Tech News for OCT 19, 2025.#
Here are the key tech developments from October 19, 2025: China accused the U.S. of cyber breaches at its national time center, OpenAI faced backlash over claims that GPT-5 solved unsolved math problems, WhatsApp moved to ban general-purpose AI chatbots on its Business API, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang confirmed plans to attend the APEC CEO Summit in South Korea while AI sector dynamics around OpenAI and Anthropic intensified in Washington and Silicon Valley. Also notable were debates around whether AI is truly driving layoffs, new caution on stablecoins among Chinese tech giants, and commentary from Andrej Karpathy that AGI remains at least a decade away.
AI industry#
OpenAI drew criticism after prominent researchers and mathematicians disputed claims that GPT-5 had solved multiple “previously unsolved” Erdős problems, with TechCrunch reporting corrections that the system surfaced existing literature rather than producing novel proofs. Anthropic’s rapid rise remained in focus alongside public criticism from White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, while OpenAI was highlighted for deep ties and infrastructure initiatives under the current administration. AI researcher Andrej Karpathy said AGI is still about a decade away due to gaps like continual learning and broader cognitive limitations, tempering short‑term hype around autonomous agents.
Platform policy#
Meta updated WhatsApp’s Business API policy to prohibit general‑purpose AI assistants starting January 2026, a move that will impact providers using WhatsApp for broad conversational services while allowing domain‑specific customer service bots to continue.
Cybersecurity and geopolitics#
Reuters reported that China accused the U.S. of infiltrating its national time center, warning such breaches could disrupt communications, finance, power systems, and even the international standard time, escalating tech‑security tensions.
Crypto and fintech#
Chinese tech giants, including Ant Group and JD.com, paused stablecoin issuance plans in Hong Kong after Beijing raised concerns about privately controlled currencies, reflecting tighter oversight of crypto‑linked projects.
Semiconductors#
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to attend the APEC CEO Summit in South Korea, with expectations of meetings with executives from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as AI compute supply chains and memory partnerships remain strategic.
Jobs and the economy#
A CNBC analysis highlighted that while some firms cite AI when cutting jobs, recent research suggests AI adoption has not broadly driven layoffs to date, with indications that current reductions may reflect market corrections or overhiring rather than direct automation effects.