Morning Brew Daily – Episode Summary

Google's AI Leapfrogs its Rivals & Trump-Mamdani Tackle Affordability?
Hosts: Neal Freyman and Toby Howell
Date: November 24, 2025

Overview

This episode dives into three major themes:

1. Google's sudden dominance in the AI race, leapfrogging previous leaders with Gemini 3.
2. The surprising Trump–Mamdani alliance on addressing affordability in America’s biggest city and what affordability means for everyday Americans.
3. Other standout news, including Eli Lilly's record-breaking market cap fueled by weight-loss drugs, and a strong weekend for the box office thanks to "Wicked For Good".

Witty banter, memorable stats, and punchy insights make this episode a brisk, informative listen, ideal for anyone who wants a snapshot of the week's most important business and cultural news.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Psychology of Acts of Kindness (01:00–02:53)

• Summary: The hosts open with a quirky study in Milan where people riding the subway were more likely to give up seats for a pregnant woman when a man dressed as Batman was present—a 67% rate versus 38% without Batman.
  • “It just shows the power of introducing something weird into people's daily lives. If you jolt people from their routines, they will engage in more pro social behavior...” (Toby, 01:50)
• Insight: The presence of something out of the ordinary—like a superhero—triggers more helpfulness, even subconsciously.

2. Google Surges Ahead in the AI Race (03:22–09:06)

The Rise of Gemini 3

• Summary: Google was once seen as trailing nimble competitors like OpenAI, but the release of Gemini 3 has upended that narrative.
  • “The new Gemini jumped past OpenAI’s chat CBD5 to become the consensus best performing chatbot on the market.” (Toby, 03:35)
• Gemini’s user base (650M/monthly) still trails OpenAI’s ChatGPT (800M/weekly) but is catching up fast.

Investor & Industry Response

• Market Impact: Alphabet shares surged 77% since summer, now with a $3.6 trillion market cap, overtaking Microsoft for the first time in seven years.

  • “Google just released the best chatbot out there, period.” (Neal, 05:40)

• Industry Reaction

  • Salesforce’s Marc Benioff: “Holy bleep. I’ve used ChatGPT every day for 3 years, just spent 2 hours on Gemini 3. I’m not going back. The leap is insane... It feels like the world just changed again.” (Neal quoting Benioff, 04:57)
  • OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged Google’s leapfrogging, predicting “temporary economic headwinds.” (Neal, 05:14)

Google's Financial Strength vs. OpenAI

• Summary: OpenAI is projected to burn $100B in pursuit of superintelligence, with $13B in revenue this year. Google, meanwhile, generated $70B in free cash flow over four quarters, including revenue from providing cloud services to OpenAI.
  • “So if you just wanted to compare those two companies, now Google is ahead of it on performance, and the economics has always been in its favor.” (Toby, 06:08)

Benchmark Tests & User Experience

• Noteworthy: Gemini 3 excels on both public AI benchmarks (“vending bench”) and real-world use.
  • “Apparently, Gemini 3 is just a vending machine beast and can make so much money operating vending machines. They’re very impressed with how Gemini 3 can do this.” (Neal, 06:48)
• But performance is not just about benchmarks; real users like Marc Benioff report superior experience.

Beyond AI – Google & Its Other Businesses

• Waymo: Winner of expanded licenses, able to drive across a vast region in California, almost border-to-border (07:50–08:18).
  • Memorable moment likening Waymo’s growing territory to the Roman Empire.
• YouTube: Remains the dominant digital platform—84% of US adults used it last year, compared to 71% for Facebook.
  • “It is TV, it is entertainment, it is everything. People are spending more and more of their time on YouTube.” (Toby, 08:40)

Conclusion: “Everything's coming up Google.” (Neal, 09:06)

3. Affordability Takes Center Stage in Politics (09:06–13:49)

Trump & Zoran Mamdani’s Unlikely Alliance

• Summary: Former rivals joined forces in a "chummy" meeting to discuss plans for making America’s largest city more affordable.
  • Mamdani: “We're in the wealthiest city in the history of the world and yet, one in five can't afford $2.90 for a metro card.” (Neal quoting Mamdani, 09:41)
• Despite political differences (Trump called Mamdani a communist, Mamdani called Trump a fascist), the message of affordability unites.

What Does "Affordability" Mean?

• Stats & Sentiment
  • Real income and wages are up YoY, but people still feel a "crunch" due to everyday costs rising.
  • Consumer sentiment dropped from 71.8 to 51 out of 100 in a year.
  • 76% of Americans view the economy negatively (Fox poll).

Breaking Down the Crisis

• Housing: Median homebuyer needs $121,000 annual income; average is $84,000. That's a 25% housing price increase since 2019.
• Child Care: Average annual cost is now $13,000, up 30% since 2020.
• Health Care: Employer plan premiums expected to jump up to 7% in 2026, the highest in 15 years.
• Utilities: Average monthly bill is up 12% year-over-year; 124 million expect electricity rate increases.
  • “What do I, what are my monthly bills? Child care, health care, food, groceries, electricity—Everything's going up. And that is feeding this sense that, you know, I'm just an average American, I can't really afford life.” (Neal, 13:05)

Political Challenge

• Actual price declines are rare outside recessions/depressions. Politically, affordability is a near-constant winner because, as Toby puts it:
  • “If you want prices to actually fall, the only times it normally happens is during periods of economic turmoil. So it’s kind of a catch-22.” (Toby, 13:49)

4. Winners of the Weekend – News Highlights

Eli Lilly Hits $1 Trillion (13:49–17:49)

• Summary: On Friday, Eli Lilly became the first healthcare company to hit a $1T market cap, powered by its blockbuster weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro.

  • “Lilly’s stock has been a rocket ship … makes the best selling drug in the world, an injectable known as Zepbound or Manjaro that helps people lose loads of weight.” (Neal, 13:57)

• Credit given to CEO Dave Ricks for transforming the company since 2017.

• “Not about his looks, but about his ability to create shareholder value.” (Neal, 15:11)

• Remarkable cultural moment: Eli Lilly was spoofed on SNL, is sponsoring the Indiana Fever, and is a presence on Caitlin Clark's jersey.

• Note: Eli Lilly previously faced intense backlash for insulin price hikes but remade its image with effective weight loss drugs.

• Pipeline: More weight loss treatments are coming, including pills and even more effective injectables.

  • “Their pipeline is full to the brim as well.” (Toby, 17:06)

Box Office: Wicked For Good (19:19–23:29)

• Summary: “Wicked For Good” nearly topped the box office, earning $150M (19:19).

  • IMAX contributed heavily (30% of screenings).
  • The popularity of PG-rated movies is fueling box office performance.
  • Success of “Wicked,” "Minecraft," and more could drive record Thanksgiving period revenue.

• Ariana Grande’s Crossover Success:

  • “She might be the first pop star to make that leap from the stage to the big screen in a big way ... Grande has proven herself to be an actor who can get people out and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on her movies.” (Neal, 23:16)

5. Week Ahead & Pop Culture Watch (23:29–end)

• Thanksgiving travel projected to reach 82 million Americans; airports running at full tilt (23:29–24:23).
• Black Friday shopping expected to surpass $1 trillion for the first time, though growth will slow (24:23–24:48).
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to feature new floats/balloons (Buzz Lightyear, Pac-Man, Stranger Things, Labubu), plus big NFL games (25:05–25:40).
• Netflix drops final season of Stranger Things on Thanksgiving Eve—biggest pop culture moment anticipated (25:40–26:30).
  • “Stranger Things has become the biggest franchise that Netflix has homegrown in its HQ ever.” (Neal, 26:24)

Notable Quotes

• On Google’s turnaround:
  “Now it’s got its swagger back.” (Toby, 04:42)

• On the affordability crisis:
  “Everything’s going up. And that is feeding this sense that, you know, I’m just an average American, I can’t really afford life.” (Neal, 13:05)

• On blockbuster drugs:
  “Lilly’s stock has been a rocket ship ... it makes the best selling drug in the world, injectable known as Zepbound or Mounjaro …” (Neal, 13:57)

• On pop stars turned actors:
  “Ariana Grande has proven herself to be an actor who can get people out and spending hundreds of millions …” (Neal, 23:16)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Acts of Kindness / Batman Experiment: 01:00–02:53
• Google’s AI Turnaround & Gemini 3: 03:22–09:06
• Trump-Mamdani & Affordability Crisis: 09:06–13:49
• Eli Lilly’s Trillion-Dollar Leap: 13:49–17:49
• Wicked For Good / Box Office Trends: 19:19–23:29
• Week Ahead / Events to Watch: 23:29–26:30

Tone & Style

The hosts keep the conversation sharp, witty, and accessible, with a careful mix of data-driven insight and pop-culture references. Jokes and banter between Neal and Toby allow complex business topics to be both entertaining and memorable.

In Summary

This episode offers an energetic rundown of the week’s most important and interesting business and cultural stories, from the shifting AI landscape and inflation politics to surging pharmaceutical stocks and the family-friendly revival of the box office. If you want to understand what’s moving markets—and shaping headlines—this is a must-listen (or, thanks to this summary, a must-read).