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:
H2O.ai Partners with Singapore’s Certis to Deploy AI for Security and Operations
H2O.ai and Singapore’s Certis Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to scale predictive and agentic AI across Certis’ operational environments. The deal merges H2O.ai’s sovereign AI platform with Certis’ Mozart AI orchestration system to deliver real‑time situational awareness, risk anticipation, and operational planning for urban security, transportation and critical infrastructure. Joint initiatives include co‑developing AI models, deploying robotics‑enabled solutions, and running AI‑governance and ethics workshops for staff. The partnership aligns with Singapore’s Smart Nation agenda and aims to industrialise AI responsibly at scale.
Ernie 5.0: Baidu's 2.4 Trillion Parameter Model Becomes China's Best in LMArena
Baidu has launched Ernie 5.0, a 2.4‑trillion‑parameter multimodal model that handles text, images, audio and video through a unified architecture. In the LMArena benchmark released Jan 15 2026, Ernie‑5.0‑0110 earned 1,460 points, ranking eighth worldwide and first among Chinese models, matching OpenAI’s GPT‑5.1...
Airbyte Joins the Agentic AI Foundation as a Silver Member
Airbyte announced its membership as a Silver participant in the Linux Foundation’s newly created Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF). The move underscores Airbyte’s focus on providing secure, scalable ELT/ETL connectors for autonomous AI agents that require continuous, governed data access. By...
Comprehensive AI Marketing Tools Directory with Ratings
The best directory of AI marketing tools anywhere continues to expand. Tools recently added include GWI Spark, Kyutai SST, FLORA , Rime , SocialBee , SketchPro.ai , SharedChat, StepFun , Signal AI , Fish Audio , Photoroom , Repurpose.io ,...
Study: AI Confidence Surges While Readiness Lags on Data Integrity
Precisely’s 2026 State of Data Integrity and AI Readiness study, conducted with Drexel University, surveyed over 500 senior data leaders and found a stark disconnect between AI confidence and operational readiness. While 87% of respondents claim adequate infrastructure, 86% say...
ZeroPoint Technologies Appoints Brett Cline as Chief Executive Officer
ZeroPoint Technologies announced Brett Cline as its new chief executive officer. Cline brings over 20 years of leadership in semiconductor, IP, and EDA software, known for scaling deep‑technology revenue. The company’s hardware‑accelerated memory‑optimization suite promises lower power use, higher bandwidth,...
Yuki Launches with $6M in Funding to Help Businesses Manage Spiraling AI Data Costs
Yuki Technologies raised a $6 million seed round led by Hyperwise Ventures to launch its AI data‑cost optimization platform. The startup’s Yuki Fabric acts as a real‑time control layer for data warehouses such as Snowflake and BigQuery, automatically routing queries to...
Ask A PPC: What Is The PPC Manager’s Role In The AI Era? Via @Sejournal, @Navahf
The article argues that AI has taken over routine PPC execution—real‑time bidding, pacing, and ad formatting—while leaving strategic decision‑making to humans. It stresses that success now hinges on business context, clean first‑party data, and consolidated account structures that feed algorithms...
Shopify Shares More Details On Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Shopify unveiled its open‑source Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), co‑developed with Google, to enable agentic AI shopping that surfaces products based on personalized recommendations. The new Agentic plan lets non‑Shopify merchants upload product data to Shopify’s infrastructure, granting AI agents access...
Congratulations to the #AAAI2026 Outstanding Paper Award Winners
The episode announces the five AAAI‑2026 outstanding papers and two AI‑for‑social‑impact winners, highlighting breakthroughs across description logic revision, continuous‑time causal discovery, vision‑language‑action grounding for robotics, LLM‑enhanced CLIP representations, and high‑pass‑focused hypergraph neural networks. It also showcases PlantTraitNet, which leverages citizen‑science...
PanTerra Launches Streams.AI for Microsoft Teams: Enterprise Communications That Work Inside Teams—Even When Microsoft Teams Goes Down
PanTerra unveiled Streams.AI for Microsoft Teams, a native unified‑communications app that operates inside Teams without requiring Teams Phone licenses. The solution automatically fails over to PanTerra’s carrier‑grade network when Teams experiences an outage, preserving voice, SMS/MMS, and fax capabilities. It...
‘It’s a Pretty Intense Time’: Satya Nadella at Davos Opens up About Fierce AI Competition
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told a Davos audience that AI competition is at a fever pitch, likening it to a new set of rivals every decade that sharpens innovation. He argued that the race is not zero‑sum because the total addressable...
Palantir Helps Ukraine Turn Battlefield Data Into Drone Intercepts
Palantir is partnering with Ukraine to launch Brave1 Dataroom, a secure AI platform that gives vetted Ukrainian defense developers access to real battlefield data for training counter‑drone models. The environment houses visual and thermal imagery of Shahed‑type UAVs, allowing AI...
New AI Method Revolutionises the Design of Enzymes
Researchers at TU Graz and the University of Graz unveiled Riff‑Diff, a novel AI‑driven platform that builds enzyme scaffolds directly around a chosen active centre. The method combines generative models like RFdiffusion with atomistic refinement, achieving angstrom‑level precision and producing enzymes...
Cool AI Tools for Beginners You Can Use Right Now
The article highlights three beginner‑friendly AI platforms—Perplexity AI, Napkin AI, and Make—that deliver immediate productivity gains without requiring technical expertise. Perplexity AI combines search with AI‑generated answers and source citations, offering a robust free plan. Napkin AI converts written notes...
Before India-AI Impact Summit 2026, a Hard Question: Who Gets a Say in AI Governance?
India will host the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, the first time the forum is held in the Global South. Pre‑summit talks highlighted the failure of voluntary AI safety commitments, the risk of market concentration among a handful...
Neusoft and Cerence AI Sign Strategic Cooperation Agreement to Deliver an AI-Powered Automotive Cockpit Platform
Neusoft and Cerence AI have signed an MOU to co‑develop a large‑language‑model‑driven voice platform for automotive cockpits. The collaboration will embed Cerence AI’s conversational and generative AI capabilities into Neusoft’s NAGIC intelligent cockpit software. Together they will deliver pre‑integrated, scenario‑focused...
ZEST Security Adds AI Agents to Identify Vulnerabilities That Pose No Actual Risk
ZEST Security introduced AI Sweeper Agents that assess whether discovered vulnerabilities can actually be exploited in a given IT environment. The solution uses three specialized agents—Analysis, Environment‑Evaluation, and Validation—to match exploit requirements against an organization’s configuration. ZEST reports that more...
IPA Launches Initiative to Help Agencies Unpick GenAI
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has launched a free, online platform called IPAi Forum to help agencies cut through generative AI hype and apply the technology responsibly. The forum delivers real‑world case studies, deployment tactics, and guidance on...
Protiviti Awarded Microsoft Frontier Partner Badge, Recognizing Leadership in AI-First Solutions
Protiviti has been awarded the Microsoft Frontier Partner badge, highlighting its leadership in AI‑first solutions across Microsoft’s cloud portfolio. The recognition underscores the firm’s ability to blend AI agents with human expertise to deliver measurable ROI and secure, compliant outcomes....
ThetRay Appoints Brad Levy as CEO
ThetaRay announced Brad Levy as its new chief executive officer, succeeding Peter Reynolds who will move to an advisory role. Levy brings extensive experience from leading Symphony, MarkitSERV, and a long tenure at Goldman Sachs, positioning him to drive ThetaRay’s...
Machine Learning Assessing Fall Risk in Sarcopenic Seniors
A new machine‑learning model has been validated to assess fall risk in seniors with sarcopenia, achieving roughly 85% predictive accuracy. The algorithm integrates gait analysis, muscle‑mass measurements, and balance metrics collected via wearable sensors. Researchers report that the tool can...
How Bank of America's Erica Does the Work of 11,000 People
Bank of America’s virtual assistant Erica now supports 42 million consumers and 40 000 business clients, handling roughly 2 million interactions daily. The bot relies on rule‑based natural‑language understanding and predictive analytics rather than large language models, enabling precise, low‑error transactions. Erica is...
TechMagic: AI Ads, Data Center Labor, Skilled Trades, XR Training, and Spatial Web
TechMagic hosts Cathy Hackl and Lee Kebler examine how AI is transitioning from pure text generation to agentic, physical systems that act in the real world. They warn that embedding advertising in conversational AI threatens trust, while engagement‑driven metrics could...
Recommended or Rejected: Does AI Trust You
In this episode, host discusses the looming shift to AI-driven search and how businesses can ensure they remain visible when AI becomes the primary recommendation engine. Guest Marcus Sheridan, a renowned marketing strategist and author of "They Ask, You Answer,"...
3PR Revolutionizes Digital PR for Ecommerce Stores With New AI-Led Visibility Deliverables
Digital PR agency 3PR has launched an upgraded service aimed at ecommerce brands, integrating AI-driven visibility tactics into its productized campaigns. The new offering adds features to enhance search engine rankings, secure high-authority media placements, and improve conversion rates on...
Cancilico Raises €2.5M in Seed Funding
Cancilico, a Dresden‑based AI diagnostics startup, secured €2.5 million in seed funding led by a consortium that includes High‑Tech Gründerfonds, TGFS, GEDAD GmbH and ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft. The capital will accelerate the rollout of its AI‑driven software MyeloAID and fast‑track digital biomarker...
'Pin-Sharp 4K Footage' – the 3 Best Security Cameras to Protect Your Home, Recommended by a Smart Home Tech Editor
TechRadar’s homes editor recommends three top security cameras for 2026, each excelling in a different area. The Ring Pan‑Tilt Indoor Cam offers affordable indoor coverage with remote directional control but requires a subscription for cloud storage. Reolink’s Altas PT Ultra...
SoundHound AI Partners With Leading Technology Advisory Firm, Bridgepointe Technologies to Expand Enterprise AI Adoption
SoundHound AI announced a strategic partnership with Bridgepointe Technologies to accelerate enterprise adoption of its Amelia 7 conversational AI platform and Autonomics automation suite. Bridgepointe, trusted by more than 12,000 companies including Marriott and Toyota, will leverage its advisory network...
Satisficing Choices Compound Into Enterprise‑scale AI Risk
How satisficing models, degraded baselines, and compromises compound at scale There is a moment in almost every AI project when someone says the words “This is probably good enough.” It is rarely said carelessly. More often it arrives after months...
Why Your Electric Bill Is so High—And What Could Bring Down Rates
Electric bills have surged nationwide, with PG&E customers seeing a 70% increase over five years and double‑digit growth across many states between 2024 and 2025. While AI‑driven data centers often grab headlines, a Berkeley Lab study shows that when grid...
What If AI Didn’t Replace Us – But Made Us More Human? Untitled by Andrea Bonaceto Studio Has the Answer
Andrea Bonaceto Studio unveiled "Untitled," an AI‑driven living artwork in Hong Kong that transforms personal reflections into evolving cinematic portraits. Powered by OpenAI’s Sora and custom artistic presets, the immersive installation guides participants through a ten‑minute self‑reflection session, converting spoken...
Global AI Deploys Agentic AI Platform for a Leading Insurance Provider to Automate Compliance-Critical Workflows
Global AI has deployed its enterprise‑grade Agentic AI platform for a leading European insurance and asset‑management group, automating a high‑volume, compliance‑critical back‑office workflow that was previously manual and document‑intensive. The solution is fully governed, on‑premise, and tightly integrated with the...
One to One Health Raises $12M in Funding
One to One Health, a Chattanooga-based provider of employer-sponsored onsite and virtual primary care, announced a $12 million financing round led by Frist Cressey Ventures. The capital will fuel nationwide expansion and further development of its AI-enabled Intelligent Care Manager...
UNDP: Chinese Open‑Source AI Crucial to Prevent APAC Divide
A sobering UNDP report warns that unmanaged AI risks widening inequality between nations — and that China's open-source models are the only way for many nations not to be left behind The UNDP’s “The Next Great Divergence: Why AI May...
Forecasting Technology Group Tomorrow.io Announce AI-Enabled Constellation DeepSky
Tomorrow.io unveiled DeepSky, an AI‑enabled satellite constellation that delivers high‑revisit, radar‑based weather observations to close a long‑standing observation gap. The system feeds a proprietary AI engine trained solely on real sensor data, producing decision‑grade intelligence for clients such as Ford,...
C5i Launches Enterprise-Grade Platform Agent5i to Scale Business Value
C5i unveiled Agent5i, an enterprise‑grade platform that lets organizations operationalize and scale autonomous AI agents across mission‑critical workflows. The platform combines planning, intelligence, governance, and systems integration into a single lifecycle environment, from design to continuous optimization. Agent5i ships with...
Agora Partners with Sentino to Advance Physical AI Through Customizable, Retentive AI Agent Experiences
Agora, Inc. has partnered with Sentino to launch a Physical AI Agent Platform that blends Agora’s real‑time Conversational AI Engine with Sentino’s emotional‑depth personas. The solution adds memory, inner‑thought reflections, AI‑generated diary entries, visual illustrations, and music to create companions...
Transparent Partners Launches Agent Studio, Adds Executive Talent to Help Brands Operationalize AI at Scale
Transparent Partners unveiled Agent Studio, a secure AI‑powered platform that hosts agents and converts transformation deliverables into an always‑on, searchable knowledge base. The first deployment, Transparent Project Agent, enables natural‑language queries that surface insights from past projects without digging through...
Kyndryl Unveils New Approach to Driving SAP Modernization Powered by Agentic AI
Kyndryl announced a new Clean Field SAP modernization approach powered by agentic AI, developed with Nova Intelligence. The method automates code customization and remediation during ECC‑to‑S/4HANA migrations, delivering a clean core and faster, lower‑cost transformations. It integrates SAP Business Data...
Netrush Selects IQRush as Strategic Partner to Power AI-Driven Discovery Across the Customer Journey
AI-driven answer engines are reshaping the early stages of the customer journey, prompting brands to seek visibility into how these systems represent them. Netrush, an ecommerce growth agency, announced a strategic partnership with IQRush, a Generative Search Optimization and Answer...
Free AI & Productivity Tools Curated Weekly Newsletter
I’m relaunching my newsletter. Yes, again. This time with intent. It’s weekly. It’s practical. And it’s not here to make you feel bad about all the tools you’re not using. The first edition is a list I actually want myself....
Qlik Welcomes Mark Relph of AWS to AI Council
Qlik announced that Mark Relph, a Director at Amazon Web Services, has joined its AI Council, bringing deep cloud‑ecosystem and enterprise AI implementation experience. The council, launched in 2024, advises Qlik on practical, responsible AI adoption that emphasizes data governance...
Liveops Unveils LiveNexus to Help Enterprises Modernize CX with Confidence
Liveops announced LiveNexus, an AI‑human orchestration platform that combines its 20,000‑plus agent network, three decades of CX data, and best‑in‑class AI into a single operating model. Debuted at Customer Contact Week 2026, the solution lets enterprises test, validate, and scale...
Unbounded AI Use Can Break Your Systems
James Wickett, CEO of DryRun Security, warns that organizations are rapidly embedding large‑language‑model (LLM) features into live products without adequate safeguards. He highlights the danger of AI‑generated code being trusted for critical business logic and access control. The video stresses...
Finance Reimagined – Evolution of Digitization and AI in Finance
Abhishek Nanda, a finance‑tech veteran who has sourced $5 billion in deals, released "Finance Reimagined: Digital Tools and AI for Planning, M&A, and Investing." The book chronicles finance automation from the 1979 VisiCalc spreadsheet to today’s AI‑driven platforms, offering a roadmap...
Neural Networks Advance Hadronic Physics Via Data-Driven Quantum Model Selection
Researchers introduced a "quantum qualifier" metric to decide when quantum‑enhanced deep neural networks (QDNNs) should replace classical deep neural networks (CDNNs) in hadronic physics analyses. Applied to deeply virtual Compton scattering data, the qualifier evaluates data complexity, noise, and dimensionality,...
AI Strategy Must Evolve Beyond Inherited Software by 2026
“𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲?” I ask this when speaking with executives. The answers are usually honest, insightful, and refreshingly self-aware. In a discussion today, someone told me: “We’re still very early. We use AI if it...
LLMs Aren’t Bulletproof Superhumans, They Have Vulnerabilities
Please stop considering LLM-based systems like bulletproof super humans. It’s powerful but has as much if not more vulnerabilities than one individual could. https://t.co/sYCgwmBDUO
AI Agents in GTM Tech Poised for 10x Improvement
"Now is a great time to be in GTM tech. "All the AI agents we use are good. But they could all be 10x better." with @kylecnorton CRO @owner "It's just getting good. The AI Agents are still just...