Theme news

San Francisco – – September 15, 2026 -- Twenty-one venture capital firms will co-host the second annual Connected Stack Enterprise AI Summit on September 10, 2026, at The Presidio Theatre, with Anthropic Head of Americas Kate Jensen delivering the keynote address.

Anthropic executive to discuss agentic ROI measurement with True Ventures partner

Jensen, who leads Anthropic's enterprise sales and partnerships across the Americas, will join True Ventures Partner Mike Montano for a session titled "Real ROI: How the Agentic Enterprise Measures What Matters."

Chicago – September 15, 2026 -- The National Public Housing Museum has secured a $1 million gift from the Baskin Family Foundation, prompting the renaming of its central civic space to the Shelly Baskin Living Room.

Baskin Family Foundation commits $1 million to Chicago museum

The National Public Housing Museum, described as the first U.S. cultural institution dedicated to interpreting the American experience of public housing, confirmed the gift on Sept. 9, 2026. The funds will support the Living Room, the museum's gathering space that has hosted free programs, performances, and community events since opening in 2025.

San Francisco – September 15, 2026 -- The Globee® Awards has opened nominations for the 18th Annual Globee® Awards for Innovation, also known as the Golden Bridge Awards®, seeking organizations and professionals that have applied artificial intelligence to produce measurable business results.

Program targets AI achievements across enterprise functions

The awards accept submissions covering generative AI, AI agents, enterprise AI, machine learning, and intelligent automation, alongside sector-specific applications in healthcare, cybersecurity, financial services, manufacturing, and research. Categories also extend to customer experience, data and analytics, accessibility, employee enablement, decision support, and product and service innovation.

South San Francisco, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- Apeximmune Therapeutics said a peer-reviewed study published in Nature independently validates PLA2G2D as a novel immune checkpoint capable of overcoming resistance to anti-PD-1 cancer therapies, with the company's lead antibody AI-306 targeting an IND filing in the second quarter of 2027.

Two independent research teams identified the same target through different methods

Apeximmune's computational screen of more than 9,000 primary tumor samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas ranked PLA2G2D as its top novel checkpoint candidate, ahead of PD-1 and CTLA-4 in the same analysis. Working separately and without knowledge of Apeximmune's program, researchers at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam used spatial proteogenomic analysis of melanoma patient samples with divergent outcomes and arrived at PLA2G2D as a top hit in dendritic cell and macrophage populations linked to poorer prognosis.

Irvine, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- Caylent has secured a spot on Fast Company's eighth annual Best Workplaces for Innovators list, winning in the Emerging Enterprise category for companies with 201-999 employees.

The company joins 100 honorees across entertainment, biotech, consumer packaged goods, marketing, education, and healthcare, alongside names such as Anthropic, Chipotle, and American Express. Fast Company editors scored applicants on innovation investment, internal programs, and culture before a judging panel selected final winners.

Pasadena, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- The share of U.S. consumers using AI tools for local business recommendations jumped to 45% in the past 12 months, up from 6% in 2025, according to new research cited by digital marketing agency Cybertegic.

Consumer trust in AI recommendations coexists with heavy verification habits

Among the 455 consumers surveyed who reported using AI for local recommendations, 63% said they trust AI-generated suggestions, while 88% said they still check the source or legitimacy of AI-presented information. The data comes from BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, based on a representative SurveyMonkey panel of 1,002 U.S. adults, with AI-specific findings published March 10, 2026.

Chicago – September 15, 2026 -- CME Group has appointed Jack Tobin as its next Chief Financial Officer, effective March 2027, when current President & CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick becomes Chief Executive Officer.

Tobin moves to Deputy CFO in November 2026 ahead of formal handover

Tobin, CME Group's Chief Accounting Officer since 2015, will step into the Deputy Chief Financial Officer role in November 2026 to manage the transition before assuming the CFO title. He will continue reporting to Fitzpatrick and brings more than 35 years of financial experience, including accounting, corporate development and finance oversight at CME Group since joining in 2002. He previously worked as a principal consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and holds bachelor's and master's degrees from DePaul University.

Garland, Texas – September 15, 2026 -- Garrett Metal Detectors confirmed that its Paragon walk-through metal detector has completed testing under the UK National Protective Security Authority's Discriminative Metal Detection Systems Test Method, with results now publicly available on the NPSA website.

NPSA testing shows Paragon can screen non-divested individuals for mass casualty threats

The evaluation demonstrated the system's capability for screening individuals who have not removed items from pockets or bags, targeting weapons capable of causing mass casualties. NPSA stated it has confidence that Garrett followed its test method accurately, while clarifying the process is not pass/fail and does not constitute product endorsement.

Tukwila, Wash. – September 15, 2026 -- Nearly 500 public safety employees across King and Snohomish Counties have voted to affiliate with Teamsters Local 117, shifting representation away from the Public Safety Employees Union (PSEU) Local 519.

Workers approved the switch in an August 31 election

The vote, conducted by the union on Monday, August 31, 2026, resulted in an overwhelming majority favoring affiliation with Local 117. The workers span a range of classifications across numerous worksites in the two counties.

Certification from state labor board expected by year-end

The change in representation must first be certified by the Public Employment Relations Commission. Local 117 anticipates that certification will occur by the end of 2026, at which point the workers will formally become union members and Local 117 will be recognized as their exclusive bargaining representative.

Berlin – September 15, 2026 -- Saxony recorded temperatures as high as 41.5 degrees Celsius this summer, with an estimated 550 heat-related deaths registered in the state by mid-August, according to the Robert Koch Institute. The German Environmental Aid organization (Deutsche Umwelthilfe, DUH) has conducted a heat-vulnerability assessment across Saxon municipalities in response, examining how prepared local governments are for extreme temperature events.

Record heat hit Klitzschen bei Torgau at 40.3 degrees and Bad Muskau at 41.5 degrees

The 2026 summer set new local temperature records in Saxony, with Klitzschen bei Torgau reaching 40.3 degrees Celsius and Bad Muskau reaching 41.5 degrees Celsius. The Robert Koch Institute attributed roughly 550 deaths in the state to heat exposure through mid-August.

Berlin – September 15, 2026 -- Broken business processes are costing companies an average of $1.55 million each as artificial intelligence initiatives collapse under outdated workflows, according to a new report from Camunda.

Process failures drive 72% of AI project setbacks, study finds

The AI Process Gap report, commissioned by Camunda and conducted by Sapio Research, found that 72% of enterprises have seen AI projects fail due to process-related challenges. Another 72% warn of spiraling costs if they fail to overhaul their processes, while 82% believe AI investments will flop without deep process re-design.

The core issue: 79% of companies say bolting AI onto existing workflows meets less internal resistance than redesigning them from scratch. Yet 82% estimate it will take up to five years to make core processes truly AI-ready, and 61% admit their process re-design efforts cannot keep pace with AI adoption speed.

Osnabrück – – September 15, 2026 -- German regional publisher NOZ/mh:n-Gruppe has rolled out an AI-powered election assistant and a series of 17 live-streamed candidate debates to inform voters ahead of Lower Saxony's municipal elections on September 13.

AI bot draws exclusively on newsroom-verified candidate data

The noz-Wahl-Bot, built on the publisher's in-house AI system frag noz, is embedded directly into election coverage on noz.de and the noz News app. It answers voter queries using only NOZ's own editorial reporting and standardized questionnaires completed by the majority of local candidates. An automated LLM-as-a-Judge review process checks each response to prevent hallucinations or fabricated content, according to Senior AI Product Manager David Pinzauti.

Dubai – September 15, 2026 -- Bybit, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has officially launched Bybit AI, a conversational assistant that consolidates trading, account management and customer support into a single chat interface within its app.

Bybit AI lets users execute trades and manage accounts through natural-language commands

The assistant interprets user requests and carries out the corresponding action directly, covering Spot, Futures and Options trading, Bybit Earn, Copy Trading, Trading Bot, Loan, P2P, Bybit Card, Spot X, the Rewards Hub, and notification and subscription management.

New York – September 15, 2026 -- Jack Archer, the men's lifestyle brand that has dressed more than 400,000 customers since launching its signature Jetsetter Tech Pant, has secured an investment from Alex Rodriguez's A-Rod Corp, the companies announced.

A-Rod Corp Adds Jack Archer to a Portfolio Spanning More Than 40 Ventures

A-Rod Corp, the Miami-based multi-asset platform led by the 14-time MLB All-Star, deploys internal and external capital across more than 40 companies and partnerships valued at over $1 billion. Rodriguez said his investment criteria center on strong products, clearly defined customers and teams with a defined growth trajectory, citing Jack Archer as meeting each threshold.

The Woodlands, Texas – September 15, 2026 -- Cellipont Bioservices and Xiogenix have published a joint white paper showing that Xiogenix's ARES X20+ automated fill-finish platform maintained formulation volume accuracy of 98.2% at small scale and 103.6% at large scale across an approximately 17-fold increase in process scale.

The paper, titled "Scaling Cell and Gene Therapy Manufacturing with Automated Formulation and Fill-Finish," details Cellipont's evaluation of the platform across small and large-scale cell therapy manufacturing workflows.

Baltimore – September 15, 2026 -- Sixty percent of health plans collect social drivers of health (SDoH) screening data, yet just 7% describe their organizations as "very effective" at converting that data into action, according to new research from Sage Growth Partners.

The consultancy surveyed 50 health plan leaders for a report titled "From SDoH Data to Maternal Health Action," the third and final installment in its State of Maternal & NICU Care 2026 series. Eighty percent of respondents said they are only "somewhat confident" in their ability to use the SDoH data they already hold.

Purchase, N.Y. – – September 15, 2026 -- The PepsiCo Foundation has awarded $500,000 in grants to 100 nonprofit organizations across the United States and Canada through its fifth annual Community Impact Awards, with each recipient receiving $5,000 to fund local programs in food access, water security, farming and workforce development.

Employee nominations drive grant selection process

PepsiCo associates nominated every organization receiving funding this year, based on firsthand knowledge of their work through volunteering or community involvement. Finance Sr. Director Matthew Hester nominated Hunger Resource Network in Northbrook, Illinois, which will use its grant to help provide more than 22,000 meals across the Chicago area.

Houston – September 15, 2026 -- ImmunoGenesis has appointed Reza Mazhari, Ph.D., and Mike Davis to its Board of Directors as the clinical-stage biotech advances its lead immunotherapy candidate toward key data readouts in mid-2027.

ImmunoGenesis has initiated a Phase 1b trial for lead asset IMGS-001

IMGS-001, a cytotoxic checkpoint inhibitor targeting PD-L1 and PD-L2, is being studied for immune-excluded tumors, a category that accounts for more than half of all cancers. James Barlow, President and CEO of ImmunoGenesis, said the new board members will help shape pipeline, partnering and fundraising strategy for the company's next growth phase.

Louisville, Ky. -- September 9, 2026 -- Soar Higher Leadership and Business Coaching has launched the SOAR HIGHER LEADERSHIP program, a training course designed to address leadership skills gaps created by rapid AI adoption in the workplace. The company is enrolling students for September and October cohorts.

Retired Air Force Colonel builds curriculum from combat and corporate command experience

Jason Ballard, CEO and Founder of Soar Higher Coaching, developed the program after retiring as a Colonel from the U.S. Air Force following more than 30 years of military combat and leadership service. Ballard subsequently led 12 companies that received industry awards, drawing on that operational track record rather than academic theory to structure the course content.

Everett – September 15, 2026 -- WaterTectonics has acquired the patents and intellectual property of Dynamic Water Technologies (DWT), becoming the exclusive Original Equipment Manufacturer of the Dynamic Scale Remover (DSR), an electrochemical cooling tower treatment technology.

WaterTectonics gains exclusive OEM rights to patented electrochemical scale-removal technology

The DSR system uses a patented electrochemical process to strip dissolved scale-forming minerals from cooling water before they accumulate on heat transfer surfaces. The process simultaneously generates oxidants from chlorides already present in the water, cutting the need for added biocides while allowing facilities to run at higher cycles of concentration.