☕️ Tim Cook could step down as Apple CEO ‘as soon as next year’

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.

In today's Techpresso:

💼 Tim Cook could step down as Apple CEO ‘as soon as next year’

✅ OpenAI fixes ChatGPT's em dash problem

📈 Berkshire buys $4.3 billion stake in Alphabet

📄 Leaked files show how much OpenAI pays Microsoft

🤖 Meta will now grade employees on their AI skills

🏭 Tesla shifts US car parts supply away from China

🎁 + 8 other news & articles you might like

🔮 + 2 handpicked research papers and tools

FROM OUR PARTNER

• A new report claims Apple has intensified its succession planning for the top leadership role, raising the possibility that Tim Cook could step down as CEO next year.
• Senior VP of Hardware Engineering John Ternus is considered the most likely candidate to take the reins, though sources emphasize that no final decisions have been made yet.
• This development follows the departure of former COO Jeff Williams and a recent CFO transition, with any announcement unlikely until after the critical holiday sales period ends.

• OpenAI has addressed the well-known issue of ChatGPT excessively using the em dash, a punctuation mark that users were previously unable to get the chatbot to stop including in its text.
• The chatbot will now avoid the punctuation if users add a specific command telling it not to in the custom instructions section found within their personalization settings.
• This change does not remove the em dash from all output by default; instead, it provides more control over the frequency of the symbol's appearance in the chatbot's written replies.

• Berkshire Hathaway revealed a new $4.3 billion stake in Google's parent company Alphabet, now holding 17.85 million shares and making it a top ten U.S. stock investment for the firm.
• The company also continued selling its Apple shares, reducing its stake from 280 million to 238.2 million during the third quarter, although the stock remains Berkshire’s largest single holding.
• This Alphabet investment is surprising given Warren Buffett's aversion to tech companies, though he and Charlie Munger previously lamented not buying into Google's advertising business much sooner.

• Leaked documents show OpenAI made $493.8 million in revenue share payments to Microsoft in 2024, with that figure growing to $865.8 million during the first three quarters of 2025.
• These figures represent Microsoft's net revenue share, as the tech giant also gives OpenAI around 20% of income from both Bing and its Azure OpenAI Service, complicating the financial relationship.
• The startup’s inference spend, which is largely cash, reportedly hit $8.65 billion in the first nine months of 2025, implying it could be spending more than it earns in total revenue.

• Beginning in 2026, Meta will officially assess employees based on their "AI-driven impact," making it a core expectation for delivering results and improving the company's overall productivity.
• For the upcoming 2025 cycle, the company plans to reward staff who show "exceptional AI-driven impact" and encourages them to highlight these wins in their self-reviews.
• Meta is also rolling out an "AI Performance Assistant," a new tool that lets workers use Metamate or Google's Gemini to help write their own performance content.

• Tesla now requires its suppliers to exclude all China-made components from parts used in the manufacturing of cars assembled inside the United States, according to a new report.
• The company and its partners have already swapped some China-made items and aim to transition all remaining components to production outside that country over the next two years.
• This change follows struggles with fluctuating tariffs from the U.S.-China trade dispute, as General Motors also recently told its suppliers to remove China-made components from their supply chains.

Other news & articles you might like

• Five people plead guilty to helping North Koreans infiltrate US companies as ‘remote IT workers’ LINK

• Elon Musk now says xAI is delaying its Grok 5 launch until next year LINK

• Databricks co-founder argues US must go open source to beat China in AI LINK

• Masimo awarded $634M in Apple Watch patent infringement verdict LINK

• X is finally rolling out Chat, its DM replacement with encryption and video calling LINK

• Anthropic claims of Claude AI-automated cyberattacks met with doubt LINK

• Google Fined to Pay €465 Million to Price-Comparison Services in German Antitrust Case LINK

• OpenAI publishes prompting guide for GPT-5.1 LINK

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