Apple's new iPhone, Meta glasses & more (August 25, 2025)

Good morning,

Today’s stories spotlight big bets on hardware, government-scale AI adoption, and ethical innovation. Apple is preparing a bolder design path, Meta has fortified its eyewear edge, and Google just secured an unprecedented government contract.

Let's dig in👇

Big Moves in AI

🤖 Google lands federal AI deal
Google secures a government-wide Gemini AI contract at just $0.47 per agency, unlocking AI capabilities across U.S. federal operations. The deal sets a new pricing benchmark and signals how aggressively Google is positioning Gemini in the public sector. Analysts say the move could ripple globally as other governments evaluate similar AI procurement strategies.

🤝 Meta pairs with Midjourney
Meta partners with Midjourney to embed image and video generation into its AI models, expanding creative capabilities for consumers and enterprises. This could give Meta a powerful differentiator in social and AR platforms where visual content is king. The collaboration further blurs lines between generative art platforms and big tech AI ecosystems.

💡 Anthropic adds safety shutoff
Anthropic’s Claude AI can now end harmful chats automatically, reducing user risk in sensitive conversations. This marks a step forward in building trust and establishing ethical guardrails in generative AI systems. Expect rivals to accelerate safety enhancements as regulatory pressure mounts.

Science & Strategy

📱 Apple’s 3-year iPhone roadmap
Apple is planning a radical three-year redesign cycle starting with a rumored slim iPhone Air. The move breaks with incremental updates and signals a design-driven pivot to stand out in a saturated smartphone market. It reflects Apple’s push to align hardware with its next-gen materials strategy and AI-first user experience.

🕶️ Meta dominates smart glasses
Meta has already won the smart glasses race by securing a billion-dollar stake in EssilorLuxottica, the world’s largest eyewear maker. The partnership guarantees distribution muscle and a launchpad for mainstream adoption, leaving rivals scrambling. With AI assistants moving into wearables, this moat could prove decisive in shaping consumer behavior.

🔬 Google debuts medical AI agents
Google introduces Guardrailed-AMIE for clinical accountability, a multi-agent system designed for safer diagnostic dialogue. The approach aims to reduce errors by cross-verifying outputs across AI agents before recommendations are made. It sets a precedent for medical AI, where explainability and accountability remain non-negotiable.

Still Trending from The Weekend

The US takes a 10% equity stake in Intel
Trump claims US gets Intel equity share in exchange for CHIPS funding, spotlighting a rare government stake in a tech firm.

Google AI Overviews cut traffic
Google AI Overviews are driving 10-25% traffic drops for publishers, intensifying fears of a “Google Zero” future. Media groups are rushing to adapt business models.

Meta AI crawlers flood the web
Meta’s crawlers accounted for 52% of bot traffic, outpacing Google and OpenAI combined. The scale highlights the escalating arms race for training data.

Tools of the Day

→ Command A Reasoning - enterprise-grade control for reasoning AI agents
→ Grok 2.5 (OSS Ver.) - xAI’s best 2024 model, now open source
→ ReachLLM - SEO-first AI content dominance for the AI search era
→ Trace - route repetitive workflows to AI agents

Prompt of the Day

“Act as a market analyst. Summarize the impact of Apple’s three-year iPhone roadmap on Samsung and Google’s mobile strategies. Provide 3 risks and 3 opportunities for each competitor, written in bullet points that a C-level exec could skim in under 90 seconds.”

Quick Hits

→ iPhone 17 leaks thinnest design with redesigned AirPods and new accessories
→ Google AI veteran warns students not to chase PhDs just for hype
→ Publishers brace for “Google Zero” era as AI tools threaten ad revenues
→ Google tests Ask Anything box to funnel users deeper into AI Mode
→ Restaurant backlash after AI-made promos invented fake special offers

TLDR

Apple’s hardware ambitions, Meta’s wearables dominance, and Google’s expanding AI ecosystem highlight how tech giants are redrawing battle lines. Governments are moving from testing AI to operational adoption, while safety and accountability are becoming table stakes in model development. Publishers, meanwhile, face existential threats from AI-driven search disruption.

The theme: AI is embedding everywhere, from your phone to your government contract, while raising new trust and survival questions.

Cheers,
David