Google AI now has Trip Planning!

Hi everyone,

Google is making travel planning a lot easier with its new AI Mode, aiming for a smoother trip booking experience.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is testing group chats in ChatGPT, giving teams a new way to collaborate with some handy privacy controls.

On the Windows front, Microsoft is responding to criticism over its agentic OS, promising more stability, fewer bugs, and better support for developers and power users.

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Let’s get right into it.

In this issue:

• 🤝 In Partnership: Get your scheduling assistant for free

• 🤿Deep Dive: Google AI Mode enhances travel planning

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• 🖼️AI Art: Examples of great and trending AI art

• 🤿Deep Dive: OpenAI tests ChatGPT group chats

• 🤝 Supported by: Free strategies to boost ROI

• 🤿Deep Dive: Windows lead responds to criticisms

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🤿 DEEP DIVE

Google AI Mode and Gemini Canvas Expand Trip Planning and Booking

Intelligence: Google is integrating trip planning and agentic booking into Search through AI Mode and Canvas, with expanded access, new partnerships, and global rollout of AI-powered flight deals.

• Create with Canvas builds itineraries in a side panel using flight and hotel data, photos, and reviews from Google Maps, and saves plans in AI Mode history.

• Access is available to US desktop users who opt into AI Mode in Labs, and plans can be refined with follow-up requests like hotel suggestions by price or activities based on travel time.

• Canvas, launched in March as a Gemini workspace, is now part of Search, bringing trip planning to mainstream users and increasing competition with Kayak and Expedia.

• AI Mode expands agentic booking beyond event tickets and appointments, with restaurant booking available to all US users and links to partners like OpenTable, Resy, Tock, Ticketmaster, StubHub, and SeatGeek.

• Google is partnering with Booking.com, Expedia, Marriott International, and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts to support agentic booking for flights and hotels.

• AI-powered Flight Deals in Google Flights is expanding from the US, Canada, and India to over 200 countries and territories, with support for more than 60 languages.

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🖼️ AI ART

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🤿 DEEP DIVE

OpenAI Pilots ChatGPT Group Chats for Shared Collaboration

Intelligence: OpenAI is testing group chats in ChatGPT across four regions, adding new ways to collaborate with privacy controls and flexible features.

• Group chats are available to logged-in users on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan, with expansion based on feedback.

• To start a group, tap the people icon or share an invite link for up to twenty people. Adding someone to an existing chat creates a new group copy, listed in a sidebar after a short profile setup.

• Chat supports search, image and file upload, image generation, and dictation; ChatGPT can follow context, respond when mentioned, react with emojis, and use profile photos for personalized images.

• Responses use GPT 5.1 Auto, which picks a model based on the prompt and user plan. Rate limits apply only when ChatGPT replies and count against the person it responds to.

• Group chats are separate from private conversations, personal memory is not shared or created, and members must accept invites, can leave anytime, and can remove others except the creator.

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🤿 DEEP DIVE

Pavan Davuluri Responds to Windows Agentic OS Backlash at Microsoft

Intelligence: Microsoft’s Windows lead Pavan Davuluri addressed criticism over the shift toward an agentic OS, emphasizing a renewed focus on reliability, performance, and developer experience alongside AI.

• Davuluri said the team is balancing product feedback systems with direct input and focusing on reliability, ease of use, inconsistent dialogs, and power user needs.

• His comments followed criticism from Gergely Orosz about Windows as a developer platform, with Davuluri affirming Microsoft’s commitment to making Windows a preferred choice for developers.

• He previously disabled replies on a post about the agentic OS, which some saw as avoiding criticism, but his latest message aims to reassure users that concerns beyond AI are being addressed.

• Longstanding issues like inconsistent interfaces and a lack of polish continue to affect Windows’ reputation, making it feel dated to some users.

• The Continuous Innovation update model delivers monthly features but is blamed for bugs and churn, with many users preferring predictable annual releases like those from Apple and Google.

• Microsoft is not backing away from AI in Windows 11, but Davuluri signaled parallel investment in stability and improvements for developers and power users.

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