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Here are five things in tech that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?

This Week in Small Business Technology News

Small Business Technology News #1 – OpenAI launches apps inside of ChatGPT.

Announced on Monday at its developer conference, OpenAI now lets you use apps directly inside ChatGPT, making conversations more interactive and personalized. To enrich the user experience, you can now interact with apps like Booking.com, Spotify, Figma, Coursera, Zillow, and Canva directly within ChatGPT. For example – users can say things like “Figma, turn this sketch into a diagram” or “Coursera, teach me machine learning” to activate apps. Some apps can display videos pinned to the top of the chat window and respond to user input. According to OpenAI, the system is built using Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling apps to connect their data sources and render interactive UIs inside ChatGPT. OpenAI says users must collect minimal data and be clear about permissions. (Source: TechCrunch)

Why this is important for your small business:

Here’s the goal: companies use ChatGPT as their main portal. You’re using applications inside this portal. You’re integrating your ERP, CRM, HR and other applications inside this portal. You’re bringing in both inside and outside data in this portal. You’re using the portal to create videos, images and other content. None of this is out of the box. But the tools are available to start this journey. Some business platforms may choose to build themselves inside ChatGPT’s portal. Or you may need to hire a developer to do the work. Other AI Assistants – Gemini, Copilot, Claude, etc. – are doing the same thing. You’ll be asked, as a business owner to get in bed with one of them, for better or worse.

Small Business Technology News #2 – Microsoft Teams is finally adding this much-demanded feature – and it could massively boost your productivity.

Microsoft Teams is introducing a new pop-out window feature for channels (previously available only for chats). This means users can open channel conversations in a separate window, enabling better multitasking and visibility across multiple conversations. (Source: TechRadar)

Why this is important for your small business:

Currently, according to the report, Teams supports pop-out windows for 1:1 chats, letting you open a conversation in its own window. But channels (group/team conversations) did not have that pop-out ability until now. Microsoft says it expects the feature to be rolling out soon – possible next month – to desktop clients. By the end of the year, the company says that Teams will be able to update work locations through automatic recognition of WiFi networks. The update is part of a larger push to enhance coordination and productivity in hybrid work settings.

Small Business Technology News #3 – Perplexity CEO: Comet AI browser can boost productivity so companies won’t have to hire more people.

Perplexity’s CEO Aravind Srinivas says their new Comet AI browser could significantly boost productivity and add trillions to the U.S. GDP. Describing Comet as a “true personal assistant” that allows users to complete more tasks in the same amount of time, Srinivas said it could save individuals up to $10,000 per year in productivity value. (Source: CNBC)

Why this is important for your small business:

Not sure where the $10K annual savings comes from. Regardless, I’ve downloaded the Comet AI browser and have been using it over the past week or so. It’s as good as Chrome, which has been my go-to browser before. With most browsers like Chrome you have to navigate to your AI Assistant or go into “AI Mode” for a full interactive experience. This comes out of the box with Comet. I’m not seeing huge productivity savings yet, but that’s likely due to my inexperience with the product.

Small Business Technology News #4 – AI tools are changing how workers complain to their employers.

AI tools like ChatGPT are reshaping how employees file workplace complaints – often making them sound more legally sophisticated than they are. Employees are submitting complaints that resemble legal documents, quoting laws and citing statutory violations. These complaints often appear to be written by lawyers but are likely generated by AI tools like ChatGPT. (Source: JD Supra)

Why this is important for your small business:

Firstly, good for the employees. If they’ve got a beef and need an AI Assistant’s help to make a good argument, that go for it. But please: check your facts. According to the authors, employers may feel alarmed by the formal tone and legal references, but many claims misapply employment law, lacking key elements like protected classifications (e.g., race, gender) that are necessary for legal liability. As well, AI-generated complaints may confuse workplace disputes with legally actionable claims. Experts suggest employers should calmly assess the substance of a complaint before reacting to the legal-sounding language – and look for tell-tale signs of an AI-generated complaint such as overly formal phrasing.

Small Business Technology News #5 – Talkdesk Survey: AI Is Growing At Small Businesses But There’s No Plans To Reduce Headcount

Customer service platform Talkdesk released their survey on how small businesses are integrating AI with their customer service. Among the findings: 51 percent have already integrated AI into customer service operations to elevate customer service and, despite AI’s usage, 9 out of 10 those respondents plan to keep or grow their human service teams. (Source: Yahoo Finance)

Why this is important for your small business:

Talkdesk (a client of my company) has released a new customer service platform specifically geared towards small businesses called Talkdesk Express. There’s lots of great information in this new survey on how businesses are using customer service platforms – and AI – to help them provide a better experience and increase productivity.

Each week I round up five small business technology news stories and explain why they’re important for your business. If you have any interesting stories, please post to my X account @genemarks

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The continuing US government shutdown has stopped official data releases, which will leave investors without the September inflation data that had been scheduled for publication on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected the consumer price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to show an increase in inflationary pressures. Instead, the BLS said on Friday that it planned to release its data on October 24.

The CPI release, while more than a week late, will still come in time for the Federal Reserve’s rate-setters, which next meet on October 28-29, to factor it into their policy decision. At their last meeting, they signalled a greater focus on the risks from a slowing labour market than from rising inflation. The “dot plot”, the Fed’s survey of its own members’ forecasts, suggests that policymakers expect inflation to be running at 3 per cent by year-end, slightly above the current rate.

The absence of inflation data could keep investors from making big moves in markets. In place of the BLS data, many have resorted to a slew of private data providers alongside survey data from the Fed, such as its “beige book”, for insights into the US economy.

Still, President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post on Friday promising new tariffs on China led to a drop in stocks and a jump in volatility, suggesting that if the risks are high enough, some investors may jump, with or without the economic data to hand. Kate Duguid

How healthy is the UK economy?

Investors will scrutinise UK labour market data on Tuesday and GDP figures on Thursday for insights into underlying inflation pressures and the health of the economy.

Economists polled by Reuters expect annual wage growth (excluding bonuses) for the three months to August to edge down to 4.7 per cent, from 4.8 per cent in the three months to July. They expect the unemployment rate to be unchanged at 4.7 per cent.

Bank of England policymakers are concerned that wage growth is running too hot for their 2 per cent inflation target, particularly given the UK’s weak productivity record.

While the labour market figures remain uncertain because of poor survey response rates in recent years, analysts will focus on whether recent declines in employment are enough to cool wage growth. A sharp slowdown in wages and a deterioration in hiring could reinforce expectations of interest rate cuts in 2026.

Markets are pricing that the BoE will make one or two quarter-percentage-point cuts next year.

As for the GDP data, economists expect month-on-month growth in August of 0.1 per cent, up from zero growth in July, taking the three-month-on-three-month rate — now the Office for National Statistics’ preferred measure — to 0.3 per cent, up from 0.2 per cent previously.

Ellie Henderson, economist at Investec, also forecasts marginally stronger growth in August but said tax increases expected in the November Budget would have an impact on activity in the autumn.

“Various surveys suggest the prospect of fiscal tightening is already prompting households and firms to delay spending and investment,” she said. “Speculation around the scale of adjustment needed is likely to grow in the run-up to [the Budget on November 26], acting as a further drag on output.” Valentina Romei

Will China’s trade surplus keep defying gravity?

Chinese exports are expected to jump again when Beijing reports trade figures for September on Monday, as the outward flow of goods continues to swell despite the Trump administration’s tariffs.

Economists expect Beijing to report a year-on-year rise of 7.1 per cent in exports during the month, up from 4.4 per cent growth in September. With imports seen rising at a 1.5 per cent pace (up slightly from 1.3 per cent), China’s monthly trade surplus is expected to come in at a hefty $100bn.

The persistently strong figures have defied many economists’ expectations that China’s export machine would slow as Trump’s tariffs took effect — especially since the weakening dollar has sent the renminbi up 2.4 per cent against the greenback this year.

However, a growing chorus of analysts has pointed out that, on a trade-weighted basis, the renminbi is depreciating. It has fallen 8.6 per cent this year against the euro, for example, making exports to Europe more competitive.

China’s trade surplus with the Eurozone is growing rapidly. For the first eight months of the year, exports to the continent grew 5.4 per cent, while imports fell 9.9 per cent. China’s shipments of steel and textiles, for example, have surged, adding to trade tensions.

Jacqueline Rong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas, said China’s resilient exports to non-US markets were down to more than rerouting of trade with the US. The robust growth of its exports to Europe, she said, has been “driven mostly by China’s gain in market share . . . rather than trans-shipments.” William Sandlund