👋 Good morning! The AI landscape is heating up, and this week, the tension is palpable. From executive memos revealing internal unease at OpenAI to agentic AI transforming logistics operations, and the launch of Claude Opus 4.5 pushing workplace productivity to new heights, intelligence is no longer theoretical, it’s directly shaping business, operations, and strategy. Strap in: this edition shows AI taking center stage, and the stakes are higher than ever.
🗻Google’s Momentum Has Sam Altman on Edge
A leaked internal memo from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reveals a far more unsettled internal climate than the company typically projects. Altman told employees they’re entering a period of “rough vibes,” warning that revenue growth could slow to single digits by 2026, a stark shift from the explosive expansion that has defined OpenAI’s rise. He framed the situation as a necessary reality check: the era of easy growth is over, and the company needs to recalibrate its expectations accordingly.
Altman also pointed to intensifying competitive pressure as a core reason for the shift. The memo highlights that rivals, and Google in particular, have narrowed the performance gap, with recent product releases capturing both market attention and user enthusiasm. Altman’s message is blunt: OpenAI can’t assume leadership by default anymore, and the team needs to “catch up fast” to stay in the race.
Why it matters: The leaked memo shows a clear inflection point. OpenAI is no longer speaking from the position of the undisputed frontrunner; instead, its CEO is warning employees about economic strain, slowing momentum, and direct competitive threat. When a company that has defined the modern AI boom signals internal unease, it’s a sign that the competitive landscape is shifting faster than expected, and that Google’s recent advances are landing harder than most people realized.
🤖AI in Action
DHL Supply Chain has partnered with AI‑startup HappyRobot to deploy agentic AI agents that handle routine communication tasks: email follow‑ups, driver scheduling, warehouse coordination, and customer calls. The aim is to improve operational efficiency and reduce manual workload in large-scale logistics operations.
Why it matters: For a business operating in logistics, warehousing or supply‑chain services, this shows how AI agents can handle recurring, high-volume admin tasks at scale, freeing up human staff for higher-value work. For a startup, it suggests a niche: building agentic‑AI tools for operations-heavy businesses might be a way to create real efficiency gains and capture recurring value across industries.
🔨AI Tools and Updates: Introducing Claude Opus 4.5!
Claude Opus 4.5 launched on November 24, 2025, and marks a headline update from Anthropic. According to the official announcement, this version is “intelligent, efficient, and the best model in the world for coding, agents, and computer use.” Beyond code, it also shows meaningful improvements on everyday professional tasks, such as deep research, working with slides, and spreadsheets signalling that this iteration is intended to bridge the gap between specialized high-end AI and practical workplace tooling.
Under the hood, Claude Opus 4.5 delivers measurable gains in several demanding domains. On software engineering benchmarks, it outperformed previous models using fewer tokens and more efficient reasoning, and it introduced features like effort control and context-compaction to let developers tune performance versus cost. For example the model handles long-horizon, multi-step workflows better than earlier versions, and Anthropic frames this as “a breakthrough in self-improving AI agents.”
💡Quick Hits and Numbers
Among people in finance using AI, 49% use it for knowledge management, 37% for automating accounts payable, and 34% for error / anomaly detection.
EngineAI’s new T800 “combat ready” humanoid is 1.85 m tall, weighs 85 kg, and has 41 high‑degree‑of‑freedom joints, making it a heavyweight in full‑size robotics.
Harmonic, an AI startup working on “Mathematical Superintelligence” to reduce AI hallucinations just secured $120 million in funding.
🧩Closing thought
AI is moving from experiment to enterprise. Whether it’s challenging market leaders, automating high-volume business tasks, or handling complex multi-step workflows, these innovations are redefining what efficiency and capability look like. The question isn’t just what AI can do, but how businesses and leaders will respond. In this fast-moving landscape, those who harness AI effectively won’t just keep up, they’ll reshape the rules of competition.