In-chat file editing comes to Gemini as Big Tech AI spending spooks markets
Today brings a practical upgrade inside Google Gemini that lets you manipulate event documents without switching tabs, alongside major financial tremors as tech giants spend billions building out AI infrastructure. Here is what happened this week and what it means for your events desk.
In this round-up
- Google Gemini lets you edit Docs, Sheets, and PDFs directly in chat
- Alphabet loses £374bn in value as AI investments hit profits
- Reddit shuts out open web with mandatory login as AI search bites
- OpenAI-backed Thrive Holdings acquires ADT for $15.3bn
- Meta quietly launches AI outfit and packing assistant Style Sketch
- Rivian licenses in-house AI assistant to Volkswagen
Google Gemini lets you edit Docs, Sheets, and PDFs directly in chat
Google has rolled out an update to Gemini that allows users to create, preview, and edit files directly inside the chat interface. Supported formats include Google Docs, Sheets, slide decks, PDFs, text, Markdown, and code. While PDF previews work across web and mobile, editing other document formats is currently web only.
Instead of copying text out of Gemini and pasting it into another app, you can now open documents in full-screen mode right inside the window. You can highlight specific chunks of text or data and prompt the AI to make immediate changes, such as selecting a table and asking Gemini to turn it into a visual graph.
For event organisers, this removes tedious friction when drafting running orders, speaker briefing notes, or delegate emails. You can refine a full draft schedule or adjust catering numbers directly in the chat window, rather than jumping between browser tabs. It is live now for all users on the web.
Read more: theverge.com
Alphabet loses £374bn in value as AI investments hit profits
Wall Street delivered a harsh verdict on tech giants spending heavily on artificial intelligence. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, lost just over $500bn (about £374bn) in value on 29 October. Its quarterly revenue grew 25% to $127.6bn, but profits fell 25% and free cash flow dropped to negative $9bn. Google admitted its AI search summaries are cannibalising search ad revenue, which forms the vast majority of its core business.
Amazon shared similar financial strain, posting a quarterly cash flow of negative $42bn as it funds a projected $220bn cash capital expenditure for 2026. Chief executive Andy Jassy defended the spending as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn cloud arm AWS into a trillion-dollar business.
For UK events agencies, this is pure context. You do not need to alter your marketing plans today, but it shows the honeymoon period for tech giants pouring unlimited money into AI is ending. If search advertising weakens and cloud bills mount, expect these providers to eventually pass those costs down to business subscribers.
Read more: techcrunch.com
Reddit shuts out open web with mandatory login as AI search bites
Reddit announced during its third-quarter earnings call on 29 October that it is transitioning towards a primarily logged-in experience. The shift comes as referrals from search engines drop by more than one million visits per week on average, driven by search engines providing AI summaries directly on results pages rather than sending traffic out to web links.
By putting more content behind a login, Reddit aims to block unauthorised AI scrapers from harvesting user discussions and force AI providers into paid licensing deals, while also delivering better data to its advertisers.
For events teams, this changes how you research. Many event planners use Reddit to dig up unvarnished delegate feedback, find candid reviews of venue spaces, or spot genuine attendee complaints. As Reddit tightens its walls, casual searches will no longer surface those community threads freely. You and your marketing team will increasingly need dedicated accounts just to carry out background venue and supplier checks.
Read more: techcrunch.com
OpenAI-backed Thrive Holdings acquires ADT for $15.3bn
Physical security firm ADT has agreed to be acquired by Thrive Holdings in a deal valuing the enterprise at $15.3bn, including roughly $7.6bn in equity. Thrive Holdings is a holding company spinout from venture capital firm Thrive Capital and counts ChatGPT creator OpenAI as both an investor and operational partner.
OpenAI will supply technical architecture, artificial intelligence models, and deployed engineers to ADT to help develop next-generation smart physical security products. The acquisition comes alongside moves from Apple and Amazon to integrate AI cameras and monitoring into physical spaces.
For venue managers and festival operations leads, physical security is an everyday operational reality. While this deal is aimed primarily at smart home and domestic security initially, the involvement of major AI labs in physical security hardware points to where venue safety is heading. AI-assisted crowd monitoring, perimeter detection, and automated dispatch will increasingly sit on the agendas of security suppliers. Nothing to do today, but worth watching.
Read more: techcrunch.com
Meta quietly launches AI outfit and packing assistant Style Sketch
Meta has launched an experimental mobile app named Style Sketch in Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand for iOS and Android. The app syncs with a user's Instagram or camera roll to build a digital wardrobe from uploaded images. It then uses AI to recommend outfit combinations based on style preferences, personal body shapes, and weather forecasts.
One of the standout features is an itinerary-based packing planner. Users input their destination, the duration of their trip, and their planned schedule of activities, and the AI produces a day-by-day wardrobe plan matching both the forecast and the itinerary.
There is no UK launch date yet, and Meta has not confirmed global rollout plans. However, anyone who frequently travels for multi-day conferences, site visits, and long exhibition builds knows the hassle of packing professional clothing for mixed weather. If Meta expands the app to the UK, it could take some friction out of planning travel wardrobes for long event weeks.
Read more: techcrunch.com
Rivian licenses in-house AI assistant to Volkswagen
Electric vehicle maker Rivian has expanded its $5.8bn joint venture with Volkswagen Group to license its proprietary AI voice assistant technology to the German automaker. Rivian developed the assistant in-house over two years, deploying an agentic framework that interprets spoken driver instructions and routes actions directly into vehicle software.
The AI assistant rolled out across Rivian models earlier this year and is expected to appear in Volkswagen vehicles, starting with its planned ID EVERY1 electric car. Rivian chief executive RJ Scaringe also noted that the platform could eventually run AI agents from third-party firms such as Anthropic.
For production companies, fleet managers, and logistical coordinators moving crew and kit between venues, intelligent in-cab voice assistants will soon become standard equipment in transport vehicles. It promises hands-free routing and system checks on the road, though you do not need to buy any new vans just yet.
Read more: techcrunch.com
Sources
- You can generate and edit Google Docs files directly in Gemini chats now
- AWS will be a $1T business, Jassy says — but first, it will spend big
- As search traffic dries up, Reddit announces it’s shifting to a logged-in experience
- OpenAI-backed Thrive Holdings acquires ADT
- Meta quietly launches an AI fashion app called Style Sketch
- Rivian expands joint venture with VW to include AI assistant