
Hello AiNews.com Readers!
I just wanted to let you know that AiNews will be taking a short publishing break next week — there will be no newsletters from November 10–14 — while I attend the JournalismAI Festival and take a little time to celebrate my 50th birthday! 🎉
We’ll be back on November 17 with our usual lineup of breaking AI news, in-depth analysis, and industry insights.
This short pause is a good reminder that AiNews is powered by real people — not bots — and every story, interview, and insight you read here is created with care, curiosity, and a very human touch.
Thank you, as always, for your support and understanding. I’m so grateful to have you on this journey with us. 💙
— Alicia
Today’s Headlines — The latest reporting and analysis from AiNews.com:
Google Maps Gets Smarter: Gemini AI Brings Hands-Free, Conversational Navigation - No more guessing what “500 feet” feels like. Thanks to Gemini AI, Google Maps now guides drivers using real-world landmarks — like restaurants and gas stations — making navigation sound more natural than ever.
Apple Nears $1 Billion-a-Year Deal to Power Siri with Google’s Gemini AI - In a rare collaboration between two longtime rivals, Apple is preparing to spend roughly $1 billion a year to license Google’s Gemini AI model — a move that could finally give Siri the intelligence overhaul Apple has promised for years.
Google Expands AI Mode with Agentic Capabilities for Booking Events and Appointments - Google is turning Search into a true digital assistant. Its new agentic AI Mode can now find and book everything from concert tickets to hair appointments — completing multi-step tasks on your behalf.
Amazon Expands Alexa Plus AI Into Music App for Smarter Playlists - Alexa Plus is taking song discovery to the next level — transforming Amazon Music into an intelligent, conversational DJ that knows your taste better than ever.
More AI Headlines (Curated by AiNews.com) — Other major stories making waves across the AI world today:
Google gets the US government’s green light to acquire Wiz for $32B - Google’s $32 billion acquisition of cloud security company Wiz has moved a step closer toward the finish line. The acquisition had cleared its antitrust review by the U.S. Department of Justice, but has a way to go before it becomes official.
Perplexity to pay Snap $400M to power search in Snapchat - The deal gives Perplexity exposure to more than 940 million Snapchat users, who will get answers from its AI engine when they ask questions to the company’s My AI chatbot.
AMD, Department of Energy announce $1 billion AI supercomputer partnership - AMD has sealed a $1 billion deal with the US Department of Energy to develop two supercomputers, Lux and Discovery, in collaboration with Oracle and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Both supercomputers will live at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Lux is slated to come online fairly soon in early 2026, with Discovery following in 2029.

Create and deploy voice agents for your business
In this tutorial, you will learn how to use Cartesia to build and deploy AI voice agents that can handle calls, take orders, or answer customer questions using natural, human-like speech.
Step-by-step:
Go to Cartesia, click "Start for Free", explore the dashboard, and test voices in "Text to Speech" using Sonic 3.0 for best latency and clarity
Scroll to "Voice Agents", click "Text to Agent", describe your agent (e.g., "Pizza order assistant that greets customers, takes orders, confirms details, calculates totals")
Select voice preference, click "Generate", then test using the dialer at +1 (515) 800-8360 - verify response speed, order handling, and voice clarity
Click "Promote to Production" to get a working number, publish it on the site, and monitor performance in "Metrics" (calls handled, duration, credit usage)
Refine prompts as needed based on customer interactions - costs are roughly one credit per character for text-to-speech, $0.06/minute for voice calls
Pro tip: Test with various companies. Bland and Vapi are also popular in creating AI voice agents.

AI Tools:
Please note that AiNews.com does not endorse the following AI tools. We aim to share the tools we come across that you may find helpful in you work or daily lives.
Descript: Descript is an all-in-one audio and video editing tool that lets you edit media as easily as a text document, with AI features for transcription, overdubbing, and streamlined content production. We’re excited to invite you to join Descript’s Creator Plan and enjoy 50% off your first 2 months. Be sure to use our link to activate the discount! (As an affiliate partner with Descript, AiNews may earn a small commission if you sign up using our link. There’s no extra cost to you — it simply helps support our independent reporting and the work we do.)
Akook: AI Video Creation Made Easy – Avatars, Translation, and Face Swap in One Platform.
ScanRelief: Easy receipt and invoice processing using OpenAI. Save hours of frustration! Turn receipt and invoice files into an Excel sheet and rename the files based on their contents!
Virtual Try On: Upload Your Photo and Try Clothes, Hairstyles, Shoes, Glasses. Upload a person photo, then add tops, pants, dresses, hairstyles, shoes, and glasses to create high-quality try-on images in seconds.
Our LinkedIn Community is growing - Will you join us? We invite you to join our LinkedIn group to participate in AI discussions and share developments with the rest of the group. Join today!
Master ChatGPT for Work Success
ChatGPT is revolutionizing how we work, but most people barely scratch the surface. Subscribe to Mindstream for free and unlock 5 essential resources including templates, workflows, and expert strategies for 2025. Whether you're writing emails, analyzing data, or streamlining tasks, this bundle shows you exactly how to save hours every week.


