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Claude 4.5 Sonnet debuts, as Anthropic names it world’s best coding model

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Bay Area Times
September 30, 2025

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Top stories today:

  1. Claude 4.5 Sonnet debuts as “world’s best coding model”
  2. OpenAI said to plan TikTok-style app for AI-generated videos
  3. ChatGPT gets Instant Checkout, starting with Etsy sellers
  4. OpenAI hits $4.3B in H1 sales, +16% from 2024 total
  5. U.S. headed for shutdown, Vance says after talks with Democrats

0. Data and calendar

All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).

All times are ET.

Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today’s newsletter (beware of hallucinations):

1. Claude 4.5 Sonnet debuts, as Anthropic names it world’s best coding model

It outperforms GPT-5 Codex and the prior Claude models, according to Anthropic:

Claude 4.5 Sonnet delivers increased intelligence than 4 Sonnet but without increasing in output tokens used

Claude Code now has a VS Code extension, a new terminal interface, and checkpoint support

2. OpenAI said to plan TikTok-style app for AI-generated videos using Sora 2

Representational image generated using ChatGPT.

  • A vertical video feed with swipe-to-scroll navigation will reportedly be offered on the new app.

  • The Sora 2 app will support up to 10-second AI videos, with no uploads from the camera roll or other apps.

  • A For You-style page powered by a recommendation algorithm.

  • Options to like, comment, or remix a video will be provided on the right side of the feed.

  • Last week: Meta introduced “Vibes” as a new feed in its Meta AI app for AI-generated videos.

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4. ChatGPT gets Instant Checkout, starting with Etsy sellers

  • ChatGPT users can now buy products in chat via a “Buy” button shown for items with Instant Checkout.

  • Initially available to the U.S. ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and free users for single-item purchases.

  • OpenAI open-sourced its Agentic Commerce Protocol, built with Stripe, to enable agentic transactions.

  • Etsy stock +16% on the news.

  • Support for 1M+ Shopify merchants is coming soon.

5. OpenAI hits $4.3B in H1 sales, +16% from 2024 total, net loss swells to $13.5B

  • 50%+ of the H1 net loss stemmed from revaluing previously issued convertible equity.

  • $7.8B operating loss reported for H1.

  • $2.5B in cash burn during the period, mostly from R&D for developing AI and running ChatGPT.

  • ~$2.5B in non-cash stock payments to employees was among the largest expenses.

  • $2B spent on sales and marketing in H1, nearly double the full-year 2024 spend.

  • ~$670M in equity granted to unnamed server providers, vs. $1B in 2024.

  • $2.5B+ in cost of revenue, mostly for renting NVIDIA-powered servers from Microsoft.

6. U.S. headed for shutdown, Vance says after talks with Democrats

A shutdown would be the first since 2018–19, when government funding lapsed for 5 weeks:

  • Mon.: Trump met with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders.

  • The two sides left no closer to resolving Democrats’ demands to extend health-care subsidies and reverse Medicaid funding cuts.

  • Oct. 1 is the shutdown deadline.

  • Democrats could settle for some of their priorities, such as extending health-care subsidies, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

  • “There are still large differences between us,” Schumer stated.

  • “Essential services” would keep functioning during any shutdown, Vance told reporters.

7. EA’s $55B buyout highlights gaming struggles

The buyout news helped EA shares close the gap with industry peers:

  • EA execs seek exit despite company’s top status amid concerns over the $178B game industry.

  • 2020: the industry boomed during the COVID-19 lockdowns but has since slowed significantly.

  • Gamers have increasingly stuck with old favorites over buying new titles.

  • ~75% of EA’s fiscal 2025 sales came from live-service revenue, not new game purchases.

  • Apr.: EA cut hundreds of jobs in its 3rd round of layoffs since 2023, also shutting down studios and canceling projects.

  • Jared Kushner reportedly used Saudi ties to help broker EA deal, and his firm will now own ~5%.

8. U.S. labor slowdown locks out young, mid-career workers

Americans are increasingly underemployed and stuck in part-time jobs:

  • Fri.: the Sep. employee report will be released.

  • Economists expect the jobless rate to hold at 4.3%, masking the reality of underemployed youth.

  • Employers are holding on to staff while gauging the economy’s direction.

The unemployment rate among workers ages 16-24 jumped to 10.5% in Aug, the highest since 2016

  • Young people aren’t landing jobs despite hundreds of applications and countless networking calls.

Employment for those 55+ never recovered after the COVID pandemic

9. GenAI smartphone chip shipments expected +74% YoY in 2025, reach 35% share

10. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

11. Other headlines

AI

  • DeepSeek debuts “sparse attention” next-gen AI model.

  • Marissa Mayer shuts Sunshine, moves assets to new AI startup Dazzle.

  • Athyna: Save $80,000 per year on every engineering hire.*

*Sponsored.

Tech

  • Robinhood stock +12% on growth in prediction-market trades.

  • Snapchat to cap free Memories storage at 5GB, offers 100GB for $1.99/m.

  • Wealthfront files for IPO with $60.7M profit on $175.6M revenue in H1.

Tech & Law

Biotech

Business

  • Gold +0.9% to record $3,867.25/oz on shutdown-driven haven demand.

  • Boeing in early stages of developing 737 MAX replacement: report.

  • Coal mining expanded as Trump admin offers $625M for power plants.

  • Lumber tariff 10%, furniture 25% under Trump plan.

Crypto

  • Swift to build blockchain ledger for 24/7 cross-border payments.

  • Flying Tulip, Andre Cronje’s project, raises $200M at $1B token valuation.

U.S. politics

  • Illinois governor may deploy troops as immigration agents patrol Chicago.

  • Voice of America job cuts planned by Trump admin blocked by judge.

World

  • Netanyahu agrees to 20-point plan to end Gaza war: Trump.

  • Afghanistan sees telecom shutdown as Taliban cut off internet.

  • Iranians to be deported from U.S. after deal with Tehran.

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