Welcome back to This Week in Stratechery!

As a reminder, each week, every Friday, we’re sending out this overview of content in the Stratechery bundle; highlighted links are free for everyone. Additionally, you have complete control over what we send to you. If you don’t want to receive This Week in Stratechery emails (there is no podcast), please uncheck the box in your delivery settings.

On that note, here were a few of our favorites this week.

1. Gemini 3 Arrives. There was about a week of high hopes preceding the Gemini 3 release, and sure enough, Google’s new model is apparently state of the art across the board (although Anthropic maintains a lead in one coding benchmark). So what does that mean? Wednesday’s Daily Update was exactly what I wanted to read in the Gemini aftermath, as Ben explored the implications for the rest AI ecosystem; this week’s Sharp Tech episode builds on that analysis with an extended discussion of winners and losers from Gemini week. And there is good news: contrary to the claims of many anon accounts on X this week, the Gemini gains aren’t necessarily a death knell for Nvidia or OpenAI, even if, with apologies to Satya Nadella, it appears that Google very much knows its way around the dance floor. — Andrew Sharp

2. The Most Takeable Companies in Tech. Our goal here with Stratechery Plus is to provide rock solid analysis of tech first-and-foremost, but also China, the NBA, etc. Andrew is in the middle of that as the host of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, and Greatest of All Talk. However, at the end of the day, takes still matter: people get bored with spreadsheets and spreadsheet writing; it’s the opinions on the unknown that are the most entertaining and attention-grabbing. To that end, Andrew, an expert takesman, has produced the most important ranking of the year: the most takeable tech companies, from 15 to 1. My take on this very entertaining Article is that the first 14 companies were a preamble to explain why we just can’t stop talking about OpenAI. — Ben Thompson
   
   
3. China Is Very Unhappy with Japan’s New Prime Minister. In the past two weeks, Chinese diplomats and pundits have called new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi an “evil witch,” an “American running dog,” and warned that her “dirty neck” will be “cut off” if she sticks her head into China’s internal affairs. This week’s episode of Sharp China explores why Takaichi’s comments on Japan’s options in the event of Chinese invasion of Taiwan inspired this reaction, including the history of recent tensions with Japan, and why the Chinese rhetoric is as much a signal to the rest of Asia as it is to Japan. Also discussed: Hasan Piker’s viral travels through China, and thoughts on a Useful Idiot Industrial Complex that continues to thrive in the digital age. — AS

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Stratechery Articles and Updates

• ChatGPT Group Chats, Meta and the Encryption Trade-off, Network Effects and Ad Models — ChatGPT is getting group chats, a long-standing Stratechery feature request. It’s also a clear attach against Meta, who can’t respond because of encryption, while Google looms.
• Robotaxis and Suburbia — Robotaxis are poised to further close the delta between suburbs and the city; the city (and Uber) might never recover.
• Gemini 3, Winners and Losers, Integration and the Enterprise — Gemini 3 is out, and looks to be state of the art. What does that mean for everyone else in the AI space, and what markets might Google win?
• An Interview with Eric Seufert About Advertising and AI — An interview with Eric Seufert about the right advertising model for AI, the right AI for Meta, and why personalized advertising is good for society.

Sharp Text by Andrew Sharp

• The Definitive Ranking of Tech Company Takeability — Notes on the most (and least) takeable companies of 2025, including Nvidia, OpenAI, Tesla, and many more.

Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber

• AI in the AI App
• Cloudflare and the Tragedy of the Commons

Asianometry with Jon Yu

• TSMC Arizona: What About the Water?
• The Curious Database Powering America’s Hospitals

Sharp China with Andrew Sharp and Sinocism’s Bill Bishop

• A Maximalist Response to Japan’s PM; More Bad Real Estate News; Leaked Warnings on Alibaba; Hasan Piker Touring China

Greatest of All Talk with Andrew Sharp and WaPo’s Ben Golliver

• A Standings Check After One Month, A Nightmare Pacers Year Continues Apace, Steph Curry Propaganda Hour
• Notes From LeBron’s Debut in LA, The Injury Bug Bites Early, Buyer’s Remorse Trade Value Power Rankings

Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson

• Google Starts Dancing, The Winners and Losers of Gemini Week, OpenAI Has an Advertising Problem

This week’s Sharp Tech video is on how Apple commoditized mobile carriers.