Show Notes: The 2025 AI Year in Review

Jonathan and I are sitting down to wrap up what has been a truly transformative year for the AI landscape

If 2024 was the year of hype, 2025 was the year of the "Great Separation," where we finally saw which players could execute and which were just blowing smoke.

This episode is a longer pod so here are the chapters to jump to if you are pushed for time:

00:00 Introduction and Year-End Reflection

00:22 OpenAI's Mixed Year

04:35 AI Market Trends and Investments

06:47 Google Gemini's Progress

09:48 AI Skillset and Workforce Impact

12:05 Microsoft Copilot's Struggles

16:21 Power and Infrastructure Challenges

19:38 Apple and Meta's AI Journey

22:45 AI Application Success Stories

28:52 Conclusion and Future Outlook

The Big Shifts of 2025

We dive deep into why Google Gemini has arguably won the year. While they started weak, they’ve successfully re-engineered their entire organisation around an AI ecosystem, delivering incredible tools like NotebookLM and Nano Banana.

On the flip side, OpenAI has had a mixed scorecard.

Despite holding 70% market share, they’ve faced a "Code Red" at year-end, pivoting away from broad "empire mode" experiments to protect their core LLM.

We also tackle the "Microsoft Problem".

Despite its reach, Copilot is struggling with user delight due to heavy corporate guardrails, leading to a disappointing adoption rate compared to sleeker apps like Gamma.

Key Takeaways

• The Skillset Advantage: Only 10-12% of knowledge workers are truly using AI. If you are investing time to learn these tools now, you are already in the global elite.
  
• Infrastructure is the New Wall: The West is facing a massive power generation crisis
• OpenAI alone may soon require energy equivalent to one-fifth of the US's current output.
  
• Time to Value (TTV): Tools like Gamma are setting the standard for "Time to Edit," allowing you to move from a recorded conversation to a finished strategy deck in minutes.
  

1. Stop the Start-Stop: If your company is stalling AI rollouts for "legal sign-off," you are losing ground every day.
   
2. Try NotebookLM: It is the best free tool available for turning your messy data into actionable insights.
   
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