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This morning, OpenAI released the companys new GPT-5.2 model. If youre a coder or someone who follows AI benchmarks for fun (hey, I wont judge), this model will excite you tremendously. For everyone else, prepare to be underwhelmedor rather, prepare to wait another month or so for the real OpenAI new release to come out. Keeping up with the Joneses GPT-5.2 is fundamentally about making small tweaks and improvements to the already fairly new GPT-5.1 model. Todays release improves OpenAIs performance on a variety of industry benchmarks. GPT-5.2 is faster and more efficient than its predecessor, and it does a better job solving scientific and technical problems. In particular, its better at writing code and doing math, and performs better on so-called agentic tasks, where the model operates for a long time without human input. OpenAI also says its better at solving real-world financial challenges. If it had existed when I did my ChatGPT investing experiment, maybe I really would have Lambo money by now! Beyond that, theres nothing especially revolutionary in GPT-5.2. So, why make a big fuss about releasing a whole new model before the holidays if it does fairly little thats truly new? Because in the ongoing saga of the AI wars, OpenAI feels it needs to keep up with the Jonesesor in this case, specifically, to keep up with Google. Industry watchers have noted that Googles Gemini 3 model began to threaten GPT-5.1s spot on the kind of performance leaderboards that AI companies pay close attention to. This reportedly caused a code red alert from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman reportedly ordered his teams to stop working on Sora and other projects to focus all their efforts on improving ChatGPT and its underlying models as quickly as possible. When you order a bunch of incredibly intelligent peoplesome of them being paid upwards of $1 million a yearto do something quickly, theyre likely to oblige. Within a few weeks of the reported code red, the OpenAI team had todays incremental release ready to go. GPT-5.2 will probably allow OpenAI to briefly leapfrog its archnemesis Googleand smaller competitor Anthropicin industry benchmarks, once again claiming its place as the undisputed leader in the AI wars. The real main event The code red reportedly isnt over yet, though. Earlier this month, analysts noted that OpenAI was testing a new reasoning model, codenamed “Garlic.” GPT-5.2 might have been part of Garlic. But many in the industry expect an expanded Garlic model (probably under the GPT-5.5 moniker) to come out in Q1 of 2026, potentially as early as January. Its likely to be a fully retrained reasoning model that brings efficiency improvements, but also genuinely impactful ones like a larger context window, new knowledge cutoff (OpenAIs most recent models have been stuck in 2024), better personality, and improved performance on image generation to rival Googles Nano Banana. Its also broadly rumored to include a new Adult Mode that allows ChatGPT to engage in, ahem, risque conversations with users who are older than 18. In the broader context of a potentially entirely revamped model with a January release date, todays GPT-5.2 model feels premature. Releasing it makes OpenAI seem a bit jumpylike its nervous that someone will come along and unseat it, and is willing to go to great lengths to stop that from happening, even if everyday users barely care about coding and science benchmarks. GPT-5.2 says less about OpenAIs technical prowess, then, and more about how Altman and his team are feeling. Google once seemed like it was floundering and slowly losing the AI racegoing the way of Polaroid or Xerox. Now, its back in the game, and seems poised and confident. OpenAI isnt used to playing second fiddle. Faced with the prospect of real competition, the company is clearly getting nervous. Last year, OpenAI celebrated the holidays with a jolly and carefree Shipmas celebration. For Altman and his team, this holiday season is likely to be a lot less fun and carefree.
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Lululemon might just be entering a newand improvedera. On Thursday, December 11, the athleisure apparel company shared a mostly positive third-quarter earnings report and announced the departure of its CEO, Calvin McDonald. McDonald will leave Lululemon Athletica on January 31, after seven years in the post. He previously served as CEO of Sephora Americas. The last year has been one of underperformance for Lululemon. In October, the companys controversial founder and largest independent shareholder, Chip Wilson, took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal criticizing Lululemons direction. While he didnt go as far as to name McDonald, Wilson wrote, The board insists on operator/finance CEOs who can speak Wall Street, rejecting the idea of a product-driven CEO. These types of finance focused CEOs dont know how to attract or motivate creative talent, and even worse, they think they understand great product when they dont. Why is McDonald leaving? In a post-earnings call, McDonald called his time as CEO a dream job but that the timing is right for a change. He will stay on as a senior adviser through the end of March. Lululemon has named its CFO, Meghan Frank, and CCO, André Maestrini, as interim co-CEOs while the company searches for a permanent replacement. In the announcement, McDonald claimed to have built a foundation for the future: I believe the outstanding product pipeline weve built, and action plan weve put into place, will yield positive results, and deliver value to shareholders in the months and years ahead. How did Lululemon perform in Q3? Quarter three was an improvement for Lululemon, with $2.57 billion in revenue, a 7% increase year-over-year (YOY) from compared to $2.4 billion. It also beat Wall Streets predicted $2.48 billion, according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC. Lululemon further reported $2.59 earnings per share, above Wall Streets expected $2.25. However, this was still lower YOY, compared to $2.87. Lululemon also projected sales below expectations for its current quarter. During quarter three, Lululemon bought back one million common stock shares for a total of $189 million. And the company announced that its board of directors has approved a $1 billion increase to its share repurchase program. As of Thursday, Lululemon had about $1.6 billion still available for its repurchase program. Overall, the good outweighed the bad for investors. Lululemons shares (Nasdaq: LULU) rose over 9% on Friday in premarket trading. As of Thursdays close, the stock is down almost 50% year to date.
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Measles infections in America have hit their highest numbers in 33 years. In 2025, cases have topped 1,900, and that number is expected to rise due to an ongoing outbreak in South Carolina. Heres what you need to know about Americas latest measles outbreak and why the upcoming period could spell troubling times with the disease. Whats happened? Earlier this week, the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) announced 27 new cases of measles in the state since the previous Friday, raising the total number of active measles cases in the southeastern state to 111. Due to the outbreak, there are currently 254 people in quarantine, with another 16 individuals in isolation in an effort to prevent the spread of the potentially deadly disease through the community. Of the new cases, 16 people were exposed at the Way of Truth Church in Inman, a city in the northwestern part of the state. The DPH has also identified new exposures at Inman Intermediate School. But South Carolina isnt the only state dealing with measles outbreaks. National figures show that 2025 has seen a resurgence of the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, South Carolina had a total of 123 measles cases for the year as of December 10. But that only put the state in third place. The leader is Texas, with 803 cases this year, followed by Arizona with 169 cases. Utah, at 115 cases, and New Mexico, at 100 cases, round out the top five. Worst year for measles in three decades In 2025, the number of measles cases in the United States skyrocketed when compared to recent years. According to the CDC, as of December 10, there have been a total of 1,912 cases of measles in the U.S. this year. To put that number in perspective, throughout all of 2024, there were only 285 reported cases, and only 59 in 2023. At 1,912 known cases so far this year, 2025 is also the year with the highest number of measles cases in the U.S. in the 21st century. The figures are well above the previous high of 1,274, set in 2019. In fact, there have not been this many measles cases in the United States since 199233 years ago. That year, measles cases topped out at 2,126. The CDC does state that case counts from 2023 through this year are preliminary and subject to change. In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the United States, but that status is now at risk. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); Who is contracting measles? Measles can infect anyone, but it is most likely to infect those who are not vaccinated against it. Vaccination is given in two doses. The CDC says the measles vaccine is 93% effective at one dose and 97% effective at two doses. Out of the known 1,912 cases in the U.S. so far this year, the vaccination status of 92% of those infected was either unvaccinated or unknown, according to the CDC. Only 3% of those infected had had just one dose of the measles vaccine, and only 4% of those infected had had both doses. As for the ages of those infected, the majority are children and teenagers. According to the CDC, out of the 1,912 infections, individuals were aged: Under 5 years: 500 (26%) 5-19 years: 786 (41%) 20+ years: 613 (32%) Age unknown: 13 (1%) Has anyone in the United States died from the measles in 2025? Unfortunately, yes. According to the CDC, there have been three deaths attributed to the measles this year. However, hundreds of others have required hospitalization. Of the 1,912 cases this year, 218 of them, or 11%, required hospital stays. The CDC breaks down the hospitalization numbers by age as follows: Under 5 years: 21% (103 of 500) 5-19 years: 6% (47 of 786) 20+ years: 11% (68 of 613) Age unknown: 0% (0 of 13) There have been 43 outbreaks of measles across the U.S. this year. The CDC defines an outbreak as a collection of three or more related cases. Why are so many outbreaks happening now? The CDC says several factors are contributing to the resurgence of measles in America. As global travel activity increases, it is more likely that people returning to America from overseas could bring the virus back with them. But one of the main challenges America faces, which has contributed to the 2025 outbreak, is the declining rate of vaccination among Americans. When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated (coverage >95%), most people are protected through community immunity (herd immunity), the CDC explains. Below that threshold, herd immunity breaks down, and the disease spreads. There are currently only 11 states at or above the 95% threshold, meaning most states in the country can no longer count on herd immunity for protection. How will the holidays affect measles outbreaks? As we enter the holiday season, it is likely that more cases of measles will appear. The reason is because measles spreads through the air when people cough or sneeze. The virus can also linger in the air for up to two hours. Given that measles is contracted through airborne transmission in spaces where people gather, it’s likely that cases will increase as individuals tend to congregate more over the holidays and at work, family, and other social events. How can I protect myself? The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to get vaccinated against measles, says the CDC. You can find out more about measles vaccinations on the agency’s website.
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