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Practical AI for Business and Life.
Newsletter: AI news for everyone, every Wednesday.
AI This Month: AI trends, numbers & shifts explained.
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AI This Month: September 2026 is out.
What changed in AI, what it means for you, 3 things to do today, what got cheaper or free and weekend projects and actions.
One big change: AI agents now keep working after you close the app.
digitalsteplab.com/monthly/2026...
AI This Month Review | September 2026
A monthly recap of the biggest AI shifts, tools, and takeaways: September 2026.
digitalsteplab.com
Use AI of your choice with the app you use most.
In September, the main AI assistants got better at working with other apps. Pick your most-used accounting, customer or other app and ask a question you usually answer there.
More in September AI This Month: digitalsteplab.com/monthly/2026...
AI This Month Review | September 2026
A monthly recap of the biggest AI shifts, tools, and takeaways: September 2026.
digitalsteplab.com
October 5, 2026 at 9:08 PM
AI This Month: September 2026 is out.
What changed in AI, what it means for you, 3 things to do today, what got cheaper or free and weekend projects and actions.
One big change: AI agents now keep working after you close the app.
digitalsteplab.com/monthly/2026...
AI This Month Review | September 2026
A monthly recap of the biggest AI shifts, tools, and takeaways: September 2026.
digitalsteplab.com
October 3, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Want to research a market without hiring a research company?
Perplexity shared an 8-step AI playbook. Here it is in 3 simple steps (see the comments).
Check the article and our overview in the newsletter's Frameworks and Guides. www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/ai-...
AI for market research: a step-by-step guide
Practical guide to using AI for market research: example prompts and a step-by-step process for every stage.
www.perplexity.ai
October 3, 2026 at 4:26 PM
One from this week's Use Cases: a small startup called Proaction uses Codex to build their own sales demos, no engineers needed. Their non-technical co-founder builds 4-6 demos a month, saving 40-60 engineering hours. Deal conversion jumped 50-60%. openai.com/index/proact...
Proaction boosts sales 60% and saves 75+ hours with Codex
With Codex, GPT-Live-1, and GPT-6 Astra, Proaction builds, operates, and sells modern fleet management faster.
openai.com
October 2, 2026 at 4:12 PM
OpenAI upgraded GPT-6 Sol to GPT-6.1 Sol, nearly matching top GPT-6 Astra on coding and professional work, at a fifth of the price. Available today in ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the API, for Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise users. Not yet in regular Chat. openai.com/index/introd...
Introducing GPT-6.1 Sol
Meet GPT-6.1 Sol: near-Astra intelligence for coding, computer use, and professional work at one-fifth of Astra’s standard API input and output token prices.
openai.com
September 30, 2026 at 5:24 PM
New newsletter is out. This week, AI stopped waiting for you to ask.
OpenAI launched "dots," agents that work on their own in the background. Gemini and Grok added live, talking avatars. Claude Sonnet 5.5 got faster, cheaper. AI is quietly becoming always on. digitalsteplab.com/newsletter/2...
Always-on AI agents reshape your day. | AI Newsletter, 30 September 2026
This week: The dominant pattern is the emergence of more autonomous and integrated AI agents and models, designed to be 'always-on' and deeply embedded in user...
digitalsteplab.com
September 30, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Meta launched Muse for Small Business, connecting to tools you likely use: Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe, Canva, Notion, Slack, Instagram, Facebook. Give it a goal, like "build a growth plan from sales," and it works across those tools. Free for basic use. about.fb.com/news/2026/09...
The Future Is for Everyone: Muse for Small Business
We’re launching Muse for Small Business, a personal AI agent that works in the background to help your small business reach its goals.
about.fb.com
September 29, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Anthropic released Claude Sonnet 5.5, faster and cheaper than Sonnet 5. Up to 30% less per task and over 30% faster, same price as before. A clear improvement for coding and everyday work. Live now everywhere Claude is available. www.anthropic.com/claude-sonne...
Introducing Claude Sonnet 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is a clear upgrade over Claude Sonnet 5, runs 30%+ faster, and costs up to 30% less for most work.
www.anthropic.com
September 29, 2026 at 4:13 PM
One from this week's AI & Society, worth a weekend read: Microsoft's report on AI use worldwide. 18.8% of working-age people used AI in June, UAE and Singapore lead. But the real story: the gap in AI use between regions is just widening, not shrinking. blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issue...
The continued state of global AI diffusion in 2026
Microsoft released its latest Global AI Diffusion Report, highlighting continued growth in AI adoption worldwide, regional differences in usage, and the expanding role of open-weight AI models.
blogs.microsoft.com
September 27, 2026 at 3:09 PM
One pick from this week's AI in Practice: Perplexity published a useful guide, 10 common work tasks AI can help with, each with an exact prompt to try. Plus safety tips: check your approved tools, use your work login and turn off AI data-training settings. www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/ai-...
AI in the Workplace: A Practical Guide for Knowledge Workers
Learn how to use AI in the workplace for 10 recurring tasks, with ready-to-use prompts, safety tips, and a simple pilot.
www.perplexity.ai
September 25, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Google shared a practical prompt guide for using Gemini at work, with ready-to-copy prompts for project managers, sales, marketing, HR and executives. Works with other AI tools too, not just Gemini. workspace.google.com/learning/rep...
Gemini at work: a practical guide
How-to guide for using Gemini at work with
workspace.google.com
September 25, 2026 at 3:44 PM
One from this week's newsletter AI Business section: Microsoft shared lessons from its own AI use. A 20% jump in sales close rates, supply chain times cut up to 75%, and a 9-person team shipped a product in 35 days using AI. blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/09...
What we’ve learned from Microsoft's own AI transformation - The Official Microsoft Blog
AI is reshaping work faster than any organization has fully mastered. Across industries, the conversation has shifted from what AI can do to how companies can use AI to create business value and expan...
blogs.microsoft.com
September 24, 2026 at 4:33 PM
This week's newsletter: AI models keep getting cheaper without losing power. Claude Opus 5.5 and GPT-6 Sol and Luna cut prices while beating old versions. Grok 4.7 improved at same price. Xiaomi's MiMo-V2.6-Pro is now the top open model. More news inside. digitalsteplab.com/newsletter/2...
New AI models: smarter, cheaper, faster. | AI Newsletter, 23 September 2026
This week: new AI models are becoming more capable, more accessible and often cheaper.
digitalsteplab.com
September 23, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Two audio AI models released today.
Qwen launched a full audio lineup (speech-to-text, text-to-speech, real-time voice), price cuts up to 95%.
Google launched two new voice models, custom voices in 100+ languages, natural pauses built in. docs.modelstudio.console.alibabacloud.com/en/model-stu...
qwen-audio-3.1-tts-next - Alibaba Cloud Model Studio
Qwen-Audio-3.1-TTS-Next is an AudioGen model designed for unified audio generation. Going beyond conventional TTS systems that focus solely on speech synthesis, it can generate complete audio content in a single pass from inputs such as text, timestamps, and reference audio, seamlessly combining speech, sound effects, ambient sounds, and more. The model supports a wide range of tasks, including multilingual TTS, single-speaker speech, multi-speaker dialogue, podcasts, cinematic soundscapes, ambient audio, and sound effects. Its key strengths include more natural and expressive speech, consistent voice identity, flexible timing control, and high-quality soundscape generation. These capabilities make it well suited for content creation, short-form video, podcasts, film and television production, game audio, and other professional audio creation scenarios.
docs.modelstudio.console.alibabacloud.com
September 23, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Moonshot AI relaunched Kimi's browser extension for Chrome and Edge.
It can chat, open pages, click, fill forms and pull info for you right in your sidebar. Record repeat tasks to reuse later. Runs locally, so your logins and data stay on your device. www.kimi.ai/products/kim...
Kimi Browser Extension - Let Kimi Agent Drive Your Browser | Kimi
Install Kimi Browser Extension, formerly Kimi WebBridge, and let the desktop Agent take over browsing tasks: trending research, job hunting, flight comparison and more.
www.kimi.ai
September 22, 2026 at 7:21 PM
OpenAI released GPT-6 Sol and Luna, cheaper, faster versions of GPT-6 Astra.
API prices dropped 50%. Sol is for coding and complex tasks; Luna is the cheap, light option. Rolling out now in ChatGPT, Codex & the API. Luna is free for Free and Go users too. openai.com/index/introd...
Introducing GPT-6 Sol and Luna
Meet GPT-6 Sol and Luna, two models that bring frontier intelligence to everyday work with different balances of capability and cost.
openai.com
September 22, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Anthropic released Claude Opus 5.5, its new top model for coding, agentic and knowledge work.
It performs close to Fable 5.1 but costs 40% less than Opus 5, and runs faster too. Live now everywhere Claude is available. www.anthropic.com/claude-opus-...
Introducing Claude Opus 5.5
Claude Opus 5.5 leads in agentic coding and knowledge work, and costs 40% less to run than Opus 5 on typical workloads.
www.anthropic.com
September 22, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Google shared small business examples using Gemini in Workspace: fixing shipping surprises with data, drafting customer emails, turning transcripts into insights. Good ideas even with a different AI, just more manual without the built-in integration. workspace.google.com/blog/custome...
Top tips from founders on how to use AI to help grow your business | Google Workspace Blog
Get tips from the founders of seven small businesses that have gained customers and streamlined operations using Google Workspace with Gemini.
workspace.google.com
September 22, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Grok 4.7 is here, built for coding and hard knowledge work. It works longer on tough tasks and checks its own work more than Grok 4.6. Same price as before: $2 per million input, $6 per million output. Live now in Cursor, Grok Build, and the Grok API. x.ai/news/grok-4-7
Introducing Grok 4.7
SpaceXAI's most powerful model for coding and knowledge work. Twice as fast, at half the price of comparable models.
x.ai
September 21, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Interesting data: 90% of companies use AI, but only 6% see real results. What the 6% do differently? Fewer AI tasks, not more, and only ones that need real business context, not generic jobs like writing emails. AI with bad data is worse than no AI at all. www.forbes.com/sites/johnko...
Only 6% Of Companies Get Value From AI. Here’s What They Do Differently
Companies that get value from AI are using fewer and less popular strategies, says a new survey results from Hubspot.
www.forbes.com
September 21, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Qwen released two new open models.
LiveTranslate does real-time speech translation across 60 languages, telling speakers apart in group conversations.
Qwen-Image-2.1 generates and edits images, including transparent backgrounds and products.
qwen.ai/blog?id=qwen...
qwen.ai/blog?id=qwen...
Qwen
Qwen offers comprehensive functionality spanning chatbot, image and video understanding, image generation, document processing, web search integration, tool utilization, and artifacts.
qwen.ai
September 20, 2026 at 4:43 PM
If you work in life sciences: Anthropic opened a program giving researchers access to its AI models, including Mythos for the first time, with extra safety checks for biology work. Open now for labs, startups and pharma teams. Individual access comes later. www.anthropic.com/news/life-sc...
Introducing the Life Sciences Verification Program
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
September 18, 2026 at 4:20 PM
There are 5 articles in our AI & Society section this week, on how AI is changing how we live, work and think. One: Google published new data from its AI & Economy ATLAS, an interactive, open-access tool showing how people are actually using AI worldwide. blog.google/innovation-a...
New insights from Google’s AI & Economy ATLAS
We’ve translated ATLAS’s millions of global data points into an interactive, open-access experience.
blog.google
September 18, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Qwen released a new model, Qwen3.8-Omni-Flash. It can watch and listen to a video at the same time, then act on it, useful for editing clips, translating videos, or turning a long video into a short summary. Free to try now at Qwen chat as well. qwen.ai/blog?id=qwen...
Qwen Studio
Qwen Studio offers comprehensive functionality spanning chatbot, image and video understanding, image generation, document processing, web search integration, tool utilization, and artifacts.
qwen.ai
September 18, 2026 at 3:48 PM
One of the editor's picks this week: Claude for Small Business added 43 workflows and integrations with Shopify, Xero and more. Real results: a baby retailer made an extra $60k in sales in 4 days. A coffee chain running 6 cafes raised margins to 22%. claude.com/blog/claude-...
Claude for Small Business launches new workflows, integrations, and training programs | Claude by Anthropic
We’re releasing new Claude for Small Business workflows and integrations to help owners run and grow their business, and kicking off the next leg of our Claude SMB Tour.
claude.com
September 17, 2026 at 2:56 PM