Season 8 - Episode 31: Reviewing 2025 Tech Predictions - The Accountability Report

Remember when everyone said 2025 would be the year of humanoid robots in every home? Or that GPT-5 would blow our minds? Time for a reality check.

In this accountability episode, Chris and David do something most tech pundits refuse to do—revisit their 2025 predictions and actually score themselves on accuracy. The results might surprise you.

From Tesla's delayed Optimus robot to GPT-5's incremental improvements that fell short of the hype, this episode breaks down what the prediction circus got wrong about 2025's biggest tech trends. More importantly, we explore why hardware timelines and software timelines are fundamentally different beasts, and why Chinese AI models becoming "credible competition" doesn't mean they've surpassed US technology. If you're tired of breathless predictions without consequences, this conversation delivers the honest post-mortem the tech world needs.

Whether you're making strategic decisions about AI adoption, evaluating vendor claims, or just trying to separate signal from noise in the hype cycle, this episode shows you how to think critically about technology predictions. Plus, we share why talking about your wins matters for credibility—and preview our own bold predictions for 2026 (which we'll be accountable for next year). Because the best way to learn from predictions isn't making them—it's reviewing them honestly.

Takeaways

• The hosts reflect on their achievements in 2025, including awards for their podcast and book.

• They discuss the importance of sharing accomplishments for credibility in business.

• Predictions for humanoid robots in 2025 were overly optimistic, with significant delays expected.

• AI advancements, particularly GPT-5, did not meet the high expectations set prior to its release.

• Chinese AI models are emerging as credible competition but have not surpassed US models yet.

• The hosts emphasize the difference in timelines between hardware and software development.

• They note the importance of incremental improvements in AI technology releases.

• The conversation highlights the competitive landscape of AI technology and its implications for consumers.

• The hosts plan to make their own predictions for 2026 in the next episode.

• They acknowledge the unpredictability of technology trends and the need for cautious optimism.