In this episode of Get the Check, Anika and Priya debrief booking a flight 2 hours before it left to surprise their college friend for his birthday. Once they settle in, they break down power struggles across AI, the economy, and autonomous vehicles.

They start with OpenAI’s internal code red after Google’s Gemini 3 launch began cutting into ChatGPT market share. The hosts explain why this moment actually matters. OpenAI’s daily visits fell about 6% and user growth slowed for multiple months in a row. They unpack why Google’s distribution advantage through Chrome, Android, YouTube, and Workspace becomes critical now that model quality is converging. They also discuss the positive industry reactions to OpenAI’s GPT 5.2 launch. The model is designed for professional use that outperforms human benchmarks on more than 70% of tasks and reduces hallucinations with longer context windows. OpenAI frames this less as a consumer release and more as a direct grab for enterprise budgets.

From there they zoom out to a market most US coverage ignores, which is India. Google and OpenAI both dropped prices by close to 90% bundling AI subscriptions with telecom plans. With more than 1B internet users, even a small conversion rate could translate into $2 to $3B in annual revenue. The hosts explain why Android dominance matters here and how prepaid bundles quietly turn AI search into an expected feature rather than a premium add on.

The episode then moves to the Fed’s third rate cut of the year, a 25 basis point reduction that passed with rare internal disagreement. Two members voted for no cut and one wanted a larger cut highlighting how split the Fed is right now. Anika Maya and Priya walk through the data driving the decision like unemployment rising from 4.1% to 4.4%, job openings falling below unemployed workers for the first time since 2021, and monthly job growth slowing. They also connect tariffs to everyday impact noting that tariffs account for roughly 0.5% of current inflation.

They wrap with an autonomous vehicle industry update. Rivian announced its first custom autonomy chip and a driver assist system built on cameras, radar, and front mounted lidar, pushing back on Tesla’s camera only approach. Uber expanded its robotaxi strategy through a partnership with Avride reinforcing its role as the operating layer for autonomy rather than the manufacturer. Nissan quietly enters the conversation with a hands off eyes on system targeting 2028 at an estimated $4K price point showing that advanced driver assistance is quickly becoming standard rather than premium.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

04:00 OpenAI’s code red

12:30 GPT 5.2 and the enterprise shift

27:00 AI price war in India

32:00 Fed cuts rates for the third time

40:30 Rivian’s AV updates

46:00 Uber’s robotaxi strategy

50:00 Nissan and the future of semi autonomous cars