Google just grabbed 18% of the AI market while you were on holiday break. ChatGPT is adding ads. And a Chinese AI lab is offering frontier intelligence for 90% less. This week changed everything.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Welcome Back & Holiday Recap

0:30 - Story #1: Google's Distribution Takeover (Gemini Hits 18%)

4:45 - Story #2: OpenAI's Ad Pivot (ChatGPT Monetization)

6:30 - Story #3: DeepSeek's Cost Disruption (Chinese AI Breakthrough)

8:15 - Quick Hits (Suno, Enterprise Spending, Security Alerts)

8:50 - Recap & 2026 Strategy

📊 STORY #1: GOOGLE'S SILENT TAKEOVER

Google Gemini captured 18.2% of global AI traffic (up from 5.4% in 2024) through aggressive Android and Chrome integration. ChatGPT's market share dropped from 87% to 68%. The driver? "Nano Banana" (Gemini 3 Pro Image) finally solved text-in-images, plus Google's December Core Update devastated traditional SEO (70-85% traffic drops). The new game: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

Key Insights:

• Entity authority > keyword density

• Structured data (Schema markup) now essential

• Optimize for AI citation, not search ranking

• Source: Similarweb market analysis, December 25, 2025

📱 STORY #2: OPENAI'S ADVERTISING ERA

OpenAI confirmed development of conversational advertising for ChatGPT following internal "Code Red" memo. New ad formats: contextual injection (recommendations within answers), sidebar shopping graphs, and post-task prompts. The trust paradox: users must now evaluate organic vs paid recommendations.

Adobe Partnership: Runway Gen-4.5 integrated directly into Creative Cloud with Firefly copyright indemnification. Video production costs for SMBs just collapsed.

Key Insights:

• Prepare budget for ChatGPT ad platform

• Use Adobe+Runway for legally safe AI video

• Shift from quarterly hero videos to daily content

• Source: The Information, December 24, 2025

🌍 STORY #3: DEEPSEEK'S PRICE WAR

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek released V3 model rivaling GPT-4 at $0.14 per million tokens (90-95% cheaper). Mixture of Experts architecture enables massive cost savings for bulk processing. Critical caveat: servers in China under PRC law.

Strategic Use Cases:

• Backend automation (non-sensitive data only)

• Customer review analysis at scale

• SEO meta-tag generation for large catalogs

• Code generation (no proprietary input)

• NEVER use for PII, HIPAA data, or trade secrets

Key Insights:

• Build hybrid AI stack (not one-tool-fits-all)

• Open source pressure forcing premium model competition

• Data sovereignty remains critical for US SMBs

• Source: DeepSeek technical benchmarks, December 2025

🎯 2026 SMB STRATEGY SYNTHESIS

The experimental era is over. Three-part hybrid stack:

1. Frontend productivity: Google Gemini (integrated, safe, multimodal)

2. Marketing acquisition: ChatGPT + ads (high-intent research)

3. Backend processing: DeepSeek/Open source (cost-efficient bulk work)

Critical Actions:

✅ Conduct brand entity audit (search yourself in AI tools)

✅ Implement Schema markup for GEO

✅ Prepare ChatGPT advertising budget

✅ Transition to daily AI-generated video content

✅ Monitor brand defense opportunities in conversational ads

🔗 RESOURCES & SOURCES:

• Similarweb AI Market Share Report: https://www.similarweb.com/corp/2025-generative-ai-landscape

• The Information OpenAI Advertising Analysis: https://www.theinformation.com/

• DeepSeek V3 Technical Benchmarks: