News

Charleston, W.Va. – September 29, 2026 -- West Virginia American Water has rolled out FlowCam flow-imaging technology to rapidly detect algae and cyanobacteria in source-water samples, part of a broader push during American Water Works Association's Source Water Protection Week (September 27 to October 3) to reduce contamination risks and treatment costs across its supply network.

The utility, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), serves approximately 610,000 people in the state and employs around 315 people.

FlowCam imaging enables earlier detection of biological changes in water supplies

The flow-imaging system captures high-resolution images of algae and cyanobacteria, allowing faster organism classification and enumeration. This supports quicker treatment decisions before contamination escalates.

Fremont, Calif. – – September 29, 2026 -- Delta Electronics has entered a collaboration with NVIDIA to develop next-generation Level 4 autonomous driving systems, combining Delta's automotive energy management and in-vehicle high-performance computing expertise with NVIDIA's Hyperion sensor-compute platform and Halos safety system.

Delta integrates power electronics expertise with NVIDIA Hyperion platform

NVIDIA Hyperion serves as a reference sensor and compute platform for Level 4 autonomous vehicles and robotaxis, pairing dual NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor units with the NVIDIA Halos safety system to accelerate production-ready autonomy. Delta will contribute its xEV powertrain systems, energy management technology, and system integration capabilities to the joint effort, supported by NVIDIA's dedicated engineering team.

San Jose – September 29, 2026 -- Compal Electronics (TWSE: 2324) will showcase megawatt-scale power and liquid-cooling infrastructure for NVIDIA accelerated computing at OCP Global Summit 2026, positioning rack-level integration as the next bottleneck for AI data centers.

Compal advances 800VDC power architecture to cut conversion losses at scale

The company is developing 800VDC power architecture and megawatt-class power infrastructure aimed at reducing power conversion complexity in next-generation AI data centers. The shift to higher-voltage DC systems targets the rising rack power density driven by accelerated computing deployments.

Palo Alto, Calif. – – September 29, 2026 -- Salt Security has launched Salt Claude Connect, an integration that gives security teams continuous, read-only visibility into Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers connected to their Claude Enterprise organization. The tool works with Claude's Compliance API to surface organization-managed MCP servers directly in a security team's Salt inventory.

Unsecured MCP servers nearly tripled in months, according to Trend Micro research

The number of MCP servers exposed on the public internet with no authentication or encryption climbed to 1,467, a near-tripling cited by Salt Security, with most hosted on major cloud providers and offering direct read access to underlying data. As enterprises scale AI adoption, MCP servers extend what AI environments can reach, and in large organizations they can be added faster than security teams can track them.

Sunnyvale, Calif. – September 29, 2026 -- Plug and Play has selected 140 startups from 20 countries for its Silicon Valley Fall 2026 batches, with 55% of participants based outside the United States. The startups will pitch investors and corporate partners at the Silicon Valley Summit, scheduled for Nov. 3-5, 2026.

South Korea supplies nearly a third of the international cohort

South Korea accounts for approximately 30% of companies in the batches, the largest group outside the U.S. Additional startups join from markets across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America, spanning 13 programs including Agtech, Fintech, Insurtech, Health & Longevity, and Travel & Hospitality.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – September 29, 2026 -- Appspace unveiled Appspace Context, a new architecture that lets workplace software adapt in real time to an employee's role, location, schedule, and surrounding conditions, at its WOW26 conference.

Appspace links digital and physical workplace data into one context layer

The platform draws on signals from communications, content, spaces, visitor logs, signage, and connected systems that companies already generate but rarely unify. CEO Pete Schmied said workplace technology has historically been configured around expected scenarios, while actual conditions such as shifting schedules, filling spaces, and arriving visitors change constantly.

Salem, Oregon – September 29, 2026 -- Reser's Fine Foods has completed two energy efficiency upgrades at its new Don Pancho West facility that are expected to cut overall electricity use by more than 20%, saving nearly 1.9 million kilowatt-hours annually and reducing facility emissions by 8%.

New CO2 refrigeration system replaces six units and cuts power use 41%

The 300,000-square-foot facility, which Don Pancho moved into in September 2025, now runs a centralized refrigeration system using carbon dioxide as its primary refrigerant, replacing six systems that relied on a higher-global-warming-potential refrigerant. The new system is expected to consume 41% less electricity than the modeled baseline while delivering 114% greater refrigeration capacity and more consistent temperature control, positioning Reser's as an early food-manufacturing adopter of CO2 refrigeration technology.

Hartland, Wis. – September 29, 2026 -- Batteries Plus has signed a four-store development agreement with franchise owners Clint and Jolene Coates to expand into Lake County, Florida, with the first location opening in The Villages within the next year.

Franchisees plan four stores across Central Florida within six years

The agreement calls for four Batteries Plus locations to open across The Villages and surrounding communities north of Orlando over the next six years, according to the company. The Coates family is structuring the venture as a multi-generational business, with son Cayden Coates and son-in-law Paul Clement taking on day-to-day retail and commercial management while Clint and Jolene Coates focus on sales and development as additional stores launch.

Beijing – September 29, 2026 -- ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: RETO) will cut its outstanding Class A share count from 145,814,975 to approximately 7,290,749 through a 20-to-1 reverse share consolidation, with post-combination trading starting October 2, 2026.

Board approves reverse split to lift share price above Nasdaq minimum

ReTo's board approved the combination to raise the market price per Class A share, a move the company states is intended to help it maintain its Nasdaq Capital Market listing. The shares will keep trading under the ticker "RETO" but will carry a new CUSIP number, G75271158.

No par value changes, no shareholder vote required

The par value of the Class A Shares remains unaffected by the consolidation. Because ReTo is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, the transaction does not require shareholder approval and will proceed automatically without any action from holders.

San Francisco – September 29, 2026 -- America's small businesses added 28,000 net new jobs in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, marking the eighth consecutive month of positive hiring, according to Gusto's Small Business Jobs and Pay Report.

September hiring accelerated from a downwardly revised August figure

The September gain improved on August's total, which was revised down to 18,500 net new jobs from an initial estimate of 29,500. July's figure was also revised lower, to 39,700 from 42,400. Despite the September uptick, hiring remained below the 12-month average of 34,000, with recent monthly totals of 38,000 in May, 36,000 in June and 39,700 in July.