SoftSnow Becomes Zapier Silver Solution Partner, Expanding AI Automation Services
SoftSnow, an AI consulting firm, announced its new Zapier Silver Solution Partner status, enabling it to embed Zapier’s low‑code automation across 8,000+ apps. The partnership expands SoftSnow’s AI Strategic Transformation methodology with enterprise‑grade security, governance, and scalable workflow design. By leveraging Zapier’s platform, SoftSnow aims to solve the “automation trap” that plagues many enterprises, delivering faster ROI through its AI Opportunity Matrix. Founder Reid Valfer highlighted that the alliance helps clients integrate existing tools rather than adding new, complex solutions.
Tasq AI and BLEND Announce Merger to Launch the “Trust Layer” For Global Enterprise AI
Tasq AI and BLEND have merged to form a unified platform that delivers a “trust layer” for enterprise AI, combining Tasq’s proprietary data‑refinery technology with BLEND’s global crowd of millions and 25,000 domain experts. The new entity, operating under the...
Understanding the Layers of AI Observability in the Age of LLMs
AI observability extends classic logging, metrics, and tracing into the probabilistic world of large language models. By breaking an LLM‑driven workflow into traces and nested spans, teams can monitor each step—from input handling to final decision—just like traditional production software....
AI Models Don't Have a Unified "Self" - and That's Not a Bug
Anthropic researcher Josh Batson argues that language models like Claude do not maintain a unified internal representation of facts. Experiments show the model uses separate mechanisms to retrieve knowledge and to verify statements, leading to contradictory answers. This internal fragmentation...
How to Build a Multi-Turn Crescendo Red-Teaming Pipeline to Evaluate and Stress-Test LLM Safety Using Garak
The tutorial demonstrates building a multi‑turn crescendo‑style red‑team pipeline with Garak to stress‑test large language model safety. It adds a lightweight custom detector for system‑prompt leakage and an iterative probe that escalates benign prompts toward sensitive extraction across several turns....
This AI Spots Dangerous Blood Cells Doctors Often Miss
Researchers at Cambridge, UCL and Queen Mary have unveiled CytoDiffusion, a generative‑AI system that scrutinizes blood‑smear images to flag abnormal cells. Trained on more than half a million samples, the model captures subtle morphological variations that often elude human experts....
CloseMate Leads a New Era of Artificial Intelligence
CloseMate launched early access to the world’s first fully autonomous CRM built on AGI‑grade logic, redefining the model from traditional SaaS to “Service as Software.” Its AI agents act with executive authority, handling qualification, refunds, upsells and calendar bookings directly...
Speechmatics, Sully.ai Partner to Scale Healthcare AI Infrastructure Globally
Speechmatics and Sully.ai announced a strategic partnership that couples Speechmatics' medical‑grade speech models with Sully's autonomous agent platform, all running on NVIDIA AI infrastructure. The collaboration aims to deliver AI receptionists and clinical scribes that cut administrative burden and generate...
Deepgram Raises $130M at $1.3B Valuation and Buys a YC AI Startup
Deepgram announced a $130 million Series C funding round, valuing the voice‑AI company at $1.3 billion. The round was led by AVP and included existing backers plus new strategic investors such as Twilio, SAP and Y Combinator. Deepgram, now cash‑flow positive, plans to expand...
CrowdStrike and Nord Security Partner to Redefine SMB Cybersecurity
CrowdStrike and Nord Security announced a strategic partnership to bring AI‑native Falcon protection to small and midsize businesses. The collaboration bundles Falcon Go and Falcon Enterprise with NordLayer’s secure access platform, simplifying purchase and deployment for SMBs. A joint offering with Pax8...
7 Free Google AI Tools that Rival Paid Alternatives
Google has rolled out a suite of free generative‑AI tools that rival costly paid services, covering video summarization, web‑app creation, workflow automation, presentation design, brand‑focused content, image synthesis, and multi‑speaker audio. All tools run on Google’s Gemini model and are...
Anthropic's Claude Cowork Was Built in Under Two Weeks Using Claude Code to Write the Code
Anthropic unveiled Claude Cowork, an AI‑powered collaboration app built in roughly one and a half weeks. The majority of its code was generated by Claude Code, the company’s own code‑generation model, according to inventor Boris Cherny. Product manager Felix Rieseberg said the sprint‑and‑a‑half effort...
Tuya Smart Launches Aura, an AI Companion Robot Designed for Pets
Tuya Smart introduced Aura, an AI‑powered pet companion robot, at CES 2026, extending its AI cloud and physical AI roadmap. The device blends autonomous navigation, computer vision, sound recognition and generative AI to monitor behavior, infer emotional states and interact through...
Search Marketing’s Insight Gap: When Automation Replaces Understanding via @Sejournal, @Coreydmorris
Search marketing has rapidly adopted automation—from AI‑generated content to automated bidding—boosting efficiency and scale. However, leaders now face an "insights gap" where performance shifts are visible but their causes remain unclear, eroding confidence in decision‑making. The article argues the problem...
Salesforce Rolls Out New Slackbot AI Agent as It Battles Microsoft and Google in Workplace AI
Salesforce launched a rebuilt Slackbot AI agent for Business+ and Enterprise+ customers, powered by Anthropic’s Claude large language model and integrated with Salesforce records, Google Drive, calendars, and Slack history. Internally, 80,000 employees adopted it rapidly, achieving 96% satisfaction and...
"Slackbot Isn’t Just Another Copilot or AI Assistant - It’s the Front Door to the Agentic Enterprise" - Salesforce's New...
Salesforce has made Slackbot, its AI‑powered conversational assistant, generally available to Business+ and Enterprise+ customers, expanding the Dreamforce 2025 preview into a production feature. Slackbot links Slack conversations with Salesforce records and third‑party apps such as Google Drive, enabling it...
Slack’s Automated Bot Is Getting an Upgrade Into an AI Workplace Helper
Slack is revamping its native Slackbot into an AI‑powered workplace assistant for paid customers. The new bot can summarize discussions, retrieve data from integrated apps, draft reports and Canvas documents, and schedule meetings via plain‑language prompts. Leveraging retrieval‑augmented generation, it...
Why Sakana AI’s Big Win Is a Big Deal for the Future of Enterprise Agents
Japanese startup Sakana AI’s coding agent ALE‑Agent captured first place in the AtCoder Heuristic Contest, outpacing more than 800 human competitors. The four‑hour run leveraged inference‑time scaling, generating, testing, and iterating hundreds of solutions. By introducing a "Virtual Power" concept,...
CallTrackingMetrics Rebrands to CTM
CallTrackingMetrics has rebranded as CTM, signaling its transition from a call‑analytics vendor to an AI‑driven communications intelligence platform. The new identity comes with a refreshed visual brand, website, and a suite of enterprise‑grade features launched in Q4, including Adobe Analytics...
OutSystems Welcomes SaaS Veteran Fay Sien Goon as Chief Financial Officer
OutSystems announced that Fay Sien Goon will serve as its new chief financial officer. Goon arrives with more than two decades of SaaS finance leadership, most recently as CFO of AppFolio and earlier as chief accounting officer at ServiceNow. In her role...
Euna Solutions Acquires GrantExec, Advancing AI-Driven Grants Discovery and Research
Euna Solutions announced the acquisition of GrantExec, an AI‑native startup that streamlines grant discovery for nonprofits, universities and community organizations. GrantExec, founded in 2022, uses artificial intelligence to organize tens of thousands of live grant opportunities from government and private...
Brazil Orders Meta to Suspend Policy Banning Third-Party AI Chatbots From WhatsApp
Brazil’s competition authority (CADE) has ordered Meta to halt its WhatsApp Business API rule that blocks third‑party AI chatbots, launching an antitrust probe into the policy’s exclusivity. The restriction, introduced in October, would have prevented services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and...
Signal Creator Moxie Marlinspike Wants to Do for AI What He Did for Messaging
Moxie Marlinspike, the creator of Signal, has launched Confer, an open‑source AI assistant that encrypts user prompts and LLM responses end‑to‑end. The system uses passkeys, trusted execution environments, and remote attestation to keep data unreadable to operators, hackers, or law‑enforcement....
1X Says New World Model Allows Humanoid Robot Neo to Learn On Its Own
1X unveiled an updated world model for its humanoid robot Neo, enabling it to translate natural-language prompts into physical actions without task-specific programming. The video-based AI combines internet-scale video data, onboard perception, and an internal dynamics system to plan movements...
Imagen Network Enhances Multimodal AI Systems for Richer On-Chain Creative Experiences
Imagen Network, a decentralized AI multimedia platform, announced upgrades to its multimodal AI system, improving integration of visual, textual, and contextual inputs. The enhancements enable creators to generate more expressive, cohesive, and adaptable digital assets on-chain, boosting narrative alignment and...
Converge Bio Raises $25M, Backed by Bessemer and Execs From Meta, OpenAI, Wiz
Converge Bio, a Boston‑Tel Aviv AI startup, closed a $25 million Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from TLV Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, and unnamed executives from Meta, OpenAI, and Wiz. The company offers generative‑AI platforms that integrate antibody...
Northwestern Medicine Selects Tempus to Expand Genomic Testing
Northwestern Medicine announced a partnership with Tempus AI to broaden genomic testing for its cancer patients, aiming to cover nearly all tumor types, including early‑stage diagnoses. Tempus will provide a suite of next‑generation sequencing services—solid‑tissue DNA/RNA profiling, liquid biopsy, and...
Seeweb Launches Serverless GPU: The Solution to Overcome GPU Shortages and Accelerate AI Innovation
Seeweb introduced a Serverless GPU service that delivers on‑demand, scalable graphics processing power without requiring local hardware. The offering integrates with existing Kubernetes or cloud environments and is hosted in Europe, ensuring compliance with regional data regulations. By eliminating upfront...
'Small Decisions Have Long Tails' – I Asked ChatGPT for My Horoscope, and What It Told Me Was Surprisingly Grounding
TechRadar writer tested ChatGPT’s ability to write a personal horoscope, using the writer’s birth date as input. The model produced a nuanced, metaphor‑rich reading that highlighted Pluto, Saturn and Jupiter transits while offering concrete productivity and relationship advice. This exercise...
Infortrend Launches Edge AI Server, Bringing AI to The Edge Without Complex Setup
Infortrend Technology unveiled the KS 3000U edge AI server, a turnkey solution that combines compute, storage, and management software to enable AI inference at remote sites. The 2U chassis supports AMD EPYC 8004 CPUs, up to two NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 GPUs,...
PulseAI Secures Seed Funding to Advance AI-Driven ECG Diagnostics
PulseAI announced the close of a seed round led by Innovation Ulster Limited, with participation from The Mortara Group and The Francis Crick Institute. The capital will fund scaling of its AI‑ECG platform and accelerate FDA 510(k) clearance. Dr. Justin...
The Latency Trap: Smart Warehouses Abandon Cloud for Edge
Smart warehouses are abandoning cloud‑centric architectures in favor of edge AI to eliminate the latency trap that hampers autonomous robots. A 200 ms Wi‑Fi hiccup can blind a robot moving at 2.5 m/s, turning a smooth operation into a collision risk. By...
X Square Robot Secures $140 Million in Series A++ Funding
X Square Robot announced a $140 million Series A++ round, backed by ByteDance, HongShan and existing backers Alibaba and Meituan. The funding fuels its development of WALL‑A, an embodied AI foundation model that merges VLA with world models for zero‑shot generalization....
1Password Appoints Nancy Wang as Chief Technology Officer to Lead AI Strategy
1Password announced Nancy Wang as its new Chief Technology Officer, tasking her with leading the global engineering team and shaping the company’s AI strategy. Wang will focus on securing both human and non‑human identities, addressing the rise of AI‑driven workflows...
Free ChatGPT Training Helps Small Businesses Work Smarter
ONLC Training is offering a free, instructor‑led online class on January 22, 2026 that introduces small‑business professionals to practical ChatGPT applications. The 90‑minute session covers core capabilities, such as drafting emails, preparing for meetings, summarizing content, and enhancing collaboration, all explained in...
The 8 Best AI Visibility Tools to Win in AI Search (2026)
AI visibility tools now let brands monitor how they appear in AI‑generated answers from platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity. The guide evaluates eight solutions, ranging from lightweight monitors such as Otterly AI to enterprise‑grade suites like Semrush...
Tredence Unveils Agentic Commerce Solution Accelerators
Tredence announced its Agentic Commerce accelerators, a suite of five configurable AI agents that let retailers design, build and scale personalized shopping experiences. The platform promises to cut implementation time by 60% and is initially launched on Google Cloud, with...
ExpertEase AI Now Available in the Microsoft Marketplace
ExpertEase AI, an Australian sovereign AI platform, is now listed on the Microsoft Marketplace, enabling global Microsoft customers to discover and deploy the solution. The service runs exclusively on Azure Australia East and Southeast datacenters, offering voice‑operated, no‑code digital employees...
Digital Glow-Up: Unilever Blends AI, Creators, and Culture to Build Desire at Scale
Unilever’s beauty division is overhauling its marketing by fusing AI tools, creator partnerships, and cultural insight to generate “desire at scale.” Selina Sykes details how the company built an AI‑driven content engine, the Brand DNAi framework, and digital twins to...
Bausch + Lomb’s John Ferris on Making Science Approachable
John Ferris, consumer president of Bausch + Lomb, explained how the company is using education‑led strategies to motivate eye‑care purchases before problems arise. He highlighted partnerships with eye‑care professionals as credible influencers and stressed the need to tailor brand content for AI‑driven...
Introducing “TaylorAI,” Impilo’s Digital Health Concierge Agent
Impilo launched TaylorAI, an AI‑powered digital health concierge embedded in its Digital Health Store, to assist patients buying remote patient monitoring devices. The agent guides users through setup, connectivity, and troubleshooting, reducing reliance on traditional support channels. Early pilots show...
Applied Brain Research Closes Seed Funding Round to Accelerate Edge AI Voice Processing
Applied Brain Research (ABR) closed an oversubscribed seed round led by Two Small Fish Ventures, bringing new capital to scale its TSP1 state‑space accelerator chip and edge AI software. The TSP1 delivers full‑vocabulary speech‑to‑text and text‑to‑speech on‑device using less than...
DDN Earns Top Spot on CRN’s Cloud 100 List for 2026
DDN, the leading AI data platform provider, has been named the top‑ranked company on CRN’s 2026 Cloud 100 list. The list highlights 100 channel‑focused cloud firms across infrastructure, security, software, storage and management. DDN earned the spot for its high‑performance, AI‑optimized...
AITX Announces Measurable and Disciplined Operating Expense Reductions
Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions (AITX) announced a disciplined reduction in operating expenses, cutting monthly payroll from roughly $760,000 to $630,000 and trimming another $50,000 through better purchasing and vendor management. The company also paused development on its HERO and RADDOG...
BitradeX Launches New .ai Domain, Embracing a New Era of AI-Driven Digital Asset Ecosystem
BitradeX has migrated its primary website from bitradex.com to bitradex.ai, marking a strategic rebrand that embeds artificial intelligence into its corporate identity. The .ai domain underscores the platform’s commitment to merging AI with blockchain for smarter digital‑asset services. BitradeX promises...
STUDY: 73% of Students Say Awareness of AI Detection Tools Changes How They Use AI
Copyleaks’ 2025 AI in Education Trends Report surveyed over 1,000 U.S. students and found that 73% modify their AI usage when they know detection tools are in place. About 36% use AI less, while 37% edit outputs to evade detection,...
HealthLeap Appoints New Executive Leadership to Accelerate Growth in 2026
HealthLeap, an AI-driven clinical decision platform, announced three senior executive appointments—Chief Commercial Officer Wayne Grodsky, Chief Strategy Officer Michael Blumental, and Chief Technology Officer Tamir Shklaz—to drive a rapid expansion in 2026. The hires accompany a reported 7‑fold revenue increase...
Anchor Browser Powers Groq’s Agent Platform, Enables AI Access to the Web
Anchor Browser announced it now powers Groq’s agent infrastructure, delivering high‑performance, reliable browser capabilities for AI agents. The integration lets Groq’s agents interact with modern web sites and internal SaaS tools that lack APIs, bridging the gap between AI models...
CloudMasonry Launches Data & AI Practice Under Leadership of Landon Harris
CloudMasonry, a Salesforce consulting firm, announced the launch of a dedicated Data & AI Practice led by Landon Harris. The new unit will provide data strategy, cross‑cloud integration, advanced analytics, AI/ML advisory, and intelligent document processing for clients. Harris brings...
Contextual Intelligence Becomes the New Standard For Exceptional CX in 2026
Zendesk’s 2026 CX Trends report declares contextual intelligence—the real‑time blend of AI, data and human insight—as the new benchmark for exceptional customer experience in APAC. The study shows that 77% of regional consumers now expect higher service standards, 96% demand...