Daily AI brief · October 13, 2026

Gemini Swaps Gems for Skills; First Change Nov 17

Google's Skills, the replacement for Gemini Gems, start reaching the Gemini app today, and fake Claude download ads are hiding behind real Bing links to trick people into installing malware.

The Morning Read

Google starts replacing Gemini Gems with Skills, reaching the Gemini app today (Google Workspace Updates, Android Central, Android Authority) Skills are Google's new name and format for saved instructions: reusable prompts you call up by typing a slash in the Gemini prompt box, and unlike Gems you can stack several in one chat. Google's timeline has Skills reaching business Workspace accounts on Rapid Release from October 5, Workspace accounts on Scheduled Release from October 19, and the Gemini app from today, with every rollout due to finish by mid-November. On November 17, Gems move into the Settings panel of the Gemini app, where they still work, and for business and enterprise accounts Google says Gems stop working no sooner than March 1, 2027, with any left over turned into draft Skills automatically. One catch matters more than the dates: Google says Skills made in the Gemini app don't sync with the ones made in Workspace apps, so a Skill has to be built in each place you want it. If someone on your team built a Gem that writes quotes in your format or answers common customer emails in your voice, that Gem is now a piece of company know-how sitting inside one person's settings, and this is the moment to copy its instructions into a shared document before Google moves it for you.

Fake Claude download ads hide behind real Bing links (BleepingComputer, Windows Report) Researchers at Push Security found a Google ad, shown to people searching "claude mac," that listed bing.com as its destination, which makes it look safer than a typical bad ad. A click passed through Google's and Bing's own redirect links to a hacked retailer's website, then to a fake Claude download page that walked Mac users into running a command that installs malware. Anyone who typed the fake page's address directly got an error page, which helps it dodge security scanners. The practical part: as more staff go looking for AI apps on their own, the sponsored result at the top of a search is now a favorite place for attackers to wait, and a familiar name in the ad's address proves nothing.

This Week

Copy before you convert. If your business runs on Google Workspace, ask your team one question today: "Who has a Gem they use for work?" For each one, paste its instructions and the names of any files it uses into a shared document with an owner's name on it. Then rebuild it once as a Skill in Workspace under the company account, and test it on three real requests before anyone relies on it.

Pass this to whoever sets up computers in your office: when someone asks for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any new AI app, type the company's own web address yourself, or use the Mac App Store or Microsoft Store, instead of clicking a search result. And if any web page says you must copy a command into Terminal or a Run box to finish installing something, stop and ask, because real installers don't work that way.

Skip building every Skill twice. Because Skills in the Gemini app and in Workspace don't sync, the easy mistake is ending up with two half-maintained copies. Pick the company Workspace account as the one home for work Skills, and keep the master text in your shared document so a future change is copy and paste.

Have a question about your own AI setup? Reply to this email, and John may answer it in a future edition.

Where it's going: Every vendor is turning saved prompts into something with a new name and a new home, so the businesses that keep their own master copy will move through each change in an afternoon instead of starting over.

Sources
  • Gemini Gems replaced by Skills: [Google Workspace Updates, Sep 30](https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/09/skills-gemini-app-workspace.html) · [Google Workspace Knowledge Center, transition from Gems to skills](https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/p/gems-migration) · [Android Central, timeline](https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/ai/google-outlines-timeline-to-phase-out-gemini-gems-in-favor-of-skills) · [Android Authority, timeline](https://www.androidauthority.com/gemini-gems-phase-out-timeline-3717503/)
  • Fake Claude download ads behind Bing links: [BleepingComputer, Oct 9](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-abuse-google-ads-bing-redirects-to-push-claude-clickfix-attacks/) · [Windows Report](https://windowsreport.com/?p=1512000)

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