Category Archives: News

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Visits Speaker Surama Padhy at AIIMS Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 24 (UDN): Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi today visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, to meet the Hon’ble Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, Smt. Surama Padhy, who is currently undergoing treatment at the hospital.

 Pic credit:x.com/MohanMOdisha

During the visit, the Chief Minister enquired about her health and interacted with the attending doctors to assess her medical condition and progress. He emphasized that all necessary medical care and support should continue to be ensured for her recovery.

The Chief Minister prayed to Lord Jagannath for Smt. Surama Padhy’s speedy recovery and wished her good health and well-being.

Casio to Release Limited-Edition Timepiece Celebrating MR-G 30th Anniversary.

Latticework Dial Finished in Platinum Leaf, with Structural Color Technology Employed to Create Metal Leaf-Inspired Textures for Bezel and Bracelet

TOKYO, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Casio Computer Co., Ltd. announced today the release of a new MR-G timepiece, adding to the flagship line of the G-SHOCK brand of shock-resistant watches. The new MRG-B2100HR, featuring a dimensional latticework dial inspired by kigumi^*1 and finished in platinum leaf, is available in a limited edition of only 800 pieces worldwide.

To commemorate the 30 years since the debut of MR-G in 1996, Casio drew from metal leaf, embodying tradition and innovation. The design expresses a strength that transcends time through the theme of haruka (eternity). Metal leaf artist Hiroto Rakusho created an original artwork, which together with the timepiece design brings the world of haruka to life.

Built on the shock-resistant MRG-B2100 with its octagonal bezel, the new MRG-B2100HR features a dimensional latticework dial. Each timepiece is adorned with platinum leaf applied by Rakusho. Powdered platinum leaf creates depth and gives each timepiece distinct character.

The bezel and bracelet evoke Rakusho’s artwork, with metal leaf-inspired textures rendered using structural color technology. ^*2 Precision laser processing produces colors that change with the viewing angle. The design brings together traditional techniques and cutting-edge technology to highlight the beauty of metal leaf.

The bezel is formed from 27 components, each polished before assembly. The bezel and bracelet employ the super-hard alloys COBARION^*3 and DAT55G^*4, respectively. Together, the finishes and materials deliver both refined metallic beauty and toughness.

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Mosaics Fine Art Festival Honors 2026 Best of Show Winner

(St. Charles, Mo., September 24, 2026) Mosaics Fine Art Festival awarded its 2026 Best of Show honor to Jessica Martinez of Washington, Missouri during the organization’s 31^st annual festival. Martinez was selected from nearly 70 juried artists representing more than 15 states.

Martinez received a $1,000 cash prize as the first-place winner for her oil and acrylic artwork. Eight artists received Awards of Recognition and $500 prizes:

• Chris Abigt, oil and acrylic, Ottumwa, Iowa
• Larry Drake, jewelry, Nashville, Tennessee
• Justin Leszcz, clay, St. Louis, Missouri
• Tatyana Robberts, oil and acrylic, O’Fallon, Illinois
• Byron Rogers, printmaking, Florissant, Missouri
• Steven Ryan, clay, Quincy, Illinois
• Steve Springmeyer, photography, St. Louis, Missouri
• Suzanne Woolf, mixed media, Greenville, South Carolina

“Jessica Martinez’s work stood out for its exceptional technical skill, thoughtful use of color and compelling artistic vision,” said Denise Wulff, president of Mosaics Fine Art Festival. “Her pieces demonstrate the level of creativity and craftsmanship that makes Mosaics such a meaningful celebration of fine art. We are proud to recognize her as this year’s Best of Show winner.”

Pictured from left to right are artist festival judge Brian David Smith, Best of Show winner Jessica Martinez and Mosaics Fine Art Festival president Denise Wulff.

The Mosaics Fine Art Festival is a nonprofit organization that showcases local and regional artists while educating the community’s children and adults on how art can enhance their lives. The festival features a wide array of artwork produced by a mix of emerging, mid-career and established artists in all media. For more information, call (314) 406-2067 or visit Mosaics Fine Art Festival.

Efectis Group Strengthens Its Presence in India with the Launch of Efectis India

New subsidiary combines global fire safety expertise with local capabilities to support India’s infrastructure, industrial and energy ambitions

CHENNAI, India, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Efectis, a global leader in fire safety and explosion risk management, has officially launched Efectis India following the acquisition of a majority stake in AADIT, developed by entrepreneurs Mr. Anil Agarwal and Mr. Jothi Ramalingam. This strategic milestone marks a significant step in the Group’s long-term commitment to the Indian market.

With more than 70 years of experience as a testing institute, Efectis group has inaugurated a new fire testing facility in Chennai, dedicated to performing fire tests based on Indian, European and international standards. This is the first international fire testing laboratory in India, operated by a strong local team and supported by more than 300 fire experts from Efectis. The Group aims to support India’s development ambitions by providing internationally recognised fire safety expertise tailored to local needs.

The official launch was celebrated at a high-profile event in Chennai, organised with the support of Business France, reflecting Efectis’ ambition to become a trusted partner for India’s rapidly evolving construction, infrastructure, industrial and energy sectors.

The event, held at the Taj Club House Hotel, brought together the Consul General of France in Puducherry and Chennai, Mr. Etienne Roland-Piègue, along with representatives from industry, government institutions, technical organisations, academia and the wider French Indian business ecosystem. Throughout the event, speakers and industry professionals highlighted the need to further strengthen fire safety in India.

Efectis Supporting India’s Next Phase of Growth

India’s rapid urbanisation, large-scale infrastructure projects and industrial expansion are generating increasing demand for advanced safety, resilience and regulatory compliance solutions. In this context, Efectis India will offer a comprehensive range of services, including fire safety engineering, testing, certification, inspection, risk assessment, technical audits, training and compliance support.

Combining local presence with international experience, Efectis India will support safety improvement, developers, manufacturers, infrastructure operators, industrial facilities, energy transition projects, battery technologies and critical infrastructure. Efectis will be available to assist national and regional public authorities or their representatives in addressing evolving fire and explosion safety challenges linked to modern and scientific assessment methods. The new facility will make fire testing more accessible and cost-effective for manufacturers and project owners in India, while ensuring a direct link with recognized international and local practices.

The launch comes at a time when India is accelerating investments in smart cities, industrial corridors, logistics hubs, transportation networks and clean energy infrastructure. As these projects grow in scale and complexity, this investment in India aims to strongly contribute to the improvement of Indian safety in construction, transportation and energy development, ensuring life safety, and make safer international industrial investment.

“The launch of Efectis India through a partnership with AADIT reflects our strong confidence in India’s long-term growth trajectory and our commitment to supporting the country’s ambitions with internationally recognised technical and scientific expertise in fire safety and risk management,” said Daniel Joyeux, President of the Efectis Group

“Our objective goes beyond delivering technical services. We want to build lasting partnerships with Indian stakeholders, contribute to skills development and support the creation of safer, more resilient infrastructure and industrial projects across the country. India is a strategic market for Efectis, and we look forward to working alongside our customers and partners in the years ahead.”

Through engineering expertise, testing and certification capabilities, technical training and regulatory support, Efectis India is positioning itself as a trusted long-term partner for safer buildings, more resilient infrastructure and sustainable industrial growth.

Efectis is an international third-party fire safety company, covering fire and explosion testing, inspection, certification, audits, investigation and engineering. With more than 70 years of experience, more than 350 professionals operating from 28 offices, 8 fire testing laboratories, and recognition as a certification body in 35 countries, Efectis supports clients throughout the entire project lifecycle. In 2025, the Group carried out more than 20,000 tests worldwide, serving sectors including construction, infrastructure, transport, energy, logistics, industry, batteries, and nuclear facilities. Based on a very strong technical and scientific background, Efectis Group actively participates in developing European and international standards and supports the improvement of national fire safety regulations.

Contact 

india@efectis.com  

Efectis headquarter                                                                                                         

Route de l’Orme des Merisiers 

91190 Saint-Aubin, France                                                                             

Fire And Explosion Safety Experts

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CooperVision Powers the Next Era of Eye Care with New Global Vision Centre and Major Pipeline Advancements

The Vision Centre Brings Industry Leading Innovation to Accelerate Breakthroughs in Eye Care

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — CooperVision today unveiled the grand opening of The Vision Centre, the company’s new global innovation hub in Southampton, England, and announced six major product advancements that have been accelerated to launch over the next several years. The announcements were made as CooperVision brings together research and development, clinical expertise, pilot manufacturing, advanced technologies, and commercial capabilities to accelerate the development and commercialization of breakthrough solutions for patients and eye care professionals worldwide. 

During the event, the company highlighted plans to introduce:

• The build-out of the world’s first and only complete family of 1-day contact lenses for myopia control, built on the world’s #1 toric design;
• A novel premium 1-day silicone hydrogel (SiHy) technology;
• A next-generation SiHy material in a high-performing monthly contact lens;
• A differentiated entry 1-day SiHy innovation to drive new fits;
• The most advanced 1-day SiHy toric multifocal contact lens;
• A new toric 1-day contact lens experience for astigmatic patients.

Together, these innovations represent one of the most ambitious product pipelines in CooperVision’s history, reflecting the company’s confidence in the future of contact lenses and its commitment to shaping the next era of vision care through science-led innovation.

“We’re not satisfied with simply keeping pace with the evolution of eye care. We intend to help define what’s next, while strengthening CooperVision’s position as an innovative, technology-forward and consumer-connected vision care leader,” said Jerry Warner, President of CooperVision.

The Vision Centre itself reflects CooperVision’s continued investment in purposeful innovation and serves as a physical expression of the company’s commitment to advancing vision for every eye. By strengthening the connections between scientific discovery, customer insight, product development, and commercialization, The Vision Centre is designed to help accelerate the delivery of meaningful innovations to eye care professionals and patients around the world.

The state-of-the-art facility is designed to create faster learning cycles and accelerate the path from idea to market-ready solution. The Centre further strengthens CooperVision’s ability to leverage advanced modeling, simulation, analytics, and AI-enabled tools to support faster decision-making and future discoveries. The result is an ecosystem that combines scientific rigor, advanced technology, and deep customer understanding to help shape the future of eye care.

“The future of eye care will be shaped by collaboration, scientific advancement, and a deep understanding of the people who provide and benefit from our innovations,” said Warner. “The Vision Centre provides an environment that helps our teams build on the strong collaboration that already exists across CooperVision, enabling faster learning, deeper integration, and accelerated discovery.”

Spanning 9,940 square meters, the multi-story facility combines advanced laboratories, pilot manufacturing capability, a state-of-the-art clinic, customer engagement spaces, and technology-enabled environments.

The site will house approximately 350 employees and welcome colleagues, customers, partners, and other visitors from across the vision care industry through a range of learning, development, and collaboration programs.

For more information on CooperVision, visit www.coopervision.com.

About CooperVision

CooperVision, a division of CooperCompanies (Nasdaq: COO), is a global leader in contact lens innovation, dedicated to advancing vision at every stage of life. The company offers one of the industry’s most comprehensive portfolios of soft and specialty contact lenses—including daily disposable, two-week and monthly options—with high–performance materials and optics across spherical, toric, and multifocal designs. With a strong heritage of addressing complex vision challenges such as childhood myopia, astigmatism, presbyopia, and irregular corneas, CooperVision combines purposeful research and development, state–of–the–art manufacturing, and deep practitioner partnerships to deliver clinically advanced solutions. Decades of experience and insight continue to shape the eye care profession and create meaningful advantages for both practitioners and wearers. For more information, visit www.coopervision.com.

About CooperCompanies

CooperCompanies (Nasdaq: COO) is a leading global medical device company focused on helping people experience life’s beautiful moments through its two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision is a trusted leader in the contact lens industry, helping to improve the way people see each day. CooperSurgical is a leading fertility and women’s healthcare company dedicated to putting time on the side of women, babies, and families at the healthcare moments that matter most. Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., CooperCompanies has a workforce of more than 15,000, sells products in over 130 countries, and positively impacts over fifty million lives each year. For more information, please visit www.coopercos.com.

Media Contact

Laura DiCaprio, APR, McDougall Communications

laura@mcdougallpr.com or +1-585-434-2153

Heather Kowalczyk, APR, McDougall Communications

heather@mcdougallpr.com or +1-585-434-2148

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Bird.com secures $450m financing as it launches communications infrastructure for AI agents

• $450 million debt financing led by J.P. Morgan, Capital One and Citi comprises a $400 million term loan and $50 million revolving credit facility.
• Revamped Bird platform builds on giving AI agents access to the outer world in a regulated compliance-focused Agentic Harness to send messages, make calls, and manage email directly, as Bird accelerates its push into the US.
• Bird generated $165 million EBITDA in 2025 following extensive automation across the business.

NEW YORK and AMSTERDAM, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — AI communications infrastructure company Bird.com has completed a $450 million debt financing, led by J.P. Morgan, and unveiled a revamped Agentic Harness platform that now lets AI agents send messages, place calls, manage email, and even get their own eSIM phone plan on Bird’s network without custom integration.

The platform forms part of Bird’s broader repositioning to serve the growing agent economy as the company accelerates its push into the US.

This follows a two-year period during which the company continued to grow, generated $165 million EBITDA in 2025 and extensively automated its operations.

Bird’s headcount has fallen from more than 1,000 at its peak to 120 today, driven by extensive automation across the business rather than a retreat from the market. The automation drive has resulted in higher productivity and lower prices for customers, with some channels costing 90% less than competitors.

Robert Vis, founder and CEO of Bird.com, said:

“This is the direction the global economy is heading in, and we as a company have demonstrated how automation can work. We didn’t automate to cut headcount, we did it to become more productive, and the headcount came down as a result.”

“Half the apps on your phone rely on our infrastructure, and yet we’re running this business at a fraction of the size we used to be. You can’t do that unless you’re automated in a way that would have sounded crazy a few years ago.“

The $450 million financing comprises a $400 million term loan and $50 million revolving credit facility. It is structured as a dividend recapitalization, providing liquidity to Bird’s existing shareholders, including current and former employees with equity in the company. The financing involved seven banks, including J.P. Morgan, Capital One and Citi.

Shikha Goyal-Allain, Managing Director and Market Executive, Innovation Economy, Commercial Banking at J.P. Morgan, said:

“We’re seeing significant growth in agentic AI, and we expect that to keep accelerating as agents transact and communicate on people’s behalf. Bird has built a business combining scale, a lean operating model and sustained profitability. Leading this financing reflects our confidence in Bird’s fundamentals and in Robert’s track record of running a highly efficient, profitable business as it takes on its next chapter.”

Bird’s revamped platform includes a new layer — its Agentic Harness — specifically designed for AI agents to use Bird’s products via the technical protocols they rely on to connect to software, with full access to create, update and manage information across Bird’s systems on their own, so no human needs to log in. Operational mechanics that previously had to be handled manually by developers, including how message delivery differs by country and how to reach an inbox differently depending on the provider, can now be executed without a human in the loop. Agents’ ability to manage the Harness end-to-end is a significant differentiator versus competitors such as Twilio where agents’ access is more limited. Further, the platform connects to multiple major AI models rather than a single one, giving Bird’s customers enormous flexibility.

Robert Vis added:

“The world is filling up with AI agents. They can reason, plan and decide. But an agent that can’t send the email, fire the text or pick up the phone never actually achieves anything. We’ve built the layer that lets AI take actions in the real world. With Bird, every app or web application can communicate through ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor, making the agent economy work.”

Notes to editors

J.P. Morgan led the financing as joint lead arranger, joint bookrunner and administrative agent, with Capital One and Citi as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Flagstar and Huntington are also in the lender syndicate.

About Bird.com

Bird.com is an AI communications infrastructure company founded in 2011 by Robert Vis. It is the messaging infrastructure of the modern internet, moving trillions of messages a year. It offers one API for email, SMS, WhatsApp, voice and RCS, built so that developers and AI agents can reach the world in a few lines of code. It is trusted by enterprises across 150+ countries and is dual-headquartered in New York and Amsterdam. Learn more at bird.com.

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TGI Fridays™ Signs Development Agreement to Fuel Pakistan Growth

Plans include scaling to 15 restaurants as TGI Fridays continues to expand its footprint across South Asia and the Middle East under its 1-2-3 Strategic Vision.

DALLAS, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TGI Fridays™ today announced a landmark development agreement with Meerab Hospitality, marking an exciting chapter for the brand in Pakistan and further accelerating its growth across South Asia. Following the brand’s recent development agreement in the Maldives, the partnership builds on growing momentum across the region and reinforces TGI Fridays’ strategy of expanding its global footprint through strategic, long-term franchise partnerships.

The agreement marks an important milestone in TGI Fridays’ continued international expansion and further strengthens the brand’s presence across South Asia and the Middle East, as it accelerates toward its 1-2-3 Strategic Vision of 1,000+ restaurants and $2 billion in annual revenue by 2030.

With more than 240 million people and a median age of just 21, Pakistan offers TGI Fridays a compelling combination of scale, youth and long-term growth potential. Rapid urbanization, continued investment in malls and mixed-use destinations, and an evolving dining culture are creating new opportunities for international restaurant brands as consumers increasingly seek distinctive, experience-led dining. Through its partnership with Meerab Hospitality, TGI Fridays is positioned to capture that opportunity with a brand guests already recognize, bringing its signature combination of bold American flavors, legendary mocktails, high-energy atmosphere and unmistakable Fridays hospitality to one of South Asia’s most dynamic consumer markets.

Meerab Hospitality brings deep regional expertise and operating strength to the partnership. As the franchise and development arm of Meerab Properties, the company combines a two-decade track record across the Middle East, South Asia and Central Asia with extensive international hospitality experience. Together, TGI Fridays and Meerab Hospitality are well positioned to capture Pakistan’s growing appetite for international dining experiences, while creating new employment opportunities, investing in local hospitality talent and bringing the unmistakable Fridays spirit to a new generation of guests.

“We don’t enter a market like Pakistan because it’s on a list — we enter it because the fundamentals are right and the partner is right,” said Phil Broad, Global President, TGI Fridays. “Pakistan has one of the youngest populations anywhere in the world and a retail landscape that’s evolving fast. Meerab Hospitality understands that better than an outside operator could, and their hospitality background means they know how to run a room, not just build one. That’s the combination we look for.

What makes Pakistan particularly exciting is the energy of the market and the generation coming through. They’re connected, curious and looking for brands that give them more than just a meal. That plays directly to the strength of TGI Fridays. We’ve always been at our best when we bring people together, create a little theatre and give guests a reason to stay longer, celebrate louder and come back again. Pakistan gives us an exciting new stage to do exactly that.”

Pervaiz Iqbal Shahid, Founder and Group CEO, Meerab Properties, said:

“We are delighted to bring TGI Fridays back to Pakistan and to begin a new chapter for this iconic global brand in the country. Our ambition is to reintroduce the brand through an energized and well-capitalized platform, supported by strong operational leadership and a long-term commitment to responsible growth across Pakistan.

Our first flagship restaurant is targeted to open within the next 12 months at the prestigious Hyatt Regency Hotel complex in Lahore. This will provide an exceptional launch platform for the brand and establish the standard for the restaurants that follow.

Over the next decade, we look forward to developing TGI Fridays across Pakistan through a carefully considered combination of company-owned and approved sub-franchised restaurants. We are committed to protecting the strength of the brand, delivering an outstanding guest experience, and building a sustainable nationwide business together with the TGI Fridays team.”

The agreement is TGI Fridays’ second market signing this month, following the brand’s first-ever entry into the Balkans, and builds on a series of international agreements over the past year spanning Kenya, the Maldives, Peru, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. Together, these agreements have added close to 200 restaurants to TGI Fridays’ global pipeline as the brand advances toward its 1-2-3 Strategic Vision of 1,000+ restaurants worldwide by 2030. The ambition is not about volume for its own sake but about selecting the right partners — experienced local operators who deeply understand the markets they are committed to developing.

At the heart of that growth is a deliberate franchise strategy: entering high-potential markets with partners who bring the local knowledge, capability and ambition to build TGI Fridays at scale. Meerab Hospitality is a strong example of that approach, combining deep market understanding with the hospitality expertise and ambition to build the brand for long-term success in Pakistan.

For more information: www.tgifridays.com/franchise/

About TGI Fridays™

Founded in 1965 as the world’s first casual bar and grill, TGI Fridays is where the world goes to celebrate. Operating nearly 400 restaurants in almost 40 countries, Fridays brings people together through its craveable American classics, legendary cocktails and that unmistakable Fridays™ feeling – all brought to life by its rockstar teams. Whether it’s full-service dining or bold-format convenience, TGI Fridays franchise-first approach, operational excellence, and brand power are built to scale. Franchisees are supported by global hubs in Dallas, Dubai and London, complemented by regional resources in select markets. Visit www.tgifridays.com for more information, join Fridays Rewards, and follow TGI Fridays™ on social media: Instagram @tgifridays, Tik Tok @tgifridays, Facebook TGI Fridays, and LinkedIn TGI Fridays.

About Meerab Hospitality

Headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, Meerab Properties is a diversified investment and operating company with investments and business interests across the UAE and Pakistan. The company develops long-term opportunities through direct ownership, strategic partnerships, and specialist operating platforms.

Through its hospitality platform, Meerab Hospitality Ventures, Meerab Properties is building a portfolio of international restaurant and hospitality brands in Pakistan, supported by experienced leadership, strong governance, and committed capital. Its strategy is focused on establishing sustainable businesses, developing local operating capabilities, and creating long-term value for its brand partners, customers, and stakeholders.

Media Contact:

TGIFridays@icrinc.com

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Basecamp Research raises $140M to advance AI-designed therapeutics

• Oversubscribed Series C led by S32 with backing from NVIDIA and others
• Funding will advance a pipeline of EDEN-designed therapeutics, starting with in vivo cell therapy, and expand pharmaceutical partnerships
• The company has demonstrated strong preclinical results across multiple modalities and disease areas

LONDON and BOSTON, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Basecamp Research, a frontier AI company developing AI-designed medicines, today announced a $140M Series C financing to train a new generation of EDEN models and advance a pipeline of AI-designed therapeutics towards clinical development.

Basecamp’s ambition is to develop cures for diseases that remain incurable by designing medicines that reprogram the body to repair itself. The company combines frontier AI models trained on proprietary biological data with technology for writing DNA sequences into cells.

“We believe the future of medicine lies in reprogramming the body to repair itself. We design the models and the medicines to teach it how,” said Glen Gowers, co-founder and CEO of Basecamp Research. “AI-based approaches promise to change what’s possible for patients who currently have few alternatives. This funding brings this technology closer to those who need it most.”

The oversubscribed round was led by S32, with participation from Anthropic’s Anthology Fund, Catalio Capital Management, European Tech Collective, Firebrand River Capital, Inception Fund, King Philanthropies, NATO Innovation Fund, NVIDIA, PostScriptum, Redalpine, The Rockefeller Foundation, Singular, Sovereign AI and True Ventures.

Additional investment comes from senior leaders from across pharma, biotech, and global industry, including André Hoffmann, Vice-Chairman of Roche, who said: “The biotechnology revolution that began fifty years ago transformed how we make medicines. Personalised, AI-designed therapeutics represent the next transformation of that journey. Basecamp Research has built the full platform to deliver it, from biological data to trained models to designed therapies. This will be key in helping the industry to continue to innovate.”

Applying EDEN to develop new therapies

Basecamp Research is applying EDEN, its biological foundation model, to in vivo cell therapy – reprogramming a patient’s cells inside the body. Today’s cell therapies are limited both in the complexity of what they can deliver and by a manufacturing process that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient.

By pairing EDEN’s ability to design long and complex DNA sequences with large serine recombinases that can precisely integrate them into the genome, Basecamp’s platform aims to underpin the future of cell therapies, making them more sophisticated, more customisable and simpler to administer. This has the potential to transform how we treat cancer, autoimmune disease, and more.

The company has demonstrated strong preclinical results across multiple modalities and disease areas. To expand its pharmaceutical partnerships, Basecamp has appointed Richard Pearce, formerly of Biogen, as Chief Business Officer.

Andy Conrad, General Partner at S32 and former CEO of Google’s Verily, who joins the Board of Directors, said: “AI is opening up new possibilities across every part of society, but perhaps nowhere is the potential more meaningful than in human health. The ability to combine AI, biological data and scientific insight could transform how we understand disease, discover medicines and ultimately improve and extend people’s lives. Basecamp Research is building an important technology platform at the center of that opportunity.”

The AI and data powering Basecamp Research’s therapies

At the centre of Basecamp Research’s AI platform is the Trillion Gene Atlas, the world’s largest proprietary biological AI training dataset. Built with partners including NVIDIA, Anthropic, PacBio and Ultima Genomics, the Atlas draws on biological data collected through access and benefit-sharing partnerships in more than 30 countries across all seven continents.

Trained on this data, the company’s EDEN models recognise patterns across a huge breadth of previously unseen biology. Unlike AI systems developed for a single scientific task, EDEN models aim to deliver a universal understanding of how DNA works across all of life.

This means that the models can generate potential therapeutic candidates directly from information about a disease, an approach already demonstrated through Basecamp’s collaboration with Anthropic on Claude Science. The EDEN models’ capabilities include designing cell and gene therapies, enzymes and peptides.

About Basecamp Research

Basecamp Research trains frontier AI models for therapeutic design. The EDEN models are trained on the Trillion Gene Atlas, the world’s largest proprietary genomic dataset, collected through partnerships in more than 30 countries worldwide. Its pipeline of EDEN-designed therapeutics, beginning with in vivo cell therapy, is advancing towards clinical development. Basecamp Research is headquartered in London with offices and labs in Cambridge, MA.

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Supermicro Now Shipping NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 Racks

• Supermicro’s DCBBS now supports all critical computing infrastructure to speed time-to-online for NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 deployments
• Full liquid-cooling stack optimized for the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform, from cold plates to CDUs, to cooling towers
• From a power envelope to an operational cluster: DCBBS Blueprints define a balanced bill-of-materials from 5 MW to gigawatt scale, with 1,152 GPUs and 331 TB of HBM4 per Scalable Unit
• One accountable team across site survey, project design, integration, L11 and L12 testing, on-site deployment, and ongoing support

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI), an AI, Enterprise, Storage, and 5G/Edge IT Total Solution Provider, is now shipping NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 racks integrated with Supermicro’s Data Center Building Block Solutions^® (DCBBS) and its direct liquid cooling stack (DLC-2).

“We have spent years building the liquid-cooling stack, the manufacturing capacity, and the deployment teams for exactly this moment,” said Charles Liang, president and CEO, Supermicro. “Our customers can now order a Scalable Unit and receive production-ready systems with end-to-end integration, because we design and build every layer between the cold plate and the cooling tower. Our development of DLC-2 technology is what sets Supermicro apart and allows us to deliver the most complete solution for the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform.”

Learn more about Supermicro’s NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 racks.

The NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform was designed in conjunction with direct liquid cooling technology to deliver AI-throughput-per-watt at efficiency levels unachievable with air cooling alone. With far greater AI operations per second comes a greater heat load: heat must be moved through the full fluid distribution loop, from the cold plates through manifolds, to the cooling tower. Supermicro tests and validates every rack with the full liquid cooling stack, speeding up time-to-online when deployed.

Supermicro’s path-to-production spans from the mechanical engineering of individual system nodes, the large-scale manufacturing of liquid-cooled racks, to the full onsite deployment of clusters based on NVIDIA reference architecture. Supermicro’s DCBBS provides unmatched thermal expertise and a comprehensive in-house portfolio of liquid cooling components. Cold plates, manifolds, hose kits, rack power shelves, in-row cooling distribution units (CDUs), in-rack CDUs, Liquid-to-Air sidecar CDUs, rear door heat exchangers, and facility-side cooling towers all come from the same portfolio.

Supermicro’s DCBBS Solutions for NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 include:

• NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 racks. 72 NVIDIA Rubin GPUs and 36 NVIDIA Vera CPUs in a single liquid-cooled rack operating as one machine; Eighteen 1U compute trays, each with four Rubin GPUs and two Vera CPUs, connect through nine sixth-generation NVIDIA NVLink switch trays delivering 216 TB/s of scale-up bandwidth; Each rack provides 20.7 TB of HBM4 memory and up to 54 TB of LPDDR5X
• Supermicro in-row cooling distribution units, rated at 1.8MW per CDU, deployed with N+1 redundancy
• Optional Supermicro Rear Door Heat Exchangers ensure capture of residual heat load
• Networking integration and cabling services based on NVIDIA Reference Architecture, including the AI compute fabric, converged fabric, and out-of-band management cabling

To ease deployment of NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 racks, Supermicro’s DCBBS Blueprint defines a balanced bill-of-materials for a given power envelope, from 5 MW to gigawatt scale. The DCBBS Blueprint based on one Vera Rubin NVL72 Scalable Unit provides 1,152 NVIDIA Rubin GPUs with 331 TB of HBM4 memory across 16 compute racks, with balanced cooling capacity, power delivery, high-performance storage, context memory storage, and networking. A Supermicro team manages the project across site survey, design, integration, testing, delivery, deployment, and ongoing support.

Explore here to learn how DCBBS can help build and scale your next-generation AI infrastructure.

About Super Micro Computer, Inc. 

Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) is a global leader in Application-Optimized Total IT Solutions. Founded and operating in San Jose, California, Supermicro is committed to delivering first-to-market innovation for Enterprise, Cloud, AI, and 5G Telco/Edge IT Infrastructure. We are a Total IT Solutions provider with server, AI, storage, IoT, switch systems, software, and support services. Supermicro’s motherboard, power, and chassis design expertise further enables our development and production, enabling next-generation innovation from cloud to edge for our global customers. Our products are designed and manufactured in-house (in the US, Taiwan, and the Netherlands), leveraging global operations for scale and efficiency and optimized to improve TCO and reduce environmental impact (Green Computing). The award-winning portfolio of Server Building Block Solutions® allows customers to optimize for their exact workload and application by selecting from a broad family of systems built from our flexible and reusable building blocks that support a comprehensive set of form factors, processors, memory, GPUs, storage, networking, power, and cooling solutions (air-conditioned, free air cooling or liquid cooling). 

Supermicro, Server Building Block Solutions, and We Keep IT Green are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc. 

All other brands, names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

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Cognex Launches New Wafer Reader to Help Semiconductor Manufacturers Scale Production

In-Sight 1750^® helps chipmakers maintain throughput and product quality as demand for advanced semiconductors grows

NATICK, Mass., September 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX), the global technology leader in industrial machine vision, today announced the launch of the In-Sight^® 1750 Series, a next-generation wafer and panel identification system designed to help semiconductor manufacturers reduce disruptions, improve traceability, and maintain throughput.

As semiconductor manufacturers expand capacity to support AI infrastructure, advanced computing, and next-generation electronics, the ability to accurately track wafers throughout production has become increasingly important. Even a small number of missed reads can create delays, increase work, and impact equipment efficiency.

The In-Sight 1750 helps manufacturers overcome these challenges by reliably reading many difficult wafer and panel markings and IDs, including various degraded marks and challenging substrates that often require intervention. Building on Cognex’s long-standing leadership in wafer identification, the system brings together Cognex’s latest AI innovations, advanced imaging, and purpose-built illumination to help manufacturers maintain traceability and throughput in challenging semiconductor environments. The result is often fewer interruptions, more consistent process control, and greater confidence in manufacturing operations.

“Investment in AI infrastructure is driving a new wave of expansion across the semiconductor industry, and chipmakers are being asked to bring new capacity online faster than ever while maintaining the highest quality standards,” said Matt Moschner, President and CEO of Cognex. “The In-Sight 1750 combines our latest AI technology with decades of semiconductor expertise to help manufacturers scale production without sacrificing quality or traceability.”

Key customer benefits

• More reliable wafer traceability, helping manufacturers maintain quality and process control throughout fabrication and packaging.
• Fewer production disruptions, reducing the need for operator intervention and manual troubleshooting.
• Faster upgrades, allowing existing users to transition from previous-generation systems without extensive redesign.
• Higher equipment utilization, helping manufacturers maintain throughput even when reading difficult marks on challenging wafer and substrate materials.

The In-Sight 1750 is designed to fit seamlessly into existing operations. By integrating advanced AI capabilities into a wafer identification platform refined through decades of semiconductor experience, the system helps manufacturers improve traceability and throughput without requiring significant changes to existing processes. Built with current In-Sight 1740 users in mind, it supports job conversion and straightforward upgrades, helping manufacturers transition to next-generation wafer identification with minimal disruption while taking advantage of Cognex’s latest AI-powered capabilities. A new web-based setup experience simplifies configuration and helps users get up and running quickly, while built-in read logging supports quality and process control.

About Cognex Corporation

For over 40 years, Cognex has been making advanced machine vision easy, paving the way for manufacturing and distribution companies to become faster, smarter, and more efficient through automation.

Innovative technology in our vision sensors and systems solves critical manufacturing and distribution challenges, providing unparalleled performance for industries from automotive to consumer electronics to packaged goods.

Cognex makes these tools more capable and easier to deploy thanks to a longstanding focus on AI, helping factories and warehouses improve quality and maximize efficiency without needing highly technical expertise.

We are headquartered near Boston, USA, with locations in over 30 countries and more than 30,000 customers worldwide. Learn more at cognex.com.

Media Contact

Liz Bradley

Head of Communications

Cognex Corporation

pr@cognex.com

IR Contact

Greer Aviv

Head of Investor Relations

Cognex Corporation

ir@cognex.com

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