Partnership Announcement

Tokyo – October 21, 2026 -- A four-company consortium led by NTT Innovative Devices has been selected for a NEDO-backed project to build mass-production technologies for optical chiplets, with a target of more than a tenfold gain in manufacturing productivity over current R&D-stage processes.

Four manufacturers join the NEDO-selected consortium

The members are NTT Innovative Devices, Japan Semiconductor Corporation, Furukawa Electric and Shinko Electric Industries. NTT, Inc. participates as an advisor. The project falls under the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization's program for enhanced post-5G information and communication infrastructure, specifically its development of manufacturing technologies for advanced semiconductors. Japan Semiconductor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation.

Dallas – – October 19, 2026 -- AT&T, the NBA and the WNBA have launched the fourth generation of the High-Speed Arena Network (HSAN), a platform designed to carry more than 118 concurrent, low-latency streams per game, and AT&T has extended its multiyear role as the leagues' Official Connectivity Partner.

Fourth-generation HSAN targets 118+ concurrent streams per game

The network is designed to move live game content, highlights, replays, in-arena programming and statistics to fans and business partners. It also carries the behind-the-scenes technology that supports game operations. The leagues expect it to support millions of hours of basketball consumption during the 2027-28 NBA season.

Longview – October 18, 2026 -- Diversified Energy distributed approximately 430 winter essentials to students at J.L. Everhart Magnet Elementary School in Longview, Texas, in its sixth consecutive year partnering with national nonprofit Operation Warm.

Employees hand out new shoes and socks ahead of colder months

The event took place on a Friday at the school. Diversified Energy employees gave brand-new shoes with socks to local children in need. The natural gas and oil company operates in Texas.

Sixth year of partnership tied to community engagement

Diversified described the initiative as part of its ongoing commitment to philanthropy and volunteer engagement in the communities where it operates. The company said the six-year relationship with Operation Warm reinforces its core value of community engagement.

Cannes – October 16, 2026 -- NetShort, a global short-drama platform available in more than 170 countries and over 17 languages, is using MIPCOM Cannes to recruit international partners for original short-drama production and distribution.

North America leads a geographically diversified audience base

The platform serves millions of viewers daily. North America is its largest market, while Europe, Japan and South Korea, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America each make meaningful contributions to its business.

Audience data feeds a loop between writers and viewers

NetShort combines in-house screenwriting and production teams, external creative partnerships and audience data. Insights into pacing, characters and emotional payoffs guide development. After release, audience responses inform future productions. The company says this loop strengthens human creative judgment rather than replacing it.

New York – October 15, 2026 -- Foot Locker has signed a multi-year partnership with Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE: MSGS) to become the Official Athletic Footwear Retailer of the New York Knicks, starting with the 2026-27 NBA season. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Foot Locker gains seven activation points at Knicks home games

The retailer will appear at all Knicks home games at Madison Square Garden. It will run a dedicated retail activation inside the Knicks Team Store in the arena's Chase Square, open to the public during home games. It will also stage curated retail pop-ups inside the arena at select games.

Foot Locker will also hold in-arena and on-court contest rights and LED ribbon signage, and will be Presenting Partner of a Knicks Theme Night. Exterior digital signage will reach fans and visitors outside the venue, and retail promotions will be tied to select Knicks wins.

Singapore – October 14, 2026 -- YYForce Inc. (NASDAQ: YFOR) projects approximately 10% lower monthly operating costs from a planned service-robot rollout across Novotel Singapore on Stevens and Mercure Singapore on Stevens, a 772-room precinct. The figure comes from a pre-deployment comparison; deployment has not yet begun, and actual costs, productivity and guest-service outcomes will be assessed after rollout.

Cost model covers housekeeping, concierge and F&B, including robot costs

The 10% estimate applies only to selected housekeeping, concierge and food and beverage operations, and the model includes the cost of the robots themselves. A separate planning assumption estimates a potential 5% cut in rooms-department overtime costs. The two estimates use different bases and do not add up to a combined saving. Both depend on the model's cost scope, operating coverage and service assumptions.

Fountain Valley – October 14, 2026 -- Genesis committed an additional $1 million in 2026 to the next phase of its California Rises wildfire recovery initiative, while serving as Official Automotive Sponsor of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles' ReBUILD LA program.

Genesis staff joined a 500-volunteer rebuild in Pacific Palisades and Malibu

Genesis employees worked alongside Habitat LA and community volunteers during Community Build Week, held Sept. 23-26. The four-day event drew more than 500 volunteers, plus corporate and civic leaders, to support wildfire survivors in Pacific Palisades and Malibu. The Genesis GV80 was displayed at the event as part of the brand's sponsorship presence.

Valletta – October 13, 2026 -- The Malta Tourism Authority and Trip.com Group signed a 2026–2029 Strategic Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding, as Malta plans to lift the share of arrivals from outside the EU to 40% within the next decade.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the 2026 WTTC Global Summit, held 7 to 9 October at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. Malta's Minister for Tourism, Jo Etienne Abela, witnessed the agreement. Carlo Micallef, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, and Edison Chen, Vice President of Trip.com Group, led the talks.

Santa Clara – October 13, 2026 -- HCLTech has signed a Global Premier Partnership with Anthropic and will set up a dedicated Anthropic Business Unit with a Center of Excellence (CoE) to speed enterprise deployments of Claude, with a focus on safety, cybersecurity and governance in Agentic AI.

HCLTech's new unit will offer sandbox environments for Claude deployments

The unit will build Agentic AI solutions and provide secure sandbox environments for enterprise Claude deployments through FDEs. HCLTech's services teams will also build industry solutions and offerings powered by Claude, Cowork and Claude Code.

HCLTech will help clients adopt AI-native engineering practices, train their workforces and build the organizational capabilities needed to run Agentic AI safely at scale.

Menlo Park – October 12, 2026 -- Protiviti has been selected for Microsoft's AI Business Solutions 2026-2027 Inner Circle for the second consecutive year, placing the consulting firm among the top sellers in Microsoft's global partner network.

Membership is based on sales achievement. Protiviti ranks in the top echelon of Microsoft's AI Business Solutions partners worldwide, according to the announcement.

Inner Circle members get executive access to Microsoft through June 2027

Members are invited to the Inner Circle Summit in Spring 2027. They also take part in virtual meetings running from September 2026 through June 2027. These sessions give partners a forum to discuss strategy with Microsoft executives and peers, review Microsoft's road maps and future plans, and exchange best practices.