Essential reading for your AI journey

Google has released Veo 3.1 Lite, its most affordable AI video generation model, available now via the Gemini API and Google AI Studio. Marketing and social media managers at UK SMEs can use it to produce professional video content at significantly lower cost than existing tools or agencies.

Microsoft has rolled out meaningful updates to Microsoft 365 Copilot, including local Excel editing, AI-powered SharePoint site building, and smarter Teams meeting recaps. This article explains what changed and how IT administrators and business managers can act on it this week.

Anthropic's Cowork now lets you assign AI tasks from your phone while Claude works on your desktop. For SMEs already using Claude, this removes one of Cowork's biggest limitations.

AI is not getting more capable slowly. It is accelerating. ChatGPT Business can now draft your emails, create documents, and book meetings. Write actions mark a shift from AI that advises to AI that acts. The businesses that benefit most will not be the ones resisting this. They will be the ones building the fluency to guide, edit, and review AI well. Here is what changed, why the default-off design is the right call, and three steps admins should take this week.

Anthropic has launched the Claude Marketplace in limited preview. Enterprise customers can now use part of their existing Anthropic commitment to buy selected Claude-powered partner tools. Launch partners include GitLab, Harvey, Lovable, Replit, Rogo and Snowflake. Anthropic handles invoicing for partner spend.

OpenAI has introduced Lockdown Mode and “Elevated Risk” labels in ChatGPT to reduce prompt injection risk as AI tools connect to the web and apps. For owners and heads of operations, it is a useful signal of where extra guardrails belong before you scale adoption.