Weekly AI Highlights: October 24-30, 2026
What Small Business Owners Need to Know Right Now
Hey Reader,
Tomorrow is Halloween. I love it. Especially here in Ohio. The leaves are at peak fall color, it’s chilly enough for a hoodie, but not cold, and we’ve had an unusual amount of sunshine.
This is me with my new favorite halloween decoration….
What’s really spooky is that I’ve got EIGHT updates for you in this newsletter; I normally only give you about 4. Sorry about that. I really only include things that I think might be useful to you, and this week eight things seemed important.
ChatGPT got a new model that works on your computer, faster and cheaper. Gemini started editing your files right in the chat. And two AI agents showed up in your texts, one of them in your group chat.
1. ChatGPT’s New Terra Model Can Work on Your Computer Faster and Cheaper
OpenAI released a new model built to do the work, not just talk about it.
It’s called GPT-6.1 Terra. OpenAI says it understands what’s on your screen, takes action across your apps, and writes naturally.
Two things stand out.
It’s fast. OpenAI says it finishes tasks more than 3x faster on average than its Astra and Sol models.
It’s cheaper. Your usage in ChatGPT Work and Codex goes further than with the older Terra model. For developers, the API price dropped 50%.
It’s rolling out now to Plus, Pro, Enterprise, and Edu in ChatGPT Work and Codex. Select GPT-6.1 Terra from the model list.
Source Link: https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-6-1-terra/
MY TAKE
Faster and cheaper is the headline everyone will repeat.
The part I’m watching is buried in OpenAI’s own safety testing. Terra sometimes ignored restrictions or followed instructions it wasn’t supposed to.
Let it do the clicking. Keep your eyes on anything that sends or spends.
2. Gemini Now Generates and Edits Files Right in Your Chat
Google announced that you can now generate, preview, and edit documents, PDFs, presentations, spreadsheets, code, and more without leaving your Gemini chat.
You can expand a file to full screen and type your own edits, highlight a section and tell Gemini what to change, or ask follow-up questions about what’s in it.
The demo worth watching: upload a photo of your handwritten notes and ask for a study guide. Gemini builds a polished PDF, then you highlight any section and have it rework the text or the visuals.
PDF preview and editing works on the web and mobile. Everything else (Google Docs, Sheets, slide decks, Markdown, text files, and code) is web-only for now. It’s live for everyone, in every language where the Gemini app is available. No waitlist.
Source Link: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/edit-files-directly/
MY TAKE
This is the update that turns Gemini from a chatbot into a workspace. The highlight-to-edit part is the thing to try first. It’s the closest we’ve come to pointing at a paragraph and saying “fix this.”
3. You Can Now Text Your ChatGPT Dot
Dots are OpenAI's always-on agents. Think of a dot as a standing assistant that keeps working between your messages, instead of a chat window that waits for you.
Now you can text yours.
Send your dot a task to take off your plate, or something to keep an eye on. Use text, photos, or voice notes. It texts you back with updates when something needs you.
It works through iMessage or RCS. To set it up, tap your dot's profile and select Texting.
Your dot keeps the same context and plugins wherever you reach it. Only you can text it. And OpenAI says it doesn't give your dot access to your other text conversations.
The catch: texting is rolling out to ChatGPT Pro users in the U.S.
Source Link: https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/whats-new/dots-october-28-2026
MY TAKE
Every big AI company now has an agent that comes to you first. OpenAI has Dots. Meta has Muse. Claude has Duet. And of course, there's Instinct.
Unfortunately I don’t have access to Dots yet, but I have been texting with Instinct and Muse agents and I have to say, it’s been the most jaw-dropping experience I’ve had with AI so far.
4. Instinct Now Works in iMessage Group Chats
You can now add Instinct to an iMessage group chat.
Anyone in the thread can ask it for help, including friends and family who don't have an Instinct account. No app to download, no account to create.
The group gets its own Group Instinct, separate from your personal one. Your personal Instinct doesn't hand the group your accounts or your private chats. Anything it shares stays within the permissions you've set.
One catch for now: it's iMessage only. No Android green bubbles or WhatsApp groups yet.
Source Link: https://x.com/instinct/status/2115144785132740669
MY TAKE
I am incredibly excited about this. I just discovered it yesterday and so far I’ve only tried it with Neeca (my very-much-human assistant) and Instinct in a group chat. No really use cases for you yet, but next week I’ll report back on this.
5. Gemini Notebook Now Works Inside Your Gemini Chats
Gemini Notebook (the tool formerly called NotebookLM) is now a Connected App inside Gemini.
Type @Gemini Notebook in a chat and you can:
- Create a new notebook
- Add sources to a notebook
- Save notes
- Ask questions about what's in a notebook you already have
Gemini can also figure out on its own when to pull your notebooks in.
It's live now for personal Google accounts, Workspace Individual, and Workspace business accounts.
You can turn it on or off in Gemini under Settings → Connected Apps.
Source Link: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/10/take-actions-on-your-notebooks-from-Gemini-Notebook-directly-in-the-Gemini-app.html
MY TAKE
I built a whole starter guide on this tool, so this one makes me happy. The annoying part was bouncing between two apps.
That part is gone. Your research lives in one place. Your thinking happens in another. Now they talk to each other.
6. Turn Anything You Build in Gemini Into a Website
You can ask Gemini to build small interactive tools. A calculator. A quiz. A dashboard.
Sharing them used to be clunky.
Now there's an export button. On any interactive app in Gemini, choose Export → Google Sites. Gemini opens a new, private Google Site with your app already on it, fully working.
From there, add more content, hit publish, and share the link.
It's live on web, Android, and iOS for personal Google accounts and Workspace accounts. On a work account, Google Sites has to be turned on for you.
Source Link: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/10/publish-interactive-apps-from-gemini-app-to-Google-Sites.html
MY TAKE
This one is sneaky good for small business owners.
A free lead magnet you build in five minutes, hosted for free, with a link you can drop in your bio.
I'd try this one first.
7. ChatGPT Now Connects to iCloud Mail and Calendar
If you run your business on Apple Mail, ChatGPT finally works with your inbox.
You can now connect iCloud Mail and iCloud Calendar to ChatGPT. Ask it to find an email, catch you up on your inbox, check your schedule, or update an event.
Gmail and Outlook already had this. Now Apple does too.
Source Link: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-release-notes
MY TAKE
I’m a gmail girl, but if you use iCloud Mail, start with read-only asks. "What did I miss this week" is a great first prompt. Let it earn the calendar edits.
8. Gemini Now Uses Your Google Maps Saved Places and Calendar
With your permission, Gemini can now look at your Google Maps searches and saved places, alongside your Google Calendar.
Google's example: ask "What's the best spot for after my meetings today?" Gemini checks where your last meeting is and finds places you've saved nearby.
To turn it on, go to gemini.google.com/personalization-settings. Turn on Personal Intelligence, then connect Google Search services (that covers Maps) and Google Workspace (that covers Calendar).
A few limits. It's for personal Google accounts only, it's still in beta, and it's rolling out gradually. Some regions, including Europe, don't have it.
Source Link: https://9to5google.com/2026/10/22/gemini-personal-intelligence-maps/
MY TAKE
This is Google's AI getting to know you, on purpose. It's useful. It's also a lot of your life in one place. Turn on what you'll actually use. Leave the rest off.
PROMPT OF THE WEEK
Try this: let Claude edit your next reel
Here’s the short version of how I got Claude to edit my reels.
What you need
- A paid Claude plan
- The Claude desktop app on your computer (it needs to work with the video file, so the browser won’t cut it)
- One raw talking video
The steps
- Film one take. Flubs are fine. Messed up a line? Say “cut that out” and keep going.
- Open Claude on your computer. Ask it to set up HyperFrames, a free video editing tool Claude can use.
- Give it your brand. Your colors, your fonts, your logo.
- Drop in your video and paste the prompt below.
- Watch it, then ask for changes. Bigger captions, fewer zooms, whatever you want.
The prompt
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COPY THIS PROMPT
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“Edit this video into a vertical reel for Instagram. Cut the mistakes and long pauses, add captions, and use my brand colors and fonts.”
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That’s the bones of it. If you’re comfortable with AI, this gets you started.
If you want every click and every prompt in order, plus the Master Prompt and the video of me setting it up start to finish, get the full step-by-step in Raw to Reels here.
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Comments
If any of this made you think differently about how you want to work with AI, hit reply and let me know. I read every message. Your questions shape what I cover next.
Happy Halloween,
Founder, Front Row AI Club
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