Get tomorrow's brief in your inbox
Today: Google and Samsung shipped Gemini task automation that can order your Uber and DoorDash with zero clicks. Anthropic acquired Vercept for computer-use agents. Adobe launched Quick Cut to turn raw footage into structured edits in seconds.
Google and Samsung launched task automation for Gemini on the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 series, letting the AI assistant book rides, order food, and build grocery carts without your direct involvement. You give Gemini a command like "Order an Uber home" or "Reorder my last meal," and it opens the app in a virtual window on your device, clicking through each step while you watch (or ignore it and do something else). You stay in control with live progress notifications and can stop the task anytime.
This is a beta feature starting in the US and Korea, limited to select apps in food, grocery, and rideshare categories. Developers can expose actions using MCP or Android's app functions framework, but where neither exists, Gemini reasons its way through the UI on its own. The update also brings multi-object Circle to Search (identify every item in an outfit, not just one piece) and scam detection in the Samsung Phone app using on-device Gemini models.
For small businesses, this is a preview of where mobile AI is heading. If you run a service app or e-commerce platform, consider how you'll surface actions to AI assistants. Users will expect to delegate tasks to their AI, and if your app doesn't play nicely with that workflow, you'll lose to competitors who do. TechCrunch | The Verge | Google Blog
Adobe Firefly Quick Cut - Adobe upgraded Firefly with Quick Cut, which takes raw footage and generates a structured first edit based on your description. Upload footage, tell it "interview," "product demo," or "travel vlog," and it assembles a narrative-first draft. You can adjust aspect ratio and pacing preferences. This eliminates the blank timeline problem for creators who spend hours deciding where to start. Unlimited image and video generations up to 2K resolution for signups before March 16. If you create video content for marketing, product demos, or social media, this tool cuts editing time by 50 percent or more. Small Business Trends
Atlassian Agents in Jira (Beta) - Jira now lets you assign tasks to AI agents the same way you assign them to human teammates. You can track progress, set deadlines, and loop agents into existing projects mid-stream. This gives you visibility into what your agents are doing alongside your human employees, all from one dashboard. Atlassian's bet is that managing humans and AI from the same interface reduces chaos instead of adding it. If you use Jira and are experimenting with AI agents, this is worth testing. TechCrunch
Threads "Dear Algo" - Meta launched Dear Algo, an AI tool that lets you customize your Threads feed by posting "Dear Algo" followed by your content preferences (e.g., "Dear Algo, show me more posts about local food trends"). The adjustments last three days and work in real time. Available in the US, New Zealand, Australia, and UK. For small businesses, this is a way to align your content with what your audience is actively requesting. Monitor trending topics during events or holidays and create content that matches those real-time interests. Small Business Trends
Claude Code Remote Control - Claude Code now supports remote control sessions where you can send prompts from the web, iOS, or desktop app to a Claude Code session running on your machine. It's janky (API 500 errors, no --dangerously-skip-permissions support yet), but it's a step toward controlling your dev environment from anywhere. Anthropic also announced scheduled tasks in Cowork (Claude Code's sibling), though they only run while your computer is awake and the app is open. If you're doing repetitive dev work across machines, keep an eye on this. Simon Willison
Gushwork: AI Search SEO - Gushwork, a startup helping businesses surface in AI-driven search (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity), raised $9 million and is running at $1.5 million ARR after three months. The platform uses AI agents to generate search-optimized content, build backlinks (10-20 per customer via 200-300 partner sites), and track inbound leads. Gushwork's data shows 20 percent of customer website traffic now comes from AI search platforms, but those sources account for 40 percent of inbound leads (higher intent). Subscriptions start at $800/month. If you rely on search for leads, this is the category to watch. Traditional SEO is being disrupted by AI-generated overviews, and tools like Gushwork are building the bridge. TechCrunch
HubSpot for Startups + AWS - HubSpot expanded its AWS partnership with a 90 percent discount for Series A companies in their first year (up from 50 percent). The program includes access to HubSpot's marketing, sales, and customer service tools, plus AI-powered app development via Amazon Bedrock. Over 35,000 startups use HubSpot for Startups, and offerings are now available through AWS Marketplace. If you're an early-stage startup or building on AWS, this is a major cost reduction on essential infrastructure. Small Business Trends
Anthropic Acquires Vercept - Anthropic acquired Vercept, a Seattle-based startup building computer-use agents like Vy (a cloud agent that operates a remote MacBook). Vercept raised $50 million and had high-profile backers (Eric Schmidt, Jeff Dean, Kyle Vogt). The acquisition follows Anthropic's December pickup of coding agent Bun, signaling they're doubling down on agentic workflows. Vercept's product shuts down March 25. For businesses experimenting with AI agents, this consolidation means fewer independent options and more focus on big-lab ecosystems (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google). TechCrunch
Google API Key Privilege Escalation - If you created a Google Maps API key before Gemini existed and later enabled Gemini billing on the same project, your public API key (embedded in websites) can now access private Gemini endpoints and rack up charges. Truffle Security found 2,863 affected keys in the November 2025 Common Crawl, including several from Google itself. Google is revoking affected keys, but check yours. This is a cautionary tale about API key scope creep. Simon Willison
Thrive Capital Invests $1B in OpenAI - Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital invested roughly $1 billion in OpenAI at a $285 billion valuation in December (separate from the current $100B+ round at $800B valuation). Thrive is likely to participate in the current round. Thrive closed a $10 billion fund earlier this month. Sam Altman praised Kushner as the most committed, thoughtful investor he could ask for. This deal underscores the concentration of AI capital among a handful of well-connected VCs. CNBC
Salesforce vs. "SaaSpocalypse" - Salesforce reported $10.7 billion in Q4 revenue (up 13 percent YoY) and $41.5 billion annual revenue (up 10 percent), but SaaS stocks are getting hammered as investors fear AI agents will make per-seat licensing obsolete. CEO Marc Benioff addressed the "SaaSpocalypse" (he said the word six times on the earnings call), arguing that agents make SaaS better, not irrelevant. Salesforce introduced "agentic work units" (AWU) to measure completed tasks instead of tokens. They also launched a $50 billion share buyback and increased their dividend by 6 percent. For SaaS businesses, this is a warning: usage-based pricing and outcome metrics are becoming the new standard. TechCrunch
Google Folds Intrinsic into Core - Alphabet moved Intrinsic, a robotics software company from its "Other Bets" division, into Google itself. Intrinsic's Flowstate platform lets users build robotic applications without writing thousands of lines of code. The move signals Google is prioritizing physical AI and manufacturing automation to compete with Amazon and Tesla. Intrinsic partnered with Foxconn in November to deploy AI robots in US electronics assembly. If you're in manufacturing or logistics, watch this space. Robotics is getting cheaper and easier to program. CNBC
Meta Safety Director Lost Control of Her AI Agent - A Meta Superintelligence Safety Director used OpenClaw and it deleted her emails. The irony was not lost on social media. The lesson: AI agents with broad permissions can go wrong fast. Start with narrow scopes and watch them closely. If you're deploying agents for your business, test thoroughly in sandboxed environments before giving them access to production systems or customer data. Inc.com
Free Stock Photos + AI Images - Zapier published an updated list of the best free stock photo sites in 2026: Unsplash, Pixabay, Pexels, Burst, 123RF, and rawpixel. AI image generators like Midjourney are useful, but stock photos are still faster for most small business needs (no prompt engineering, consistent quality, no copyright ambiguity). If you need visuals for your website or marketing, start with stock sites and use AI only when you need something highly specific. Zapier
This week's theme is automation scaling beyond code. Google and Samsung are making AI assistants that handle multi-step tasks without your involvement. Atlassian is treating agents like teammates. Anthropic is acquiring computer-use startups. The line between "tool" and "coworker" is blurring fast.
For small businesses, the implication is clear: AI agents will become infrastructure, not experiments. If you're not testing how agents can handle repetitive workflows (scheduling, data entry, customer follow-ups), you're falling behind. Start small, test carefully, and focus on tasks where mistakes are cheap to fix.
Watch for more acquisitions in the agent space and more platform updates from Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI as they compete to own the agentic layer.