OpenAI and Google Cloud announced on October 21 that OpenAI’s frontier models and Codex agentic workflows will be available in Google Cloud’s Model Garden. For businesses already building on Google’s platform, the practical effect is that a top competitor’s models are now purchasable inside the environment where they already work.

What was announced

Customers will buy through Google Cloud Marketplace and can draw down existing Google Cloud spend commitments to pay for OpenAI usage. Google Cloud’s Michael Gerstenhaber said GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna are rolling out in private preview to select enterprise customers. The models run on dedicated Google Cloud infrastructure, with Confidential Compute coming soon. OpenAI also said its models will soon be available in Google Antigravity and the Gemini Agent. Microsoft remains OpenAI’s primary cloud partner.

One caveat: OpenAI described general availability as planned for the coming weeks, while Google Cloud described a private-preview rollout for selected customers (per the aiedgeinsights.com report). Businesses should not assume broad access yet.

What it means for businesses

1. Procurement gets simpler. All usage appears on a single Google Cloud invoice and counts toward savings plans across model providers. Companies with committed cloud spend can put it toward AI without a separate vendor contract or security review.

2. Data stays put. Teams no longer need to move data or stand up separate infrastructure to use OpenAI models, and Google’s access controls and governance apply. This matters most in regulated industries.

3. Model choice becomes a routine decision. With OpenAI models next to Gemini in one catalog, and later inside Google’s agent tools, companies can match the model to the task and switch on cost or quality instead of rebuilding around one vendor.

4. Multi-cloud AI is now the norm. The announcement fits a trend of AI companies selling through several cloud providers. Single-vendor lock-in is harder to justify when the major models are reachable from the platform you already use.

What to do now

• – Ask your cloud account team about preview access and whether your commitments qualify.
• – Run a side-by-side test on one real workflow, such as support triage or document summarization, and measure cost per task, not just output quality.
• – Check data residency and logging terms before moving sensitive workloads, since Confidential Compute is not yet available.
• – Keep your integration layer model-agnostic so you can swap models as pricing and performance change.

The bottom line

The competition among AI labs is shifting from who has the best model to who is easiest to buy, govern and swap. For small and midsize businesses, that favors flexibility over loyalty to any one provider.

Sources: OpenAI developer community announcement, Google Cloud blog as reported by securities.io, MarketScreener, OpenTools, aiedgeinsights.com.

Salesforce announced on October 20 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Braze, a customer engagement platform, for about $5.66 billion in enterprise value, with Braze shareholders receiving $47.50 in cash per share. The deal is pending. It is expected to close in Salesforce’s fiscal year 2028, subject to Braze shareholder approval and regulatory clearance.

What Salesforce is buying

Braze coordinates messages across mobile apps, websites, email, SMS and WhatsApp, and updates customer profiles as people browse and buy. Its BrazeAI layer optimizes content, offers, channels and timing, and the company serves roughly 2,770 customers, including Canva, Dairy Queen, Instacart and Venmo. Salesforce says marketers now need agentic tools that can understand customers, make decisions and act in real time. Braze is meant to supply that capability inside Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud, Customer 360 and Agentforce.

What it means for businesses

The strategic signal is more important than the price tag. The valuable part of marketing software is shifting from sending messages to deciding, in the moment, what to send, to whom, and through which channel. Salesforce is paying a premium to own that decision layer rather than build it. Expect competitors to answer with acquisitions or aggressive AI roadmaps of their own.

For companies already using Braze, nothing changes immediately. Braze says it will keep building under its own name and its CEO will stay on. Still, the deal is more than a year from closing, which is a good window to review contract terms, renewal dates and integration dependencies, and to ask how pricing and product direction could shift once the platforms merge. Both companies describe their approach as open and composable, but a vendor’s stated intentions and what happens after integration can differ.

For small and mid-sized businesses, this is mostly an indirect story. Braze’s customers are large consumer brands. The lesson that carries down is about data. Real-time personalization only works when customer events from your website, app, point-of-sale and support channels flow into one place in a clean, usable form. Businesses that sort that out now will be better placed to use whatever AI decisioning tools become affordable later, from whichever vendor.

The open questions

Regulators have yet to weigh in, and integrations of this size often take longer to deliver value than the announcement suggests. Salesforce has not updated its financial guidance for the deal, so its expected return remains unstated. Watch for the Braze shareholder vote and any signals on pricing and product roadmap as the process moves forward.

Sierra and Meta announced the Personal Agent Protocol (PAP) on October 6, 2026, an open standard that defines how personal AI agents authenticate with businesses and act on consumers’ behalf. Founding partners are Walmart, Shopify, Stripe, Rocket, Genesys, and Instinct.

What the protocol does

Sierra says the design splits control: customers decide what access their agents get, while businesses decide which actions those agents may perform. That could give businesses a clearer way to tell an authorized customer’s agent from an unidentified bot.

The problem is already real. Meta launched its Muse shopping agent on September 8, and Amazon blocked it on September 20, saying unauthorized agent access violates its terms and that the agent does not identify itself as an agent. Other companies reportedly blocked Muse for the same reason.

What it does not do yet

The protocol is at an early stage and is not an industry-wide standard. Sierra and Meta plan to publish the v0.1 specification later this month, along with design workshops and a reference implementation. Payments are also not in the first version. Sierra lists payment extensions under future work, so identity and permissions come first and money comes later. The field is crowded too. Walmart and Shopify also take part in the Universal Commerce Protocol with Google, Target, Etsy, and Wayfair, and Stripe co-developed the Agentic Commerce Protocol with OpenAI. Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol covers overlapping ground from the payments side.

What this means for businesses

• 1. Customer agents are becoming a channel. Customers will increasingly send an agent to book, buy, reschedule, or ask questions. Businesses that can identify those agents and define what they may do will serve them. Businesses that cannot will end up blocking them, as Amazon did, or letting them through unchecked.
• 2. Permissions are a business decision. Under the model Sierra describes, the business sets which actions an agent can take. Decide now what an outside agent should be allowed to do without a human: check availability, book an appointment, request a quote, make a payment. Write those rules down before a standard forces the question.
• 3. Service businesses are exposed as much as retailers. Phone lines, booking systems, and intake forms were built for people. As agents become a regular source of inquiries, the intake process will need a way to handle them. Channel Insider notes that the opportunity for integrators and specialists may sit between the protocol and the systems customers already use.
• 4. Do not bet on one protocol. With several competing efforts, avoid heavy custom work tied to a single standard. Favor platforms and vendors that say which protocols they plan to support.

What to watch

Look for the v0.1 specification this month, whether the partner list grows beyond the founding group, and whether Amazon and other blocking retailers engage with the standard. Until those answers arrive, the practical step is preparation: audit how customers reach you, decide what an agent could do on their behalf, and ask your software vendors about their plans.

The first in a new Times Square Chronicles series exploring where to brunch in New York City

One of my favorite things to do in New York City is brunch. There is something wonderfully indulgent about sitting down with friends over a leisurely meal, knowing that nobody has to rush off to work or answer the demands of an ordinary weekday. Saturday brunch is lovely, but Sunday has my heart. It is a day to linger, laugh, catch up, savor something delicious, and enjoy whatever weather New York decides to deliver.

Monday through Saturday, you can live on salads and soup. Sunday deserves a little decadence.

That is the inspiration behind a new Times Square Chronicles series. Every Monday, through January, we’ll introduce you to a restaurant worth considering for your next weekend brunch. Whether you’re gathering with friends, celebrating a birthday, entertaining visitors, or simply treating yourself, we’ll help you find somewhere that makes the occasion special.

The idea came about when I was trying to plan a 90th birthday celebration for my dear friend Pat. Finding a really good brunch restaurant turned out to be far more difficult than I expected. There are plenty of places serving eggs and pancakes, but finding somewhere with wonderful food, atmosphere, service, and that indefinable quality that makes you want to stay is another matter entirely.

So Prince Max and I decided to do the exploring for you.

Our first stop was an obvious choice: Blackbarn, at 19 East 26th Street, overlooking Madison Square Park. We already love this restaurant, but surprisingly, neither of us had experienced its brunch or lunch menu. What better place to begin than somewhere that has already won our affection?

One of Blackbarn’s pleasures is its location. Directly across from Madison Square Park, it offers the opportunity to turn brunch into an entire New York afternoon. Wander through the park, explore Eataly, browse the neighborhood shops, or stumble upon a street fair or a little unexpected art. Even Home Depot is nearby, should your Sunday indulgence inspire a sudden decorating project. This is New York, after all. Half the fun is discovering what happens between destinations.

Blackbarn serves brunch Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Neither Prince Max nor I drink, so we began with chamomile tea and iced coffee. For those who prefer their brunch with bubbles, the restaurant offers 90 minutes of bottomless Varichon & Clerc Privilège Blanc de Blancs from Savoie, France, for $35 per person.

Our meal began with a delightful little gift from the kitchen: cornbread muffins topped with a crust of honey. Sweet, comforting, and just enough to make us anticipate what was coming next.

We followed with the Warm Buttermilk Biscuits ($9), served with peach preserves and whipped butter. These are not the dense, heavy biscuits that leave you wondering whether you should have ordered something else. They pull apart into delicate, peeling squares, while the chunky peach preserves tasting wonderfully fresh. A simple dish, beautifully done.

Normally, we would have ordered Blackbarn’s Bao Buns ($15), filled with crispy pork belly, pickled carrots, and chipotle aioli. They are among our favorite dishes here, and absolutely delectable, but we had enjoyed them just three days earlier at a food tasting, and this particular afternoon was dedicated to new discoveries. Consider the bao buns a recommendation from previous experience.

Prince Max selected the Eggs Benedict ($28), prepared with smoked salmon, hollandaise, an English muffin, and home fries. He savored every bite. He also ordered the Seasonal Fresh Fruit ($13), because I swear this man cannot enter a restaurant without ordering fruit. Some people collect watches. Prince Max collects fruit plates.

I went in a more adventurous direction with the Savory Croughnut Madame ($27). Imagine a rosemary-Parmesan croughnut layered with ham, a fried egg, Tarentaise cheese, and gem lettuce. The combination is wonderfully inventive, with the savory richness of the cheese playing against the pastry’s texture. It is not your grandmother’s brunch sandwich, and that is precisely the point.

I accompanied it with Loaded Potatoes ($15), dressed with sour cream, bacon, and chives. Rich, flavorful, with just the right tang, they made the entire experience feel deliciously extravagant.

Of course, no proper Sunday brunch should end without dessert, particularly when the menu offers Rum Butterscotch Bread Pudding ($15), served with homemade vanilla ice cream and toffee sauce.

This is the dish I would tell you not to miss. Scrumptious, comforting, gloriously indulgent, with the warmth of butterscotch and the richness of toffee, it is everything a great bread pudding should be. If you’re going to abandon restraint for an afternoon, this is a good way to do it.

Blackbarn also knows how to make dining an occasion. On October 25, Thorgy Thor returns to Blackbarn with Halloween on her mind, another reason to keep an eye on the restaurant’s calendar.

What made this particular brunch memorable wasn’t simply the food. It was the pleasure of sitting across from a friend, talking about everything and nothing, laughing, tasting something new, and allowing the afternoon to unfold without watching the clock. That is what I want this series to celebrate.

New York has extraordinary restaurants, but brunch is about more than what arrives on the plate. It is about the company, the neighborhood, the unexpected conversation, the walk afterward, and the luxury of giving yourself a few hours simply to enjoy being alive.

Blackbarn gave us exactly the kind of afternoon we were looking for, with inventive dishes, familiar favorites, a memorable dessert, and one of Manhattan’s loveliest parks just outside the door.

If you’re wondering whether Prince Max ordered enough fruit, I suspect he’ll make up for it at our next destination.

Blackbarn: 19 East 26th Street, New York, NY
Weekend brunch: Saturday–Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

Join us every Monday through January as Times Square Chronicles explores New York City’s brunch scene, one delicious destination at a time.

Chef John Doherty welcomes Executive Chef Israel Reyes as one of Manhattan’s most beautiful restaurants unveils a delicious new season.

There are restaurants you visit for the food, others for the atmosphere, and a select few that understand dining is an experience involving every sense. Blackbarn Restaurant, overlooking Madison Square Park at 19 East 26th Street, belongs firmly in that last category. In a city overflowing with dining options, it remains my personal favorite for its extraordinary combination of design, impeccable service and food that consistently makes me want to return.

This is not a restaurant that needs to shout for attention. It has something far more valuable: confidence, character and an understanding of hospitality that makes guests feel genuinely welcome.

That sensibility was on full display during Blackbarn ‘s fall preview, an evening that brought together some of the city’s leading food critics, culinary insiders and influencers to celebrate the changing season and welcome the restaurant’s new Executive Chef, Israel Reyes, who will work alongside Chef and Owner John Doherty.

For Doherty, whose culinary career has long been associated with exceptional standards and sophisticated American cooking, the arrival of Reyes marks an exciting new chapter. Together, they are introducing a fall menu that embraces the warmth, richness and abundance of the season without sacrificing the creativity that has made Blackbarn such a distinctive dining destination.

Executive Chef, Israel Reyes, T2cs Suzanna Bowling, Chef and Owner John Doherty and Prince Mario – Max

And what a delicious introduction it was.

The evening began with dishes that immediately demonstrated the kitchen’s ability to balance refinement with genuine pleasure. A Yellow Beet and Carrot Kale Salad brought together earthy vegetables, spicy pepitas, fried goat cheese croquettes and a creamy orange dressing. It was a celebration of contrasting textures and flavors, with just enough indulgence to make even the most devoted salad skeptic reconsider.

The Butternut Squash Risotto was autumn in a bowl, combining the natural sweetness of squash with bacon lardons, watercress, grapes and truffle. Rich and luxurious, it captured the comforting side of seasonal cooking while introducing unexpected notes of freshness.

Then came the Heritage Pork Belly Chicharrones, which deserve their own moment of appreciation. Quite simply, they were among the yummiest things of the evening. Pork belly is a dish that can easily become overly heavy, but when its richness is balanced by that irresistible crispness, the result is pure culinary pleasure. These were the kind of bites that make polite conversation temporarily irrelevant.

Blackbarn ‘s Confit Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza used spicy coppa, hazelnut, caramelized onion, arugula, truffle hot honey. Ingredients that speak to the kitchen’s willingness to take something recognizable and give it a sophisticated twist.

The Chicken Empanadas, served with mole and queso fresco, offered a satisfying interplay of savory richness and spice.

The Beef Bulgogi Skewers, accented with scallions and sesame crumbs, introduced a welcome Asian influence. Rather than restricting itself to a narrow definition of American cuisine, Blackbarn embraces the international flavors that make dining in New York so endlessly interesting.

Of course, no celebration of autumn would be complete without cocktails, and Blackbarn’s seasonal creations were every bit as memorable as the food. Sweater Weather, a gorgeous combination of apple bourbon, Blackbarn’s signature Eagle Rare bourbon, lemon, Grand Marnier and apple cider, was particularly enchanting. It tasted like a chilled glass of fresh apple cider, yet somehow warmed your entire soul as you drank it. Autumn in a glass, with a sophisticated little kick.

Then came Oaxacan Autumn, an intriguing blend of Rosaluna mezcal, Brugal rum, pumpkin spice and lemon. The surprise was its flavor, which reminded me immediately of Honees Honey Filled Drops, those wonderful old-fashioned candies with their unmistakable honey sweetness. There was something nostalgic, comforting and deliciously unexpected about it. Two completely different cocktails, both capturing the season beautifully, and both proving that Blackbarn’s creativity extends well beyond the kitchen.

Then there were the desserts.

A Peanut Caramel Sundae delivered the kind of unapologetic indulgence that makes dessert feel like a reward rather than an afterthought with tapioca for a surprise. The Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream, with ginger snaps, chocolate bites and apple cider glaze, was another inspired nod to the season, bringing together the flavors of autumn in a playful, contemporary presentation.

Roasted Figs with shortcake cookie, whipped ricotta and aged balsamic offered a more delicate conclusion, balancing fruit, creaminess and acidity. For those who believe no memorable meal should end without a showstopper the pear and spiced cake with eggnog sauce and the chocolate caramel tart provided a suitably elegant finale.

What makes Blackbarn especially appealing, however, extends well beyond the plate.

The restaurant’s striking interiors marry rustic warmth with architectural sophistication, creating a space that feels both expansive and intimate. It has the kind of effortless elegance that so many restaurants attempt to manufacture but few achieve. The atmosphere is lively without becoming overwhelming, polished without being pretentious, and the service has that increasingly rare quality of anticipating what a guest needs without interrupting the experience.

It is this attention to detail that separates a good restaurant from a truly memorable one. Beautiful surroundings mean little if the food disappoints, and even extraordinary cuisine loses its appeal when hospitality becomes an afterthought. Blackbarn understands that the three must work together.

The fall preview also offered a glimpse of what lies ahead, with new food and cocktail offerings, seasonal programming for fall and winter, holiday celebrations and an upcoming merchandise collection. It is a thoughtful expansion of the Blackbarn experience, inviting guests to make the restaurant part of their celebrations throughout the year.

Chef and Owner John Doherty

With Executive Chef Israel Reyes joining John Doherty in the kitchen, the restaurant is entering the new season with renewed creative energy while remaining faithful to the qualities that have earned it such a loyal following.

Executive Chef, Israel Reyes, Chef and Owner John Doherty

For me, Blackbarn has always represented something special about New York dining. It is a place where beautiful design, exceptional hospitality and genuinely exciting food come together without competing for attention. Each enhances the other, creating an experience that feels complete.

In a city where restaurants open and close with dizzying frequency, that kind of consistency is something worth celebrating.

Blackbarn doesn’t simply serve dinner. It reminds you why going out to dinner in New York can still feel like an occasion.

Blackbarn Restaurant is located at 19 East 26th Street, overlooking Madison Square Park. For menus, reservations and upcoming seasonal programming, visit www.blackbarnrestaurant.com.