Text-to-App

Dec 18, 2025

Faster Models, App Stores, and AI Upskilling

🧩 The Gist

Google introduced Gemini 3 Flash, described as frontier intelligence built for speed at a fraction of the cost, with benchmarks and global availability noted. OpenAI opened an in‑product app directory and submission flow for ChatGPT, plus launched an Academy to help newsrooms use AI responsibly. Greptile published a cross‑industry State of AI Coding 2025 study on engineering velocity, adoption, and benchmarks. The week also featured an industry reality check from AWS’s CEO on junior developers, a Coursera and Udemy combination aimed at AI‑era skills, and fresh hiring in AI filmmaking tools.

🚀 Key Highlights

  • Google announced Gemini 3 Flash, positioned as frontier intelligence built for speed and lower cost, with benchmarks and global availability referenced.
  • OpenAI now accepts developer app submissions to ChatGPT, with approved apps listed in a new directory, updated guidelines, and an Apps SDK for chat‑native experiences that can perform real‑world actions.
  • Greptile’s State of AI Coding 2025 is a cross‑industry study covering engineering team velocity, AI tool adoption, model growth trends, and performance benchmarks.
  • AWS CEO Matt Garman argued AI cannot replace junior developers, calling the idea one of the dumbest and outlining reasons it falls short.
  • OpenAI launched the Academy for News Organizations with the American Journalism Project and The Lenfest Institute, offering training, practical use cases, and responsible‑use guidance.
  • Coursera announced plans to combine with Udemy to empower the global workforce with skills for the AI era.
  • YC‑backed Flick is hiring a founding frontend engineer to build a Figma‑like interface for AI filmmaking.

🎯 Strategic Takeaways

  • Models and performance
    • Emphasis on speed and cost efficiency signals a push to make frontier‑level intelligence more accessible to mainstream workloads.
  • Developer ecosystem
    • An app submission pipeline and directory inside ChatGPT creates a clearer path for discovery and distribution of chat‑native apps.
  • Workforce and education
    • Leaders are pushing against AI‑only staffing strategies for engineering, while major learning platforms and newsroom programs focus on structured upskilling.
  • Creative tooling
    • Hiring and product work in AI filmmaking point to expanding vertical tools for media creation.

🧠 Worth Reading

  • The State of AI Coding 2025 (Greptile): A cross‑industry report on AI software development that examines team velocity, tool adoption, model trends, and benchmarks. Practical takeaway, teams can use its benchmarked themes to evaluate where AI code review and coding assistants fit in their workflows and where performance gains are most likely.
Introducing GPT-5.2-Codex (openai.com) GPT-5.2-Codex is OpenAI’s most advanced coding model, offering long-horizon reasoning, large-scale code transformations, and enhanced cybersecurity capabilities. openai
Addendum to GPT-5.2 System Card: GPT-5.2-Codex (openai.com) This system card outlines the comprehensive safety measures implemented for GPT‑5.2-Codex. It details both model-level mitigations, such as specialized safety training for harmful tasks and prompt inj… openai
Introducing GPT-5.2-Codex (openai.com) GPT-5.2-Codex is OpenAI’s most advanced coding model, offering long-horizon reasoning, large-scale code transformations, and enhanced cybersecurity capabilities. openai
Deepening our collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (openai.com) OpenAI and the U.S. Department of Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen collaboration on AI and advanced computing in support of scientific discovery. The agreement builds on ongo… openai
Evaluating chain-of-thought monitorability (openai.com) OpenAI introduces a new framework and evaluation suite for chain-of-thought monitorability, covering 13 evaluations across 24 environments. Our findings show that monitoring a model’s internal reasoni… openai
The State of AI Coding Report 2025 (greptile.com) hn
Gemini 3 Flash: Frontier intelligence built for speed (blog.google) hn
Updating our Model Spec with teen protections (openai.com) OpenAI is updating its Model Spec with new Under-18 Principles that define how ChatGPT should support teens with safe, age-appropriate guidance grounded in developmental science. The update strengthen… openai
Developers can now submit apps to ChatGPT (openai.com) hn
AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas' (finalroundai.com) hn
AI literacy resources for teens and parents (openai.com) OpenAI shares new AI literacy resources to help teens and parents use ChatGPT thoughtfully, safely, and with confidence. The guides include expert-vetted tips for responsible use, critical thinking, h… openai
A school locked down after AI flagged a gun. It was a clarinet (washingtonpost.com) hn
Flick (YC F25) Is Hiring Founding Engineer to Build Figma for AI Filmmaking (ycombinator.com) hn
Coursera to combine with Udemy (investor.coursera.com) hn