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Google updates Workspace to make AI your new office intern

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At Google Cloud Next this week, the tech giant announced a bevy of new updates to Workspace, its subscription-based productivity suite aimed at professionals. As you might expect, the updates are heavy on AI, integrating new automation tools into various workflows—everything from drafting emails to organizing Google Sheets. Overall, the changes are clearly designed to give office workers a leg up in their pursuit of less busy work.

Here’s some of what is new:

Workspace Intelligence. Workspace Intelligence, a new AI system built into Google’s office suite, is designed to automate assistance across various tasks. The system draws on a user’s Workspace data, including their Gmail, Calendar, Chat, and Drive (Docs, Slides, and Sheets). Google has given users administrative control over what the AI system can see and access. Users can disable Workspace Intelligence’s access to particular data sources at any time. The tradeoff: the more data the system has access to, the more it’s able to assist in those particular areas.

Build and fill out Google Sheets with Gemini. A number of new features allow users to both build and fill out Google Sheets, the company’s spreadsheet tool. Users can construct sheets by prompting Gemini to construct them. Prompts can include things like formatting and data retrieval, allowing Google’s AI system to do much of the work a human would’ve previously needed to do. At the same time, Gemini also helps with data entry, automatically filling out Sheets with “prompt-based” filling. Google claims that its new feature allows users to populate the spreadsheets “9x faster” than manual entry, because the system is designed to infer what you’re going to enter. Another new Sheets feature allows users to convert unstructured data into organized tables.

AI writing capabilities. Google has also brought new new AI writing tools to Google Docs. Users can now use Gemini to “generate, write, and refine” documents. The feature is powered by the company’s Workspace Intelligence system, which draws on data from a user’s Drive, Chat, and Gmail archives, as well as the internet, to assist with editorial tasks. Users merely prompt Gemini to help them write or edit their documents. Users can prompt Gemini to “help me write” or ask it to “match” their writing style so that it can effectively mimic their voice.

Realizing that enterprise customers are where the money is, tech companies are racing to deploy the most convenient and efficient office tools—applications that can make the average worker’s life a matter of degrees easier. Google has a certain advantage; its office products are already deeply embedded in workplaces worldwide, giving it a built-in audience for these AI upgrades. But Microsoft, Apple, and a growing field of startups are all competing for the same turf.

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Ogunsanya Wins Nigeria’s First Medal at Ulaanbaatar Open Wrestling Ranking Series

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Nigeria’s Christiana Ogunsanya has secured the country’s first medal at the ongoing 2026 Ulaanbaatar Open Ranking Series in Mongolia after winning bronze in the women’s 53kg category.

READ ALSO: NPFL Missing as FIFA Declares Record $355m Windfall for Clubs With Players at the 2026 World Cup 

Ogunsanya delivered a spirited performance to defeat Mongolia’s Otgontuya Bayanmunkh 6-6 on criteria in the bronze medal bout on Friday, handing Team Nigeria its first podium finish at the prestigious United World Wrestling Ranking Series event.

The Nigerian wrestler showed resilience throughout the competition, battling against a strong international field that included top athletes from Asia and Europe.

Her bronze medal finish marks another important milestone for Nigerian wrestling on the global stage.

The women’s 53kg gold medal was won by DPR Korea’s Kyong Ryong Oh, who defeated Japan’s Moe Kiyooka 10-6 in the final, while Romania’s Andreea Ana claimed the second bronze medal in the category.

Ogunsanya’s achievement comes as Nigeria continues to strengthen its reputation in international wrestling competitions, especially in women’s wrestling where the country has consistently produced world-class talents.

At the Ulaanbaatar Open, India emerged as one of the standout nations in women’s wrestling, winning gold medals through Manisha in the 57kg category and Neha in the 59kg division, while DPR Korea also secured multiple titles.

 

The Ulaanbaatar Open Ranking Series is one of the major international wrestling tournaments sanctioned by United World Wrestling, attracting elite wrestlers from across the world as they prepare for upcoming global championships.

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Reid Hoffman is leaving Microsoft’s board to go ‘founder mode’ with startup Manus

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After a very profitable decade on Microsoft’s board, Reid Hoffman is stepping down, the company announced Thursday. Hoffman joined the board after Microsoft bought his company LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016.

Hoffman was on Microsoft’s board when it invested its first $1 billion into OpenAI in 2019. Hoffman was one of OpenAI’s original investors and served on the model maker’s board until he stepped down in 2023, citing too many potential conflicts of interest to continue. He was also on Microsoft’s board when the tech giant entered into one of those non-acquisition, acqui-hire deals for $650 million with his AI startup Inflection AI. Microsoft hired Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman through that deal.

Hoffman said on a recent episode of his “Possible” podcast, while talking with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, that he’s ready to go “founder mode” with his latest AI startup, Manus. Manus is a drug discovery company that raised over $50 million through a couple of seed rounds last year. Hoffman is an investor, as is General Catalyst.

Hoffman is cited as a co-founder of Manus and chairman of the board, not the CEO, though. That job belongs to Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a physician, biologist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the 2011 book “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.”

Still, Hoffman said he’s excited to give Manus more attention.

“One of the things I realized over the last month was that, we’re seeing such progress with Manus. I need to get back to founder mode,” he said. He believes the startup is making progress on “Move 37” AI, meaning AI that supersedes human creativity in chemistry, especially to combat various cancers, he added.

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