NEWS/31 OCT

AI news for small business, Saturday, 31 October 2026

9 stories worth five minutes. What happened, and what to do about it.

HIGHLIGHT

Ollie, a privacy-focused AI assistant that connected to email and calendars, shuts down on 6 November

If you gave an AI app access to your email and calendar, check what happens to that data when the app closes.

TECHCRUNCH|30 OCT
That is sat 31 oct, all of it.

These are short summaries of other people's reporting, with our own commentary. Each story names its source and links to the original. How we source and credit

0 of 9 read

Questions readers ask

Why is Google changing its search results?
Google is putting AI answers, AI Overviews and AI Mode, on its own results page, and some sites say fewer people now click through to them. The Decoder reported on 30 October that Reddit lost more than one million Google search referrals per week in October, and that its chief executive, Steve Huffman, blamed AI Overviews and AI Mode, saying AI Mode drives no traffic to Reddit and, as far as he knows, to nobody else. That is Reddit's view of its own numbers, and the report does not give Google's reasons. If you run a website, compare the Google visits in your own analytics over the last three months.

Top 3 finds.

EVERY NEW AI TOOL WE PICKED
Gemini app logoTool of the day

Gemini app

Google's AI chat app, which can now write a document, PDF, spreadsheet or slide deck inside the chat and let you type your fixes straight into it.

31 OCT 2026
Visit site
  1. solves
    Chatbot answers you cannot trace, when you need to study from, or check, a specific document.
    for
    Students, and anyone who wants study guides, quizzes or flashcards from their own papers. Google says the free textbooks are for students in the US and India for now.
    VISIT SITE
  2. solves
    An AI agent that takes over your screen while it works, so you cannot use your computer at the same time.
    for
    People who already let an AI work on their computer and want to keep working alongside it. Works on Windows, macOS, Linux and in a web browser, and it is a new project, so test it before you rely on it.
    VISIT SITE
Stay updated with AI

Join our WhatsApp community.

Stay up to date with the AI tools and news that matter for your business, right where you already read your messages.

Join the community