Anthropic and Google Race Forward

In this edition: a roundup of product updates from some of the biggest players in the space.

This is Q&AI, our blog series aimed at keeping you in the know on updates in the rapidly evolving world of AI. Sometimes, these will be quick updates on new developments in the field. Sometimes, they’ll be tips on tactics, features, or functionality. If you haven’t met me yet, hi: I’m Jen Taylor, CI’s Director of AI Strategy & Implementation, and your (very human) AI BFF. 

Q: Can we get a round-up of important updates from the biggest, non-OpenAI players? 

A: Of course. Anthropic and Google remain very busy.

In the Anthropic universe, we have:

Claude Code: Claude’s coding capabilities crossed a real threshold over the holidays. It’s no longer just “interesting.” It’s good enough that professional developers are actively changing how they work around it. What’s most striking isn’t the tool itself, but the speed of improvement over the last 6–12 months. 

Adoption cycles are collapsing.

If this is happening to software engineers first, it will happen next to other industries and functions. Marketers, analysts, strategists. This is a preview of how quickly AI-driven change is moving, and it’s faster than most organizations expect.

Anthropic Cowork: Cowork is Anthropic’s attempt to make Claude useful inside real work. It can reference files and shared context instead of starting from a blank prompt every time. It’s a research preview, not a finished product, but it clearly shows where things are headed.

The future of AI isn’t better chat. It’s AI that understands your materials, your history, and your constraints. That’s where real organizational value shows up, and where real risk starts to appear if inputs, oversight, and accountability aren’t thought through.

In the world of Google, we have:

A different POV on ads. As ChatGPT moved into ad monetization, Google is using restraint as a differentiator.

Google Personal Intelligence: an initial announcement highlighted “opt-in AI” that uses personal context to improve output quality. This is powerful and risky. Better context can mean better results by giving the tool access to YouTube, Google Photos, Gmail, and Search. The risk is persistent context. Outputs become shaped by your past activity, making it harder to reset, separate tasks, or start with a truly clean slate.

But then, they introduced…

Gemini in Gmail (aka, AI adoption without opting in). Gemini is being rolled directly into Gmail. Drafting, summarizing, and task support now live inside the inbox for a massive global audience. Some features are free. Others require a Gemini subscription.

As I’ve been predicting, AI is becoming invisible infrastructure. People will use it because it’s there, not because leadership asked them to. Google also has a scale no other major AI company does. That scale matters. It accelerates adoption, widens skill gaps, and makes AI governance an immediate, not theoretical, concern.

TALK SOON,
Jen

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