Today's news

• Google says the Gemini agent runs in the cloud and keeps one set of memories across web, mobile, desktop, command line, Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Slack.
• Google says every agent gets its own cryptographically attested identity with least-privilege permissions, and all agent traffic passes through Agent Gateway, which it calls an AI network firewall.
• Google says a project's AI spend can have a hard limit, and the project's agent pauses when the cap is triggered; Financial Services and Legal versions are in preview.

Thomas Kurian, chief executive of Google Cloud, introduced the Gemini agent in a post dated 8 October 2026. Google describes it as a single agent that runs in the cloud and keeps one set of memory and context across web, mobile, desktop, command line, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Slack. It can create temporary sub-agents for a job, and persistent coworker agents that get their own Workspace account with an email address. Google says it runs each job on the model that fits best, across its Gemini family and Anthropic's Claude models. Every agent gets its own cryptographically attested identity with least-privilege permissions, and all agent traffic passes through Agent Gateway, which Google calls an AI network firewall that enforces an organisation's policies. A project owner can set a hard limit on a project's AI spend in the Cloud Billing Console, and the project's agent pauses when the cap is triggered. Gemini for Financial Services and Legal is in preview; Government, Healthcare and Retail are listed as coming soon.

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• Anthropic published the 2026 Usage Policy update on 8 October and says it takes effect on 12 November; it says most changes clarify existing rules.
• From 12 November a new section covers deceptive campaigns or artificial activity of any kind, and Anthropic drops its blanket ban on personalized vote and campaign targeting.
• From 12 November, Claude connected to hardware that takes autonomous physical actions needs a qualified operator who can stop it, and equipment that holds a safe state if disconnected.

Anthropic published the 2026 version of its Usage Policy on 8 October, and it takes effect on 12 November 2026. A new section, Do Not Engage in Deceptive Campaigns or Artificial Activity, consolidates rules on fake accounts, fabricated news sites and influence operations, whether political or commercial. The elections section is renamed Do Not Undermine Democratic Processes, and Anthropic removed its blanket ban on personalized vote and campaign targeting. The weapons section now covers the software and components that make weapons work, and Claude cannot be used to decide or recommend who to investigate, arrest or charge. For Claude connected to hardware that takes autonomous physical actions, a qualified operator must be able to observe the equipment and stop it, and the equipment must hold a safe state if Claude is disconnected. Anthropic also added a prohibition on sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior toward its models, which it says applies only in extreme cases.

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• Anthropic says the Cyber Mission starts with two areas: critical infrastructure and open-source software.
• The Critical Infrastructure Defense Program's founding partners include Accenture, CrowdStrike, Deloitte, Dragos and Palo Alto Networks, and it brings Claude models and on-site engineers to providers.
• OSS Scanner is opt-in and free; Anthropic says its reports are model-generated and sent without human review, and that it expects a true-positive rate above 90%.

Anthropic announced the Anthropic Cyber Mission on 8 October 2026, starting with two areas: critical infrastructure and open-source software. The Critical Infrastructure Defense Program gives providers that secure operational technology frontier Claude models, on-site engineers and threat research. Its eleven founding partners are Accenture, Booz Allen, CrowdStrike, Deloitte, Dragos, Hitachi, Insane Cyber, Nozomi Networks, Palo Alto Networks, PwC and Rockwell Automation. OSS Scanner is an opt-in service that gives enrolled open-source projects periodic scans from Anthropic's most capable models, free of charge. Each report carries a proof of concept, an explanation and a suggested fix where one is available. The reports are model-generated and sent without human review, and Anthropic says it expects a true-positive rate above 90%. Anthropic also says it merged Project Glasswing into its expanded Cyber Verification Program earlier in the week.

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