The business of tech stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
A new survey says more holiday shoppers plan to buy from small businesses this year, and an economist says owners should prepare now to catch that demand.
Read more: More Holiday Shoppers Plan to Spend at Small Businesses This YearGrab's revenue rose 27% and all three core businesses turned profitable together, as the company credits AI tools for helping drivers and merchants earn more.
Read more: Grab's revenue jumps 27% as AI tools help drivers and shops earn moreIXOPAY has launched IXO One, a payments platform that bundles its tools and adds safeguards for purchases made by AI shopping agents. The first full version is due in early 2027.
Read more: IXOPAY launches one payments platform built for AI shopping agentsAdaptlyPost, a social media scheduling tool, now works inside ChatGPT, so you can schedule and publish posts without leaving the chat.
Read more: A new ChatGPT add-on can now schedule and post your social media updatesVirgin Media O2 wants to save £800 million by 2029, mostly by cutting jobs and skipping some fiber upgrades. Customers may feel it in support and speeds.
Read more: Virgin Media O2 plans to cut thousands of jobs as sales fallTutor Intelligence raised $75 million to rent out factory and warehouse robots from $14 an hour, a price that invites a direct comparison with hiring.
Read more: Robot workers for warehouses now start at $14 an hourGoogle Cloud says businesses can now use top AI models from Google, Anthropic and OpenAI in one place, which could mean easier comparison and less dependence on one vendor.
Read more: Google Cloud now offers AI models from Google, Anthropic and OpenAIIntuit says its AI can send payment reminders and stop once you are paid, and customers using it get paid up to four days faster. Owners set the rules.
Read more: QuickBooks wants AI to chase your unpaid invoices for youDeepSeek's record $15.9 billion round drove startup funding to $59 billion in October, and most of the money went to a few AI companies.
Read more: China's DeepSeek raises $15.9 billion, pushing October startup funding to $59 billionShopify says revenue rose 32% in the latest quarter, and it is building shopping into AI assistants, which could change how shoppers find your store.
Read more: Shopify's sales grew 32% as online stores keep spending moreInc. argues that in a rough economy, protecting what your small business already has can be a smarter growth move than expanding. Here is what that means.
Read more: Why Holding Steady May Beat Expanding for Small Businesses NowConvoso has launched an AI voice agent that answers sales calls and screens leads, which could ease the load on small sales and call center teams.
Read more: Convoso Launches an AI Voice Agent to Answer Sales CallsElevenLabs, the AI voice company, says 2028 is a good time to start preparing for a stock market debut, riding demand for AI agents that handle business communications.
Read more: ElevenLabs, the AI voice company, eyes a stock market debut around 2028team.blue, a European owner of web hosting and software brands, is adding AI connectors. Small business customers should know what may change and what is unclear.
Read more: team.blue adds AI connectors to its web software brandsThe SBA says it delivered $100 billion in capital and support this fiscal year, even as a 43-day shutdown froze its lending. Here is what that means for borrowers.
Read more: SBA says it backed small businesses with $100 billion this yearBouygues Telecom says it is the first French operator with its own channel on ChatGPT, a sign that customer service is moving into chatbots.
Read more: French phone company Bouygues now answers customers inside ChatGPTHoney Badger's new Risk Playbooks lets fraud teams build and launch live risk checks without code, which could speed up how a business reacts to fraud.
Read more: Honey Badger lets fraud teams build risk checks without codingSeveral big companies announced thousands of job cuts this earnings season, and investors cannot agree if that is smart planning or a warning sign.
Read more: Big companies announce thousands of job cuts, and investors disagree on whyPhrasly has released a free, no-account tool that tells you whether an image was likely made by AI. The company's accuracy claims have not been checked by outsiders.
Read more: A free tool now checks whether a photo was made by AIZalando's new app feature lets AI agents buy from other online stores for you. It starts with one home goods pilot, and the details are still thin.
Read more: Zalando launches an AI that shops for you across other storesZomato's new Host Mode hides menu prices from guests, so whoever is paying can treat friends and family without anyone feeling awkward about cost.
Read more: Zomato adds a mode that hides food prices from your dinner guestsCyclon, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is taking preorders for an AI phone that taps through your apps and builds missing ones. Here is what is known so far.
Read more: Startup Cyclon is building an AI phone that uses apps for youChina plans a broad set of AI safety standards, from building to everyday use, which could shape the tools and suppliers businesses rely on.
Read more: China plans broad safety rules for AI, from building to everyday useA creator showed that faint plane noise in a video's audio can be matched to public flight data to find where it was filmed, which matters for anyone posting clips from home.
Read more: Faint airplane noise in a video can reveal where it was filmed
