Monday, December 1, 2025
In today's digest, how AI powered Black Friday, a tough Tuesday commute, and casino? More like casi-yes (sorry). ♣️
But first: Our next NYC AI Demos event is coming up! Join Tech:NYC, Pensar, The Refinery at Domino, and hundreds of technologists, founders, and investors next Monday, December 8, in Brooklyn for live demos from OpenRouter, Promptfoo, Slingshot AI, Waymo, and Descope. Register here.
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You can bet on it (literally): NYC is poised to get three casinos. 🎲 The state’s Gaming Facility Location Board recommended licenses for the three final proposals in Queens and the Bronx, scoring bids on economic activity, investment, job creation, and financing strength. (The Real Deal)
The Gaming Commission is expected to finalize approvals and issue licenses in December for Metropolitan Park near Citi Field, Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point, and Resorts World at the Queens Aqueduct.
PSA for the parents: Wednesday is the last day to apply to New York City high schools for the 2026-2027 school year! 📚 (PIX 11)
Students will receive offers from high schools starting March.
Any New York City resident in eighth or ninth grade can apply.
More details here.
Get ready for a messy Tuesday commute, New York — snowflakes, soaked shoes, and puddle dodgers incoming. ☔ (Bloomberg)
A coastal storm could bring early-morning flakes with up to 1.5 inches of rain later on.
Forecasters say the worst weather will stay inland — but NYC will get the slush without the scenic snowfall.
➕ One more thing: Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani should collaborate with the tech sector to help address affordability, safety and security, and access to vital city services, argues H/L Ventures’ Oliver Libby — a Tech:NYC Board Member and author of the framework inspiring Rep. Hakeem Jeffries — in the New York Daily News. Read his full op-ed here.
In other reading:
You can write your 2026 wishes on confetti that will flutter down over Times Square this New Year’s Eve (Secret NYC)
Six standout latkes to seek out in NYC this Hanukkah (Food & Wine)
MTA rolls out ‘holiday lights trains’ across LIRR and Metro-North (Brooklyn Eagle)
AI 🤝 Black Friday
Black Friday was big and algorithmically supercharged.
AI tools, mobile shoppers, and high-intent traffic rewired how people browsed and bought, sending online spending to new records. Let’s take a look. 🛍️
A record-smashing Black Friday: U.S. shoppers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, up 9.1% from last year as consumers relied on AI tools to find deals and skip crowds. 🤖
AI-referred traffic skyrocketed: There was an 805% year-over-year increase in AI-driven traffic.
Conversions followed: Those AI-driven shoppers converted 38% more often than those arriving via traditional search or social platforms.
🌍 Zoom out: AI and agents influenced $14.2 billion globally, including $3 billion in the U.S., as conversational assistants pushed shoppers directly to high-intent items.
Shopify merchants also played a big role, hitting $6.2 billion in sales (up 25% from last year), with peak processing at $5.1 million per minute.
$12.5 million per minute flowed through online shopping carts nationwide between 10am and 2pm local time. That’s a lot of Nintendo Switch 2s.
The average cart totaled $117.93.
Mobile shopping ruled the day:
More than 53% of all purchases this year happened on smartphones.
“Buy now, pay later” orders reached $747.5 million, with over 80% placed on mobile.
🗽 New York angle: NYC is where a lot of this Black Friday AI actually gets built. The city is home to more than 2,000 AI startups, 35 AI unicorns, and over 40,000 AI-ready workers.
On average, Black Friday alone usually injects a $500 million economic boost into the city’s economy.
Last year, 1 million visitors hit Bryant Park, Times Square, and SoHo for in-person shopping.
In other reading:
Why your company needs a Chief Data, Analytics, and AI Officer (HBR)
Corporations say they prioritize people. So why do so few chief people officers become CEOs? (Fast Company)
AI adoption among workers is slow and uneven. Bosses can speed it up (Wall Street Journal)
December 3: Why Every Startup is Now an AI Startup, and What that Really Means, an intimate in-person breakfast with a savvy group of founders, VCs, and AI engineers for a chat about what it really means to build in the age of AI. Register here.
December 3: Using AI to Go From Prototype to Production, for builders with working prototypes that are ready to become reliable, scalable products, using case studies, demos, and a framework for getting real traffic, real data, and real users. Register here.
December 3: Claude Code Anonymous NYC, a series of lightning talks from hackers using LLMs for daily coding. Register here.
December 3: A live pilot taping of “Right To Invest” — the reverse-pitch show where investors compete for the founder’s “yes.” Register here.
December 4: The SEEN Summit, the ultimate gathering for NYC-based founders, investors, and advocates of diverse-led teams, designed to foster networking, collaboration, and growth. Register here.
December 7 & 11: Cornell Tech’s Open Houses for its Summer Innovation Intensives, offering pre-college students an immersive experience in artificial intelligence, ethics, and entrepreneurship. Register for the Open Houses here.
December 8: NYC AI Demos, the largest recurring AI demo series in New York, hosted by Tech:NYC, Pensar, and The Refinery at Domino. The series spotlights how AI is being built, applied, and adapted to serve both the NYC tech community and the city at large, and this month features demos from OpenRouter, Promptfoo, Slingshot AI, Waymo, Pensar, and Descope. Register here.
December 8: All Tech Is Human's Responsible Tech Mixer, where ATIH community members will come together to reflect on the year's achievements and celebrate what's ahead. Register here.
December 8: Full-Stack Founder — Build, Automate, Ship, a one-day NYC hackathon built for founders and builders who want to turn ideas into real products, workflows, and systems that work. Register here.
December 9: Tech Ladies NYC Meetup, a night of thoughtful connections and inspirational programming with other women in tech. Register here.
December 9-10: 2025 NYC Employment and Training Coalition Conference, bringing together the city’s premier policymakers, practitioners, and leaders, including Tech:NYC’s Julie Samuels, to focus on career pathways, emerging industries, and the vital link between workforce and economic development. Register here.
December 10: AI Security Fireside Dinner, designed specifically for executive-level peers who are leading technical, security, or AI strategy in their organizations. Register here.
December 10-11: The AI Summit New York, a platform for enterprise leaders and tech innovators to explore and apply commercial AI, featuring Flybidge’s Jesse Middleton, NYCEDC’s Jonathan Schulhof, and Tech:NYC’s Julie Samuels discussing NYC’s startup ecosystem. Register here.
December 10: The AI Summit NY Healthcare Happy Hour, a mixer for healthcare and pharma professionals after day one of the AI Summit in New York. Register here.
December 11: The Future of Applied AI in Finance and Banking, an annual one-day, invite-only conference blending elements of TEDx, Foo Camp, and Summit to bring senior managers, C-suite executives, and top AI/ML researchers together for curated sessions on applying the latest technology to problems in finance, banking, and insurance. Register here.
December 16: Newlab’s “Do Less” Maker’s Fair, a celebration of creativity and community featuring around 50 makers, artists, and companies showcasing crafts, products, and projects that reflect the spirit of innovation and creation. Register here.
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