The holiday mood is clearly on — but the AI news cycle didn’t slow down. If anything, it sharpened. While calendars filled with year-end reviews and out-of-office messages, the signals underneath continued to harden.
Below is this week’s kickoff — signal first, implication second.
OpenAI vs. Apple: The Next AI Battle May Be the Device
Reporting suggests OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, is increasingly focused on AI-native devices, setting up a potential long-term clash with Apple over who owns the primary AI interface.
Playbook Implication:
This is not about hardware margins. It is about control. Whoever owns the device layer controls distribution, data flow, and default behavior. If AI becomes the operating system rather than an app, platform power shifts away from legacy ecosystems. This is existential for incumbents — and a rare opening for challengers.
AI Predictions for 2026: Less Magic, More Plumbing
Experts forecast that 2026 will be defined by deeper AI integration, smaller task-specific models, and enterprise-wide deployment rather than headline-grabbing consumer breakthroughs.
Playbook Implication:
This reflects maturity, not slowdown. Infrastructure phases are quieter but more consequential. Advantage will accrue to firms that can run AI reliably, cheaply, and at scale. The market is moving from imagination to implementation — and many will fail at this stage.
AI Was Linked to Over 50,000 Layoffs in 2025
Corporate disclosures indicate that more than 50,000 layoffs in 2025 were explicitly attributed to AI-driven productivity and automation, including cuts at major technology firms.
Playbook Implication:
This marks a language shift. Job losses are no longer framed as temporary or cyclical — they are positioned as structural efficiency gains. Once that framing sets in, reversals are rare. Workforce planning has entered a permanently tighter regime.
India’s Tech Talent Market Rewired in 2025
India’s tech ecosystem saw slowing demand for generalist roles, accelerating demand for AI-adjacent skills, and widening pay dispersion, with these trends expected to carry into 2026.
Playbook Implication:
India did not lose relevance — it became more selective. Scale alone is no longer sufficient. Precision hiring and role clarity now matter more than headcount. Opportunity remains large, but only near AI value creation.
India Targets 1.28 Crore New Jobs in 2026
India has set a target of creating 1.28 crore new jobs in 2026, driven by infrastructure, manufacturing, services, and public-sector initiatives.
Playbook Implication:
Headline job numbers hide composition risk. Job creation can coexist with displacement if skill alignment breaks down. The key metric is not volume, but how many roles are AI-complementary rather than AI-competing.
The US Government Launches “Tech Force” to Hire AI Talent
The United States government announced a new “Tech Force” initiative to directly recruit AI and technology talent into public service.
Playbook Implication:
Governments are no longer content regulating AI from the outside. They want internal capability. This puts public institutions into direct competition with private firms for scarce talent and signals that AI capacity is becoming a core state asset.
The Throughline
Across devices, layoffs, hiring, and policy, the same pattern repeats: AI is shifting from experimentation to allocation.
Capital is reallocating. Talent is reallocating. Power is reallocating.
Even in holiday mode, the playbook is being rewritten.
