OpenAI has announced the successors to its o1 reasoning model family: o3 and o3-mini. While the models are not widely available yet, safety researchers can sign up for a preview. This marks the end of the company's "12 Days of OpenAI" event, which saw announcements for real-time vision capabilities, ChatGPT Search, and even a Santa voice for ChatGPT.

In other AI news, Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses got a significant upgrade with firmware v11, adding "live AI" capabilities. This feature enables wearers to continuously converse with Meta AI, referencing previous conversations, and even works with real-time video. Additionally, live translation between English and Spanish, French, or Italian, as well as functionality with Shazam, are included in v11.

However, not all AI news is positive. UnitedHealth's Optum inadvertently exposed an AI chatbot to the internet, allowing anyone to access it with a web browser. Although the chatbot did not contain sensitive personal or protected health information, its exposure raises concerns about AI security and responsible use.

In startup news, Oura, the smart ring maker, closed a $200 million Series D funding round, bringing the company's valuation to $5.2 billion. The cash injection will help Oura expand its product offerings and further invest in product, science, AI, and more.

OpenAI also announced a 1-800 number to call ChatGPT, making the AI assistant accessible to a wider audience, even from landlines or flip phones. Users can call 1-800-CHATGPT to interact with the chatbot.

Tesla is trying to boost Model S sales by reintroducing its free Supercharging for life offer, initially abandoned in 2018. However, the company also increased the price of the Model S by $5,000.

Google DeepMind unveiled Veo 2, a next-generation video-generating AI capable of creating two-minute-plus clips in resolutions up to 4k. This surpasses OpenAI's Sora, which can only achieve resolutions up to 1k.

Apple is reportedly planning to launch two foldable devices in the next few years, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Another report from Bloomberg suggests the company's focus is on a giant, foldable iPad.

In a notable verdict, a San Francisco jury found Nima Momeni guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal 2023 stabbing of Bob Lee, the Cash App creator and former CTO of Block.

Perplexity acquired Carbon, a startup specializing in connecting AI systems to external data sources. The acquisition will enable Perplexity to search through files and work messages in Notion, Google Docs, or Slack by early 2025.

Temu remains the most downloaded free app in the U.S., according to Apple's list of top apps and games across the App Store. The shopping app took the top spot last year, surpassing TikTok.

GitHub launched a free version of its popular Copilot code completion/AI pair programming tool, previously only available to verified students, teachers, and open source maintainers.

Google released its own "reasoning" model, Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental, currently in the experimental stages. Initial testing shows room for improvement.

Finally, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi announced that the company will delay its IPO until at least 2025, citing uncertainty in the market. Despite raising a staggering $10 billion in funding, Ghodsi believes it's "dumb to IPO this year" and instead wants to let early employees cash out and continue growing the company.

This decision raises questions about the current state of the IPO market and whether other companies will follow suit. As the tech industry continues to evolve, it's clear that AI, innovation, and strategic decision-making will play a significant role in shaping the future.