In short
- Google's AI news from late October and early November 2026 is one new frontier model you cannot use yet, plus a run of smaller features in the Gemini app, Slides and Sheets that your team will notice straight away.
- What matters most for businesses: Gemini 2.5 retires in the Gemini API on 1 December, and since 26 October new paid API projects store requests by default.
- If you manage Workspace, check which new features are switched on by default. If an integration runs on Gemini 2.5, test the replacement before 1 December.
Over these weeks Google mostly brought features to the places where people already work: creating files in the Gemini app, editing whole presentations in Slides and showing sources per cell in Sheets. Google also announced a new frontier model, Gemini 4 Carbon, which for now only goes to security specialists. For organisations with their own integrations, the least eye-catching news matters most: Gemini 2.5 is retiring in the Gemini API.
Below, for each development: what happened, who it matters to and where to read more. This is the first edition, published on 5 November, covering news from 23 October to 5 November. We update this overview every week. Google's October news is in Google AI news October 2026, and news from other providers is in AI news November 2026.
1. Gemini 4 Carbon: the strongest model, not for you yet
On 28 October Google announced Gemini 4 Carbon: "our strongest model with state-of-the-art cybersecurity and long horizon capabilities". It goes first to a subset of the security specialists Google works with, then to more trusted partners through the Fairwind programme. Developers, businesses and consumers will follow "as soon as possible", with no date. In the API it costs 2 dollars per million input tokens and 10 dollars per million output tokens during the introductory period, then 4 and 20 dollars (Google).
You cannot use Carbon in the Gemini app, Workspace or Gemini Enterprise yet, and Google says nothing about Europe. The comparisons with other models come from Google itself. For now it is mainly a signal: the newest models go to security work first and reach everyday office work later.
2. Create and edit files in the Gemini app
Since 29 October you can create, preview and edit files directly in a Gemini app conversation: documents, spreadsheets, slide decks, PDFs, Markdown, text files and code. You edit them yourself in full screen or ask Gemini to change them. PDFs work on web and mobile, other formats on web only. It is available to all Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers and personal accounts, in every language the Gemini app supports, Dutch included. There is no separate admin setting; you control it only through the Gemini app itself (Google Workspace Updates).
This is the news your team will notice first. A deck or spreadsheet from a chat looks finished, but you still need to check the numbers and assumptions. Agree that a file from Gemini gets the same review as any other work before it reaches a client, and that files are saved to Drive rather than left in a chat.
3. Slides: change a whole presentation with one prompt
Since 29 October, Gemini in Google Slides can change several slides or an entire deck at once. You can match the style to a reference file, expand a deck with files from Drive or merge slides. The changes stay fully editable, and undo and version history work as usual. It is available in Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus and Google AI Pro and Ultra; Business Starter is not listed. For now it works in English only (Google Workspace Updates).
If your team works in another language, there is little in it for you yet. If you make English decks for international clients, it saves time when bringing slides into line with your house style.
4. Sheets: sources per cell in Fill with Gemini
Fill with Gemini, the feature that fills cells in Google Sheets using AI, has shown since 28 October which web sources Gemini used for each cell. You can fill up to 3,000 cells in a single request. It is on by default for anyone already using Gemini in Sheets, in Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus and Google AI Pro and Ultra (Google Workspace Updates).
That finally makes AI-generated data in a spreadsheet checkable, for instance when you enrich a list of companies with their sector or website. Still spot-check whether the source actually says what the cell says. A source next to a value does not guarantee the value is right.
5. Gemini Notebook in the Gemini app, off by default in Europe
Gemini Notebook, the new name for NotebookLM, has worked as a connected app inside the Gemini app since 23 October. With "@Gemini Notebook" you create notebooks, add sources or ask questions about a notebook without switching apps. For admins, access is on by default. For users the connection is on by default worldwide, "except in the European Economic Area, where it will be OFF by default". In Europe, users switch it on themselves under Settings › Connected Apps (Google Workspace Updates).
If you keep notebooks with internal documents, think about whether you want Gemini to reach them in every conversation. Switching it on gives the Gemini app access to the contents of your notebooks.
6. Gemini 2.5 retires in the Gemini API on 1 December
On 2 November Google announced that from 1 December, requests to gemini-2.5-pro and gemini-2.5-flash in the Gemini API will automatically go to newer models: 2.5 Pro to Gemini 3.8 Flash and 2.5 Flash to Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, at those models' prices. The switch comes with changes that can break existing code, including in function calling and the thinking settings. Since 26 October, new paid projects using the Generate Content API also store requests by default; existing projects keep their setting (Google AI Studio). In Vertex AI, Google Cloud's AI platform, the retirement date for these models already passed on 20 October (Google Cloud).
This is the only item in this overview with a hard deadline for businesses. If a chatbot, automation or piece of software runs on Gemini 2.5, find out which ones now, test the replacement and check the storage setting of new projects. How to go about it is in Gemini 2.5 retires on 1 December: what should you do?
7. Claude on Google Cloud: choose who the processor is
Since 23 October you can have Anthropic run its Claude models on Google Cloud itself, alongside the existing route managed by Google. Pricing and billing are the same, and usage counts towards your Google Cloud commitments. On the Google route, Google is the data processor and you can choose processing in the EU. On the Anthropic route, Anthropic is the processor, under Anthropic's terms (Google Cloud).
Under GDPR that matters: the processor determines which data processing agreement applies and where data is handled. Have someone from IT or privacy make that choice deliberately before a team switches on either route. An overview of Anthropic's models is in What is Claude?
8. Ads in AI Mode: new countries, not the Netherlands yet
On 28 October Google brought ads in AI Mode, the AI search feature in Google Search, to ten more countries, including Australia, Canada, India and Singapore. Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom follow in the fourth quarter. In the US, ads now also appear in follow-up questions (Google).
No EU country is on the list, so in markets such as the Netherlands there are no ads in AI Mode for now. Organic visibility in AI answers still counts without competition from paid placements. How to earn that visibility is covered in What is GEO?
9. Gems and skills: no new date
There is no news on the move from Gems to skills. The rollout of skills in Workspace is still delayed, with no new date. According to Google Workspace Updates, Gems move to the settings panel of the Gemini app in November. For Workspace Business and Enterprise accounts they will not disappear before 1 March 2027, and admins get at least 30 days' notice of the automatic migration (Google Workspace Updates).
If you did not list your team's Gems in October, do it now. What to set up is in Gemini Gems are becoming skills: what do you need to do?
What should you do with it?
| Development | Who it affects | What to do now |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini 4 Carbon | Nobody yet: limited access | Keep an eye on it |
| Files in the Gemini app | Everyone using Gemini | Agree review and saving to Drive |
| Whole decks in Slides | Teams working in English | Test on an existing deck |
| Sources per cell in Sheets | Anyone enriching lists | Spot-check the sources |
| Gemini Notebook in Gemini | Anyone with internal notebooks | Switch on deliberately, not by default |
| Gemini 2.5 retiring in the API | IT, integration owners | Switch and test before 1 December |
| Claude on Google Cloud | IT, privacy | Choose the processor deliberately |
| Ads in AI Mode | Marketing | Nothing yet in the EU, keep building organically |
| Gems and skills | Everyone using Gems | List your Gems and assign an owner |
When can you ignore this?
If your organisation does not use Google Workspace, Gemini or Google Cloud, this news barely affects you. If you only use the Gemini app for writing, the main change is that you can now create files with it. Only those who run software or automations on the Gemini API, or have them run for them, face a deadline: 1 December. If you mainly use Microsoft 365 or ChatGPT, read AI news November 2026.
Sources
- Google, Gemini 4 Carbon: Our next frontier model, 28 October 2026
- Google Workspace Updates, Create, preview, and edit files directly in the Gemini app, 29 October 2026
- Google Workspace Updates, Edit entire presentations with Gemini in Google Slides, 30 October 2026
- Google Workspace Updates, Fill with Gemini now provides cell-level citations for web sources and supports larger requests, 28 October 2026
- Google Workspace Updates, Take actions on your notebooks from Gemini Notebook directly in the Gemini app, 23 October 2026
- Google AI Studio, Changelog, accessed 5 November 2026
- Google Cloud, Model versions and lifecycle, accessed 5 November 2026
- Google Cloud, Expanding Claude availability on Google Cloud, 23 October 2026
- Google, Ads in AI Mode expand to new markets, 28 October 2026
- Google Workspace Updates, Introducing skills in the Gemini app and Workspace, plus what's next for Gems, updated 13 October 2026
