Today's AI Pulse
Odyssey lands $310M Series B, valued at $1.45B
Odyssey announced a $310 million Series B round that values the AI lab at $1.45 billion. The round was led by Natural Capital and included backers such as Amazon, AMD Ventures, GV, EQT and IQT. In parallel, Odyssey struck a preferred‑cloud deal with AWS to use Trainium silicon for large‑scale model training.
Also developing:
Lamipak Boosts Supply Chain Performance and Resilience With Blue Yonder
Lamipak, a leading aseptic packaging producer, has partnered with Blue Yonder to implement the Blue Yonder Network, a cloud‑based supply‑chain control tower. The solution provides end‑to‑end visibility, AI‑driven recommendations, and multi‑party collaboration across its global network of customers, suppliers and carriers. By unifying data on inventory, shipments and orders, Lamipak aims to boost operational agility, cut costs and enhance customer satisfaction. The deployment supports real‑time risk alerts and capacity monitoring to strengthen resilience amid ongoing supply‑chain volatility.
Export Controls on Artificial Intelligence and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems
The report examines how the United States and China are racing to dominate artificial intelligence (AI) and uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), highlighting a widening technology gap in the U.S. defense industrial base. It finds that current export‑control regimes—EAR, ITAR, and...
Cohere Launches a Family of Open Multilingual Models
Cohere unveiled the Tiny Aya family of open‑weight multilingual models, supporting more than 70 languages and built on a 3.35 billion‑parameter base. The suite includes regional variants—Global, Earth, Fire, and Water—tailored for Africa, South Asia, APAC, West Asia and Europe, and...
Unilever Turns to AI for ‘New Era of Shopping for Brands’
Unilever has signed a five‑year partnership with Google Cloud to embed advanced AI, data and platform capabilities across its global operations. Leveraging Google’s Vertex AI and Gemini models, the consumer‑goods giant will build an AI‑first digital backbone that powers faster...
Linkhome Launches AI Agent to Enhance the Home Buying and Financing Experience
Linkhome Holdings Inc. unveiled its Linkhome AI Agent, an intelligent conversational assistant designed to simplify property searches, market analysis, and mortgage preparation. The tool leverages natural‑language processing to deliver AI‑assisted property recommendations, multilingual interactions, and real‑time market context. By consolidating...
Trifork Launches Danish Sovereign Data and AI Solution as Alternative to US Hyperscalers
Trifork has introduced a Danish sovereign data and AI solution aimed at public authorities and critical infrastructure, offering an alternative to US hyperscalers. The offering bundles four integrated components—Netic data centers, Corax Data platform, Corax AI platform, and Trifork Group...
AI Consulting Startup Navikenz Raises $7.5 Mn Led by Sekar PRC and Sudip Nandy
Navikenz, a Noida‑based AI consulting firm, closed a $7.5 million funding round led by Sekar PRC and Sudip Nandy, adding to a prior $8 million raise. The capital will fund team expansion and further development of its AI platforms, including RetailBOT and...
Share One Base Model, Deploy Many LoRA Adapters Efficiently
Why Fine‑Tuned Models Break the Bank 💸 Every LoRA adapter shouldn’t need its own full base model copy. That’s how dozens become hundreds… and inference becomes impossible. 👉 Multi‑LoRA serving fixes this: one base model, many adapters, applied per request with custom...
AI Can Help Optimise Clean Energy Save Lives and Livelihoods: Ceew CEO
Ceew CEO Anurabha Ghosh highlighted how artificial intelligence can fine‑tune renewable energy dispatch, forecast storm surges and flood risks, and make agriculture more climate‑resilient. She warned that AI’s own resource footprint—energy and water for data centres—must be managed intentionally. India’s...
Samsung Bespoke AI Wants to Run Your Whole Kitchen
Samsung unveiled its Bespoke AI kitchen lineup at KBIS 2026, featuring camera‑enabled Family Hub refrigerators, AI‑powered ovens and Bixby‑driven voice control, all linked through the SmartThings platform. The AI Vision system can recognize up to 37 fresh items and 50 packaged...
Harnessing AI to Secure the Future of Identity
Artificial intelligence is reshaping identity management, with machine and AI agents now surpassing human users in many environments. This surge creates a broader attack surface, as each automated identity demands governance yet often appears outside IT‑approved systems. Channel partners are...
Singapore’s AI ROI Reality: High Spend, Hard Returns
AI hype in Singapore masks modest financial returns. Enterprises spend an average S$18.9 million per AI initiative in 2025, yet only 23% achieve the projected ROI. A PwC global CEO survey shows just 12% of CEOs see both cost cuts and...
U. Arkansas at Little Rock to Launch AI Undergrad Degree
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will debut an undergraduate artificial intelligence degree in the fall of 2026, becoming the latest institution to embed AI into its core curriculum. The program features a stackable credentials model, allowing students from...
Swedish-British Unibloom Teams up with SAP to Turn Climate Data Into Daily Purchasing Decisions
Swedish‑British startup Unibloom has partnered with SAP to launch Unibloom Switch AI within SAP’s enterprise ecosystem. The solution uses AI agents and country‑level emissions, land‑use and cost data to let procurement teams compare suppliers, materials and geographies in minutes, balancing...
Agoda Open Sources APIAgent to Convert Any REST Pr GraphQL API Into an MCP Server with Zero Code
Agoda has released APIAgent, an open‑source tool that turns any REST or GraphQL API into a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server with zero code and no deployments. The proxy reads OpenAPI or GraphQL schemas, generates tool definitions, and uses DuckDB...
Netrio Named to CRN’s MSP 500 List For 2026
Netrio has been named to CRN’s 2026 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Elite 150 category, highlighting its role as a leading AI‑driven managed IT and cybersecurity provider for mid‑market enterprises. The Elite 150 spot recognizes Netrio’s end‑to‑end...
Sneak Preview: Finder?s Feat: Optimizing Search & Discovery With Metadata & Machine Learning at Streaming Media Connect
At Streaming Media Connect, a panel titled “Finder’s Feat: Optimizing Search & Discovery With Metadata & Machine Learning” will examine how structured metadata and AI‑driven tools transform content discovery into a revenue engine. Panelists include Tom Gennari (Fabric), Jamie Mackinlay...
CraftifAI Raises $3 Mn To Build AI Tools For Embedded Software Development
CraftifAI announced a $3 million seed round, led by Ankur Capital, to accelerate its AI-driven platform for embedded software development. The startup’s Orbit platform uses multi‑agent generative AI to automate code generation, hardware optimization, and AI/ML deployment for edge, IoT and...
DSK 2026 Set to Showcase AI & Autonomous Defense Systems
The 2026 Drone Show Korea (DSK) opens Feb. 25 in Busan, covering 26,508 m² with 318 companies from 23 nations. The event’s AI‑centric theme showcases autonomous, manned‑unmanned combat systems, with dedicated Army, Navy and Air Force pavilions. Major players such as...
Infosys and Anthropic Announce Collaboration to Unlock AI Value Across Complex, Regulated Industries
Infosys and Anthropic announced a strategic partnership to embed Anthropic's Claude models, including Claude Code, into Infosys Topaz AI services. The collaboration launches with a dedicated Anthropic Center of Excellence for telecommunications, targeting AI agents that automate complex, regulated workflows. It...
MarTech Interview With Misha Williams, Chief Operating Officer @ GWI
Chief Operating Officer Misha Williams of GWI discusses the launch of Agent Spark, an AI‑powered platform that injects analyst‑grade human insights directly into tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot. He warns marketers that AI outputs must be grounded in representative...
With New Subsidiary, Chams Joins Nigeria’s Growing AI Infrastructure Race
Chams Holding Company Plc announced the formation of a new subsidiary, ChamsCorp Plc, to focus on AI infrastructure, data‑centre design, and digital device manufacturing. The move marks a strategic pivot from its legacy payments and identity services toward the foundational...
Launching KORA, the First Public Benchmark for AI Child Safety
In this episode, Mathilde Collin discusses the launch of KORA, the first public benchmark for AI child safety, explaining how her background in tech and concern for youth mental health drove the initiative. She outlines the early challenges of defining...
How Should Publishers Respond to AI Models ‘Hoovering up’ Copyrighted Content?
Publishers face mounting pressure as AI developers scrape copyrighted material to train large language models. At the Definitive AI Forum in London, leaders from The Guardian, Alvarez & Marsal, and the PPA argued that no single solution exists, but collective action,...
AXIS Consulting Shares a Practical Model for Scaling AI, Automation, and CRM Change
AXIS Consulting unveiled a five‑component operating model to help mid‑market and enterprise firms scale AI, automation, and CRM initiatives beyond isolated pilots. The framework aligns use‑case selection, data governance, process‑first design, embedded change management, and continuous measurement to create repeatable,...
Anthropic, Infosys to Build Custom AI Agents for Firms
Anthropic and Infosys have announced a partnership to create custom AI agents for enterprises, combining Anthropic's Claude large language models, including Claude Code, with Infosys' Topaz AI platform. The collaboration targets sectors such as telecommunications and financial services, aiming to automate...
Starweaver Expands AI Engineering Presence in Hyderabad
Starweaver announced a major expansion of its AI engineering hub in Hyderabad, planning to quadruple its engineering and data staff within six months. The center will accelerate development of AI‑driven platforms such as Journeybuilder, DesignPilot, and analytics intelligence tools for...
AI Voice Agents Set to Power One‑Third of Brands
Is the future of customer operations conversational and human? "Today, <1% of companies use AI voice agents at scale. In two years? One in three brands will.” — Lauren Rothwell @elevenlabsio made this prediction during #CXOSpice. Instant support + conversational commerce is...
AI Is the Future of Warfare and US Is in the Lead
Artificial intelligence is reshaping modern warfare, with the United States far ahead in funding, infrastructure, and operational deployment. The Pentagon now spends at least $2 billion annually on AI‑enabled weapons and billions more indirectly through procurement, while private investment tops $109 billion....
Industrial AI Shifting as Enterprises Turn Analytics Into Autonomous Action
IFS posted 23% annual recurring revenue growth and a 114% net retention rate for FY 2025, indicating industrial AI is moving from pilot projects to large‑scale operational use. The company’s new IFS Nexus Black and Agent Studio platforms let enterprises...
Visual Intelligence Powering Next-Generation Robotics
Machine vision has transitioned from simple part detection to a measurement‑grade sensory core for industrial robots. Advances in high‑resolution cameras, 3D imaging, edge AI and deep‑learning enable sub‑millimeter positioning, real‑time defect recognition and adaptive path correction. This vision‑driven intelligence lets...
OpenAI Deleted Word ‘Safely’ From Its Mission – Its New Structure Is A Test
OpenAI’s latest IRS filing removed the word “safely” from its mission, replacing it with a broader pledge to benefit all of humanity. The change coincided with a legal restructuring that split the organization into a nonprofit foundation and a for‑profit...
AI-Intelligentized Naval Mines and U.S. Subsea Access in the Paracel Islands
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy is modeling AI‑intelligentized seabed mines that could hide in the Paracel Islands’ acoustic shadow zones, creating a persistent anti‑access/area‑denial (A2/AD) field. The concept builds on an estimated 50,000‑100,000 existing Chinese naval mines, adding adaptive target...
Quantum Breakthrough Makes Once‑impossible Problems Solvable
I’ve been waiting for a moment like this. Google’s new quantum chip solved a 150-year-old problem in 2 hours. 13,000× faster than one of the world’s best supercomputers. That’s not incremental. That’s a different category. Their Willow chip ran an algorithm that models how atoms...
How AI Can Make Customer Experience More Human with Vinod Muthukrishnan
Vinod Muthukrishnan, Cisco’s VP of Webex Customer Experience, explains how AI is evolving from a simple tool to a collaborative teammate that handles routine tasks and enriches human interactions. By leveraging AI-driven analytics, brands can anticipate issues, personalize engagements, and...
REMnux V8 Brings AI Integration to the Linux Malware Analysis Toolkit
REMnux released version 8, rebuilt on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and introduces a new Cast‑based installer that handles fresh deployments, upgrades, and container installs. The highlight is the REMnux MCP server, which implements the Model Context Protocol to connect AI agents with the...
AI Boosts Productivity but Amplifies Workload and Burnout
A provocative new Harvard Business Review article is challenging everything we thought we knew about #AI in the workplace. “AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It” shares findings from an eight-month study that reveal a counterintuitive truth: instead of lightening workloads, AI...
Razorpay Becomes India Payments Partner for Replit’s Global AI Platform
Razorpay and Replit have partnered to embed Razorpay’s payments stack into Replit’s AI development platform for Indian users. The integration, currently in beta, lets Indian developers pay for Replit subscriptions in INR using UPI and cards, and enables AI‑built products...
China AI Startup Moonshot Targets $10 Billion Valuation
Moonshot, the Chinese AI startup behind the Kimi chatbot, is launching a new financing round that targets a $10 billion valuation. The company previously secured $500 million at a $4.3 billion valuation, and its existing backers—Alibaba, Tencent and 5Y Capital—have already committed more...
Claims that AI Can Help Fix Climate Dismissed as Greenwashing
A new analysis of 154 AI‑related climate claims finds no material, verifiable emissions reductions from popular generative tools such as Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot. The report distinguishes between traditional, predictive AI—which can modestly aid climate modeling—and energy‑intensive generative models...
Data Is the New Oil, and Your Database Is the only Way to Extract It
In this episode, Ryan interviews Shireesh Thota, Corporate Vice President of Azure Databases at Microsoft, about the rapid evolution of Microsoft's database offerings, including SQL Server, Cosmos DB, and Postgres, and how they fit into a unified Azure data platform....
Crypto.com Receives ISO/IEC 42001 AI Certification as It Expands Its AI Business
Crypto.com announced it is the first digital‑asset platform to earn ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certification, an international standard for AI management systems. The certification confirms that its AI tools are built with security, transparency and regulatory alignment in mind. The firm recently launched...
Speed, Not Scale, Drives AI Agent Advantage
OpenClaw proved that one person can out-ship billion-dollar labs on agents. What does that say about where the competitive advantage actually is?
AI Shifts to Edge, Dem
#AI is leaving the data center for robots, sensors, drones, and #XR. 🥽 It needs open, programmable #5G now and AI-native #6G next. 5G SA brings slicing, automation, and open APIs. 🔗 Read more on Börje Ekholm’s blog: https://t.co/0AP5Zz84dm via...
Leverage AI to 10x Your OKRs!
In this episode Ben critiques the common practice of using AI merely to draft OKRs, warning that it can bypass the crucial conversations that build clarity, ownership, and commitment. He argues that the real value of AI lies in enhancing...
Tech Backlash Repeats: From “Devil Wagons” To AI “Slop”
When cars first came out, people called them "devil wagons" and literally tried to ban them. When that didn't work, they shot at them and even set traps. Calling AI "slop" is the modern version of this. https://t.co/OoLW0Nl2sq
VLA Reasoning Lets Vehicles Safely Navigate Complex Edge Cases
VLAs can enable vehicles to better handle complex edge cases: a VLM can "think through" a complex interaction, deduce a common sense behavior, and then a VLA can carry that out to maintain safe(r) behavior even in unusual situations.
How One of Africa’s Fastest Growing AI Platforms Was Built Out of Ethiopia
Ethiopian‑born startup Gebeya has launched Dala, an AI‑powered no‑code app builder, and amassed 85,000 users within four months. The platform boasts an 8% paying‑customer rate, far above the typical 3% conversion for AI products, thanks to mobile‑first design and local...
Instantly Compare Mall Prices to Amazon Deals
Why do you need this? So you can look at something in a mall and it will tell you “that is cheaper on Amazon.”
How AI, Automation and Services Drive Synnex’s Value Vision
Australian IT distributor Synnex has opened a $150 million, AI‑enabled logistics centre in Melbourne, marking a shift from traditional distribution to a platform‑focused model. The new facility incorporates advanced automation, improving speed, safety and scalability while supporting a broader suite of...