AI Heats Up, Crypto Resets: The Week Tech Faced a Reality Check

AI hit a turbulent week while Web3 entered a regulatory breakthrough phase.Wall Street reacted nervously as Oracle’s earnings revived fears of an overheated AI bubble. Meanwhile, Google DeepMind unveiled an automated AI-driven science lab in the UK, and reports suggest OpenAI declared a “Code Red” after Google’s Gemini 3 outperformed ChatGPT on key benchmarks. IBM and Pearson launched new AI-powered learning tools, while telecoms shifted toward GenAI-driven AI agents.

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Tesseract Academy
December 12, 2025

AI News

Oracle earnings revive “AI bubble” fears on Wall Street

U.S. stock futures dropped after Oracle reported weaker-than-expected sales while ramping up data-centre and AI capex, stoking worries that huge infrastructure spend isn’t yet matched by AI revenue — and that the market may be overheating around AI bets.

Google DeepMind to build automated science lab in the UK

DeepMind announced its first “automated science laboratory” in Britain, using robotics and AI to rapidly discover new materials for superconductors, solar cells and semiconductors, with UK scientists getting priority access to the tools and closer links to the UK AI Safety Institute.

IBM + Pearson team up on AI-powered learning tools

IBM and Pearson unveiled a partnership to build AI-powered learning platforms for organisations and individuals, combining Pearson’s content with IBM’s watsonx stack to create personalised, skills-based training and assessment products.

GenAI and AI agents reshape telecom customer experience

A new Omdia report says telcos are moving from static IVRs and chatbots to GenAI-driven “AI agents” that can handle complex customer journeys, with many operators restructuring their CX frameworks around these agentic systems.

Gemini 3 fallout: OpenAI hits ‘Code Red’ after Google’s leap

Following Google’s launch of Gemini 3, now live in Search and the Gemini app, reporting suggests OpenAI internally declared a “Code Red” as the model outperformed ChatGPT on several benchmarks, prompting a renewed race to upgrade OpenAI’s flagship models.

Web3 News

Bitcoin dips below $90,000 after Fed cut and AI jitters

Bitcoin briefly fell under $90K today, down about 2.5–3%, as traders digested a 25 bps Fed rate cut plus renewed concerns over AI-related equity volatility and whether risk assets can sustain 2025’s rally.

Binance secures first “global” exchange licence under ADGM framework

Binance became the first crypto exchange to obtain a global licence under Abu Dhabi Global Market’s framework, a move billed as setting a new regulatory standard for centralised platforms looking to serve institutions across multiple jurisdictions.

UK FCA puts stablecoin payments at the top of its 2026 agenda

The UK Financial Conduct Authority announced it will prioritise stablecoin payment regulation and opened a sandbox for issuers to test products ahead of a 2026 go-live, signalling that regulated stablecoins are central to the UK’s digital money strategy.

Global crypto policy review: regulators zero in on stablecoins

TRM Labs’ 2025/26 policy review finds that in 30 key jurisdictions (covering 70%+ of crypto exposure), regulators are converging on stablecoin frameworks and that clearer rules are accelerating institutional adoption of digital assets.

The Sandbox adds Corners, a Web3 platform to “coin the internet”

Metaverse project The Sandbox welcomed Corners, an invite-only Web3 platform that lets users “coin” curated collections of URLs and earn from them, expanding its ecosystem into content curation and on-chain attention markets.