAI also wants to sell an enterprise version of chat GPT to Amazon, the person said. OpenAI still needs more cash, as it has projected it will burn more than $100 billion over the next four years as it spends money on servers and talent to develop and run its AI. Open AI in the summer had told some investors it planned to raise about $90 billion in 2027 that could theoretically include an initial public offering, end quote.

Coursera plans to acquire rival online education platform Udeme in an all-stock deal valued at $2.5 billion combining two of the largest U.S. learning platforms, quoting Reuters. Udeme shareholders would receive 0.8 shares of Coursera for each held, valuing the company at about $930 million, according to Reuters' calculations. Coursera shares were up 6% in pre-market trading, while Udeme rose about 18%. The deal unites two of the largest U.S.-based online learning platforms at a time when consumer course enrollment growth has cooled from pandemic highs, prompting companies to seek scale and pursue enterprise clients and more predictable subscription revenue. Coursera and Udeme bet that a combined

platform will be better positioned to capture corporate demand for workforce training, particularly in artificial intelligence, data science, and software development as employers invest in re-skilling workers amid rapid advances in generative AI. Based on Coursera's last close, the offer implies a price of $6.35 per Udeme share, a premium of roughly 18.3%. The company said the deal is expected to close in the second half of next year subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. Coursera, which partners with universities and institutions to offer degree programs and professional certificates, has increasingly focused on enterprise customers while Udeme operates a marketplace of independent instructors selling individual courses and subscriptions to businesses.

Despite companies pitching AI upskilling as a major. or growth opportunity investors have remained cautious on the sector. Shares of online education companies have lagged broader markets amid concerns over competition, pricing pressure, and uncertain returns from AI-related investments. Udeme shares have fallen about 35 percent so far this year, while Coursera is down roughly 7 percent over the same period, leaving both companies trading well below their post-IPO highs, end quote. Warner Brothers Discovery this morning recommended that its shareholders reject Paramount's unsolicited cash bid, calling the offer, quote, illusory and saying it believes Netflix's proposal is still superior.

Quoting the journal. In its letter, Warner said the Ellison family is using a revocable trust to fund the deal and that documents provided by Paramount about the commitment, quote, contain gaps, loopholes, and limitations that put you, our shareholders, and our company at risk. The Netflix merger, on the other hand, is fully backed by a public company with a market cap of more than $400 billion and with an investment-grade balance sheet, Warner said. The terms of the Netflix merger are superior, Warner said in its letter. The Paramount offer provides inadequate value and imposes numerous significant risks and costs on Warner. Paramount's hostile bid is at $30 a share, though the company has also told Warner this offer isn't its best and final proposal,

a signal it could increase the bid. Warner shares closed Tuesday at $28.90. Paramount's bid initially included capital from three Gulf sovereign wealth funds, as well as Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners. As of Tuesday, Affinity was no longer involved in the deal. The dynamics of the investment have changed significantly since we initially became involved in October, and affinity spokesmen said, adding the firm continues to, quote, see strong strategic rationale for Paramount's offer. Paramount's tender offer is set to expire on January 8th, but can be extended. The company has said repeatedly that it didn't hear back from Warner so that it could improve its offer. Warner said Wednesday that its board repeatedly engaged with all parties, holding

dozens of calls and meetings with the principals and the Ellisons. The company said it raised the concerns about the funding to Paramount and the Ellisons and gave them several opportunities to change the offer. Warner also said Wednesday that its board doesn't believe there is a material difference in regulatory risk between the Paramount offer and the Netflix deal, end quote. Study and play. Come together on a Windows 11 PC. And for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds. Get the Unreal College deal, everything you need, to study and play with select Windows 11 PCs. Eligible students get a year of Microsoft 365 premium and a year of Xbox GamePass Ultimate

with a custom color Xbox wireless controller. Learn more at Windows.com slash student offer. While supplies last, ends June 30th, terms at AKA.m.m.m.m. Ready to soundtrack your summer? With Red Bull Summer All Day Play, you choose a playlist that fits your summer vibe the best. Are you a festival fanatic? A deep end DJ? A road dog or a trail mixer. Just add a song to your chosen playlist and put your summer on track. Red Bull Summer All Day Play. Red Bull gives you wings.

Visit redbull.com slash bright summer ahead to learn more. See you this summer. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. Bloomberg is reporting that Waymo is in discussions to raise more than 15 billion led by Alphabet at a valuation near $100 billion and has achieved an annual revenue run rate above $350 million. Quote, the prior investment round in October 2024 valued the company above $45 billion

and was led by its parent alphabet, which also owns Google. The valuation increase underscores Waymo's emergence as a leader in driverless technology with the company spending heavily to ramp up its fleet and expand into new cities. The company has achieved an annual revenue run rate above $350 million. Two of the people said, Waymo is one of Alphabet's other bets, the division of high-risk projects managed by President Ruth Parat, that have been facing pressure

to become an independent company as part of an effort to run Alphabet with greater efficiency, end quote. And quoting the FT, Waymo plans to expand to a dozen cities next year, including its first European market in London, after the UK government accelerated rules to permit fully driverless

vehicles. It is also piloting services in Tokyo and targeting other U.S. locations, including New York. It already operates more than 250,000 rides per week across five U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. The company has more than 800 robotaxies operating a commercial service in the San Francisco Bay Area with more than 2,000 across the U.S. Its robotaxies have now driven more than 100 million fully autonomous miles, end quote. Yesterday, it was the U.K., but it looks like the U.S. is waving this around as a cudgel generally now, because the time says the U.S.

is now threatening economic penalties against European companies like Spotify if the EU does not roll back regulations and lawsuits targeting U.S. tech giants. Quote, the pronouncement appeared to signal a rockier period for U.S. EU trade relations as the two governments work to complete a trade framework they announced this year. The United States has been pushing Europe to open up its tech sector to American firms, but U.S. officials have complained that the European Union has not walked back broader regulation of company business practices while also proceeding with investigations of major American tech firms like Google, X, Amazon, and Meta. In a social media post, the Office of the United States Trade

Representative, which has carried out the negotiations, said the European Union and some member states had, quote, persisted in a continuing course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines, and directives against U.S. companies. The United States had raised concerns with the European Union about these issues for years without meaningful engagement. all while allowing European companies to operate freely in the United States, it said. If the European Union continues these policies, the United States will, quote, have no choice but to begin using every tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures, the USTR said. It named fees and restrictions on service companies among the possibilities and said it would

use the same approach against other countries that echoed Europe's strategy. The post-signaled out potential European service providers that could be targeted by name, listing Accenture, D-HL, Mistral, SAP, Siemens, and Spotify, among others. European authorities have in recent months signaled a willingness to dial back some regulation of tech to bolster economic growth and encourage development of artificial intelligence, but EU officials have shown less openness to changing key regulations related to social media and anti-competitive behavior that are often at the center of American complaints. President Trump and other administration officials lashed out at the block this month

after its regulators find X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, roughly 100, and $40 million for violating digital transparency rules. Another investigation underway of X could lead to further fines and penalties. Europe has to be very careful, Mr. Trump said last week. Authorities in Brussels have in recent weeks also initiated fresh investigations of companies including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and meta. That is on top of the billions and penalties that have been issued over the past decade against American tech giants for violating antitrust, digital privacy, and tax rules,

end quote. Google has launched CC, an experimental AI assistant that delivered a personalized daily your day ahead briefing email based on your emails and calendar. Quoting the verge, Google wants you to start your day with AI. Google's AI to be specific, which is why the company is launching an experimental agent to comb through your emails, calendar, and documents to deliver a briefing to your inbox every morning. The new feature called CC delivers a daily Your Day Ahead briefing to your inbox each morning. The personalized briefing, which Google describes as one clear summary,

outlines your schedule for the day ahead, along with any key tasks or updates you should be aware of, like bills you need to pay or appointments to prepare for. CC can also prepare email drafts and calendar links for when you want to act quickly and get a head start on the day. CC is initially launching in early access to paid subscribers over 18 in the U.S. and Canada. Google says it's opening a wait list for CC today, which you can sign up for here. The company did not indicate how long the wait list could last or when it will expand access. The agent is built with Google's Gemini AI model and learns about you by connecting with your Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive, as well as the internet. You can personalize the tool by teaching it more about yourself and give it things to remember by replying to its briefs or emailing it directly, Google says.

CC, which joins other Google agents for things like coding, shopping, and web browsing in Chrome, is remarkably similar to ChatGPT Pulse, a personalized briefing tool open AI launched back in September. CEO Sam Altman described Pulse as his favorite feature we've launched in a long time, end quote. And finally today, once more into the prediction markets, this is how much they've grown in the last 18 months. Bets placed on prediction markets were less than $100 million per month in early 2024. They were $13 billion per month in November, quoting the FT. While Pollymarket previously dominated trading volumes, Kalsh's presence has accelerated in recent months, and the two companies now have roughly equal market shares, according to the report. About $9 billion worth of bets were placed on those two platforms alone,

last month. Both companies have announced a string of new partnerships with major sports leagues and others and embarked on marketing blitzes. Google finance displays probabilities based on betting data from both platforms while Kalshi is teaming up with media outlets, CNN and CNBC. Sportsbets far outstrip other categories on Kalshi, while Polly Market tends to have a more even distribution across sports and politics, the report found, end quote. Hey, I finally set up the ad-free feed inside of Apple Podcasts as well. So if you do listen to me right now on Apple Podcasts and I've never signed up for the ad-free feed because you didn't want the hassle of signing up and having a different email and billing

and all that stuff, you're in luck. Just open this podcast right now on Apple Podcasts, and you should see a banner to sign up for the ad-free feed. The pricing is exactly the same as if you went through tech. supercast. Tech, but I guess easier to manage through your Apple account this way. Talk to you tomorrow. All. Pay off your home.

Travel for life. Drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot

in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava celebrating its 40th anniversary. win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion.