October 6, 2026 · AI news

Today in AI, Oct 6: New York weighs AI rules, and ads come to ChatGPT

New York City heard 10 AI bills, ChatGPT will test image ads, Google signed a 20-year nuclear deal and service prices hit a 2022 high, in pictures.

Work for business owners · by Orion Jones

Real screenshots of the OpenAI advertising announcement and the Google and Constellation nuclear announcement, beside the headline "New York weighs AI rules, and ads come to ChatGPT".

Today's AI news is about who controls the systems: a city asking for testing and an off switch, an agent platform selling spending caps, and a chatbot turning into an ad channel. Here is the day in pictures, each with its source.

New York City held a hearing on 10 AI bills

The New York City Council met on Monday to hear testimony on 10 bills about AI, with OpenAI, Google and Meta among the companies testifying. Speaker Julie Menin asked the companies whether they would bear legal responsibility if one of their models caused serious financial harm (CBS New York).

The figure lists some of what the bills cover.

The number 10, for the AI bills the New York City Council heard on October 5, 2026, beside four of the things they cover: third-party checks of AI systems, a way for a person to shut an AI model down, privacy for chatbot data, and a ban on unauthorized AI depictions of public officials.

What it means: if you use AI tools with New York customers, watch these bills: rules on chatbot data and testing would reach the vendors you buy from first.

ChatGPT will test ads while it makes images

OpenAI said it will start testing visual ads during image generation in ChatGPT later in October, in the US, with a first group of advertisers (BleepingComputer). The ads are labeled and kept separate from the image being made.

This is OpenAI's own announcement page. The mockups at the bottom show what a labeled ad looks like.

OpenAI's own announcement, dated October 5, 2026, titled "Building advertising for the way people use AI". The examples at the bottom are sample ads, each marked "Ad".

OpenAI also added ways for advertisers to measure results, and said how many people ChatGPT reaches.

The figure 1.2 billion, the people a week OpenAI says ChatGPT reaches, beside the details of the test: in the US with a first group of advertisers, ads labeled and kept separate from the image, and results measured through partners such as Hightouch, Tealium and LiveRamp.

What it means: ChatGPT is becoming an ad channel, so it is worth knowing how your products and your competitors show up there.

Cohere released North 2, with agent memory and spending caps

Cohere launched North 2, a platform for business AI agents (SiliconANGLE). Its agents remember context between sessions and pull a person in when a step needs approval. Admins can track token use down to each user and agent and cap it.

Here is Cohere's own launch post.

Cohere's own blog post, dated October 5, 2026, titled "North 2: Enterprise AI without compromises".

The table sums up what North 2 adds, from where it runs to what it connects to.

A table of what North 2 adds: memory between sessions, a person pulled in for approvals, token tracking and caps for each user and agent, running on premises, in a private cloud or fully offline, and connections to Slack, GitHub, SharePoint and OneDrive, with PitchBook, S&P Global and FactSet planned.

What it means: spending caps per user and per agent are the control to ask any AI vendor for before an agent can run up a bill.

Google signed a 20-year nuclear power deal

Google agreed to buy 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity from Constellation for 20 years, made by upgrading 11 existing reactors in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey (Google Cloud). The two companies will use Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise for grid planning and equipment monitoring.

This is the press release on Google Cloud's own press site.

Google Cloud's own press release, dated October 6, 2026, announcing the agreement with Constellation to bring 890 MW of new nuclear capacity to the PJM grid.

The chart puts the new capacity next to a separate 15-year deal on one scale.

A bar chart on one scale: 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity over 20 years, next to a separate 15-year deal for 2,700 megawatts. Below, Constellation will invest more than $4.3 billion, the first upgrade is expected by 2028, and 11 existing reactors will be upgraded.

What it means: power is becoming a long-term cost of running AI, and the largest companies are locking it up for decades.

Service businesses paid the highest prices since 2022

The ISM Services index was 54.9 in September, down from 55.4 in August and growing for a 27th month. Its prices index rose to 74, the highest since July 2022, and the employment index moved back above 50, to 50.1, for the first time in three months.

The chart draws all four readings from zero, so the jump in prices stands out.

A bar chart of ISM services indexes from zero: prices at 74 in September, the highest since July 2022, the services index at 55.4 in August and 54.9 in September, and employment at 50.1, with a dashed line at 50.

What it means: if your own costs rose this fall, you are not alone, and it is a good month to review your prices and your suppliers.

The 10-year Treasury yield touched its highest level since 2002

During Monday's session the 10-year Treasury yield reached 5.349%, its highest since April 3, 2002, before last trading at 5.307% (CNBC). Traders put the odds that the Federal Reserve holds rates at its next meeting at nearly 82%, and the minutes of its September meeting are due Wednesday.

Three numbers from Monday: the 10-year Treasury yield peaked at 5.349% during the session, its highest since April 3, 2002, and last traded at 5.307%; the 30-year yield touched 5.703% during the session; and traders put the odds of the Fed holding rates at nearly 82%.

What it means: long-term borrowing, from mortgages to equipment loans, tends to follow this yield, so plans that count on cheaper credit soon may need a second look.

Truckers and farmers can use cheaper dyed diesel on highways

President Trump signed an executive order on Monday evening that temporarily allows truckers and farmers to use red-dyed diesel, which is exempt from highway fuel taxes (CNBC). Related taxes on the fuel are deferred through the end of this year. The order aims to bring down record-high fuel costs.

What it means: if you run trucks or pay freight, ask your carriers whether this lowers your fuel surcharges before year end.

Asia closed mostly higher after a record day for U.S. tech

On Tuesday, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.05% to 70,683.98 and South Korea's small-cap Kosdaq rose 2.98%, while the Kospi fell 0.89%. On Monday the tech sector of the S&P 500 closed at a record. With yields this high, a rise in borrowing costs can quickly reverse moves like these. This is a picture of the day, not advice.

A bar chart of percent changes on one scale, all closes: on Tuesday the Kosdaq rose 2.98%, the Nikkei 225 1.05%, the Topix 0.92% and the S&P/ASX 200 0.57%, while the Kospi fell 0.89%; on Monday the S&P 500 tech sector rose 0.7% to a record close.

The pattern

The AI stories today are about who controls the systems: a city asking for testing and an off switch, an agent platform selling spending caps, and a chatbot turning into an ad channel. The business news is about costs, with prices and long-term rates both high. Together they make the same case we make on every build: know what a tool costs to run and who can stop it.

The full issue, with every source, is in today's AI Brief. If you want AI working in your business with clear costs and a clear off switch, book a call below.

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