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THIS YEAR IN AI

Stories to track in 2025

• OpenAI's o1 model achieved PhD-level STEM performance

• OpenAI's o3 model excelled at mathematics and coding

• Google's Gemini-Exp-1114 topped AI model rankings

• AI data centers reached 1.24-mile lengths

• Google partnered with Kairos Power for nuclear energy

• Meta invested $10B in underwater fiber-optic cables

• Microsoft dominated AI chip buying, purchasing twice the competition

• Apple rolls out Apple Intelligence with AI partners

• OpenAI raised $6.6B at $157B valuation

• OpenAI targeted 1 billion users

• Oman's wealth fund invested in Musk's xAI

• UAE established itself as global AI hub

• India's AI ecosystem hit 2,000+ startups

• US-China made first AI controlled nuclear weapons agreement

• Salesforce and Microsoft battled in AI agent race

• Amazon's AI assistant saved 4,500 developer years

• 75% of developers now use AI daily

• Semiconductor industry faced critical talent shortage

• Palantir won a $99M Army deal for user-focused machine learning

• Klarna attributed Reduced Headcount to AI Chatbot Efficiencies

• Perplexity reached 100M weekly queries

• Veo 2 vs. Sora: Google and OpenAI’s launched incredible video tools

• Google DeepMind and Apptronik partnered to advance humanoid robotics

• Google partnered with NVIDIA on quantum computing

• Character.AI sparked controversy with chatbot impersonation

• YouTube and CAA fought AI deepfakes

• Coca-Cola launched AI-generated holiday campaign

• Friend.com introduced wearable AI companions

A deeper look at 2024 in AI

From model breakthroughs to the knowledge work revolution

Power players 

Google's groundbreaking partnership with Kairos Power for nuclear energy and Meta's $10 billion investment in underwater fiber-optic cables demonstrate how seriously tech giants are taking AI infrastructure. Individual AI facilities now require up to one gigawatt of power—equivalent to a nuclear power plant's output. Rather than view this as a limitation, companies are turning it into an opportunity: Three Mile Island's recommissioning for AI computing represents innovative thinking about how to power our AI future.

The democratization wave

While infrastructure demands are substantial, AI is becoming more accessible than ever. Meta's open source Llama models reached 350 million downloads, creating a flourishing ecosystem of developers and startups. Even Microsoft's strategic dominance in AI chip procurement has spurred innovation, with the company investing $750 million in Wolfspeed for domestic semiconductor production.

Global innovation hubs

The UAE has emerged as a dynamic AI hub, developing its own Falcon model and appointing a dedicated AI minister. India's AI ecosystem has exploded with over 2,000 startups joining Nvidia's Inception program and 100,000 developers trained in AI technologies. This global distribution of AI talent and resources suggests a future where innovation comes from everywhere.

The rise of AI agents

2024's most exciting development is the emergence of agentic AI - autonomous systems capable of independent decision-making that represent the "third wave" of AI evolution. Salesforce and Microsoft's AI agent platforms are pioneering this space, with Microsoft's autonomous Copilot agents and Salesforce's Agentforce platform demonstrating how AI can handle complex business operations independently. Amazon's AI assistant has already saved an estimated 4,500 developer years in software updates. These developments do not even include the countless AI agent startups that are beginning to come to market and will start to materialize in 2025.

Breakthrough models and robotics 

Google DeepMind's partnership with Apptronik marks a major advance in humanoid robotics, combining DeepMind's AI capabilities with Apptronik's hardware expertise. Their Apollo robot, standing 5'8" and weighing 160 pounds, shows how human-scale robotic solutions can enhance industrial applications rather than replace human workers.

Meanwhile, OpenAI's o1 model (codenamed "Strawberry") achieved PhD-level STEM performance, while Google's Gemini-Exp-1114 set new benchmarks in AI capabilities. These advances aren't just technical achievements—they're tools that augment human intelligence and creativity.

Cultural integration

AI is finding innovative applications across society. Sports organizations like the Premier League and NASCAR are using AI to enhance, not replace, human decision-making. Even religious institutions are exploring AI applications, showing how technology can complement rather than conflict with traditional institutions.

Looking forward

We're entering an era where AI's potential is limited only by our imagination and infrastructure. The revival of nuclear power for AI computing, the emergence of new global innovation hubs, and the evolution of human-AI collaboration suggest we're at the beginning of an unprecedented period of technological flourishing.

While the infrastructure requirements are substantial, they're spurring innovation in energy and computing. The organizations that thrive will be those that view these challenges as opportunities to build better systems and solutions.

As we move into 2025, the focus isn't just on building better AI, but on making millions of people AI-literate, creating more opportunities for humans and AI to work together.

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