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OpenAI drops GPT-5.2 under pressure
Plus: Time names AI’s builders
Rimsha Bhardwaj, Hasan Toor & Ihtesham Haider
December 12, 2025
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Today, we will talk about these stories:
GPT-5.2 and the cost of staying ahead
Disney opens its vault to OpenAI
The year AI took the cover
Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays
Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.
Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.
OpenAI answers Google with GPT-5.2
This one shipped hot.
OpenAI released GPT-5.2 on Thursday, weeks after Sam Altman sent a “code red” memo warning staff that ChatGPT was losing ground to Google’s Gemini 3. The model rolls out to paid ChatGPT users and developers in three tiers, with OpenAI pitching it as sturdier for coding, math, long documents, and enterprise work.
GPT-5.2 feels less like a leap and more like a tightening of bolts, better reasoning, fewer errors, stronger tooling, all meant to hold developer mindshare while Google integrates Gemini deeper into Maps, BigQuery, and its cloud stack. That focus signals where OpenAI sees leverage now, even as consumer growth shows cracks.
The bet is expensive. Reasoning-heavy models burn more compute, and OpenAI is already spending heavily in cash to keep them running, with $1.4 trillion in infrastructure commitments hanging over the roadmap.
The benchmarks look good on a screen, but the meter is running the whole time.
Disney lets OpenAI touch the crown jewels
Disney finally said yes.
The company struck a three-year deal with OpenAI to let Sora generate videos using Disney characters, from Mickey Mouse to Toy Story, with a $1 billion investment attached and a possible launch in early 2026. Executives kept the fine print vague during a CNBC interview Thursday morning, the studio lights hot, the answers careful.
This is Disney choosing a controlled on-ramp instead of endless takedown notices, a way to turn generative video into something licensed, billable, and fenced in. It also shows how much leverage OpenAI now has when the most protective IP owner in media decides access beats resistance.
The timing matters. Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist this week over alleged large-scale copyright infringement, while Hollywood unions warned the Sora deal could weaken protections for writers, actors, and animators ahead of contract talks in May.
The castle doors are open, but nobody knows who ends up owning what gets made inside.
Time crowns the architects of AI
Image Credits: Time Magazine
This year, Time picked a group.
Time magazine named the architects of artificial intelligence its 2025 Person of the Year, spotlighting figures behind the systems now shaping markets, media, and daily life, from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to OpenAI’s Sam Altman. The issue lands after a year when AI tools moved fast, drew lawsuits, and crept into schools, newsrooms, and court filings.
The choice reflects how power in tech has shifted from lone founders to dense clusters of builders, capital, and compute, often sitting inside a handful of companies. It also sidesteps a harder call, because no single executive cleanly owns the upside or the harm.
The cover story doesn’t flinch from the darker edge, including a lawsuit tied to a 16-year-old’s death and growing concern over accountability, even as Time itself licenses content to OpenAI under a deal signed in 2024.
Eight faces on a cover is neat, but the mess they’ve set in motion is anything but.
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