Nov 16, 2025
Chips, critics, and clinics: AMD gains, AI worldviews, healthcare agents
🧩 The Gist
AMD expanded its x86 footprint, crossing one quarter of total CPU shipments and powering one third of desktop systems, while Intel declined across desktops, laptops, and servers. A Jacobin piece argues that some prominent tech leaders espouse a worldview that prioritizes digital post‑human futures over present human concerns. On the applied side, Trellis AI outlines 24/7 agentic systems that automate prior authorizations, appeals, and reimbursement workflows for patients nationwide. Together, the week shows shifting compute dynamics, sharpened value debates, and practical AI moving deeper into healthcare operations.
🚀 Key Highlights
- AMD surpassed one quarter of all x86 CPU shipments in Q3 2025 and powers 33 percent of desktop systems, according to Tom’s Hardware.
- The same report notes Intel declines across desktops, laptops, and servers in the period.
- Jacobin contends that figures like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk support a worldview that envisions humans being replaced by digital post‑humans, presented as progress.
- Trellis AI describes computer‑use agents that automate document intake, prior authorizations, and appeals at scale.
- The company says it serves patients in all fifty states and processes billions of dollars in therapies annually.
- Trellis AI positions itself as a Stripe‑like layer for healthcare billing and reimbursements, working with large enterprise customers.
🎯 Strategic Takeaways
- Hardware and platforms: AMD’s share milestones signal a more competitive x86 landscape across form factors, which could broaden options for builders and buyers.
- Narratives and governance: Critical media framing around tech leaders’ post‑human visions highlights a values conflict that is likely to surface in public debate about AI.
- Applied AI in healthcare: Production agentic systems are targeting administrative chokepoints like prior auth and reimbursement, indicating AI traction in high‑impact back‑office workflows.
🧠 Worth Reading
- Agentic frameworks for healthcare decision‑making (from Trellis AI’s role description): The core idea is to design systems that autonomously navigate complex reimbursement logic and prior authorization workflows, operating continuously as AI co‑workers. The practical takeaway is that well‑scoped autonomy in administrative processes can speed access to therapies by reducing manual bottlenecks and errors.