AI Updates for Thursday, 15 October 2026
Microsoft Launches Copilot for Legal Across Word and Cowork
Compiled by AI for Business and Life editorial - - Updated - AI Updates
Published late, on 19-10-2026. This brief covers the news of 15-10-2026.
Microsoft released Copilot for Legal for general business use, adding contract review and redlining tools directly inside Word.
Microsoft released Copilot for Legal for general business use.
Microsoft Launches Copilot for Legal Across Word and Cowork
What happened: Microsoft released Copilot for Legal for general business use. The update adds more than 20 legal tools and partner plug-ins directly into Word and the Cowork workspace.
What it means for you: Dedicated drafting and markup tools inside Word help your team review complex documents faster. Your legal teams can check agreements against company playbooks and propose tracked edits directly in the document.
Source: Introducing Microsoft Copilot for legal (techcommunity.microsoft.com)
Google Expands News AI Licensing Program to Over 400 Publishers
What happened: More than 400 news publications worldwide now participate in Google's News AI licensing program. New participants include CNN, Axios, Forbes, and the Financial Times.
What it means for you: Google pays these publishers to license their reporting for new AI tools. The features include detailed article overviews on Google News publisher pages and customizable audio briefings.
Source: 400 publications are now partnering with us on our News AI pilot program. - Google Blog (blog.google)
Proofpoint to Acquire Varonis in a $6.3 Billion Transaction
What happened: Cybersecurity firm Proofpoint entered into a definitive agreement to acquire data security company Varonis for approximately $6.3 billion in cash. Varonis shareholders will receive $49.75 per share.
Source: Proofpoint to Acquire Varonis in a $6.3 Billion Transaction (proofpoint.com)
Microsoft Completes Pre-Training of In-House MAI-Base-2 Model
What happened: Microsoft reported that its new model used one-quarter of the computing power needed for an OpenAI model. It also required 12 times less computing power than DeepSeek based on efficiency metrics.
What it means for you: Developing efficient in-house models helps Microsoft save money on computing power and reduce its reliance on OpenAI.
Source: Microsoft AI CEO Says New Model Beats OpenAI Using Less Compute - Business Insider (businessinsider.com)
Sources
- Introducing Microsoft Copilot for legal
- 400 publications are now partnering with us on our News AI pilot program. - Google Blog
- Proofpoint to Acquire Varonis in a $6.3 Billion Transaction
- Microsoft AI CEO Says New Model Beats OpenAI Using Less Compute - Business Insider
Keep learning
- Anthropic launches AI spend reports and pooled team budgets
- Data security (AI Glossary)
- The 25 Best AI Tools for Business, Step by Step (AIFBL Academy course)
How this brief is made
Daily AI Updates are compiled with AI from public sources and checked against our house style. Every story links to its original source. Our editorial note