Artificial Intelligence

Dallas – October 15, 2026 -- Colossal Biosciences has unveiled GenoMorph, an in-house AI platform that identified an estimated 2,300 candidate regulatory DNA elements linked to avian beak size and shape, giving its dodo de-extinction program a prioritized list of targets for experimental testing.

GenoMorph finds 653 beak-size and 1,698 beak-thickness candidates

The platform combines comparative genomics, developmental biology and high-resolution 3D morphology to predict which regulatory elements are active during development. It then ranks those most strongly associated with differences in physical form. Regulatory DNA controls when, where and how strongly genes are activated, and it helps shape traits such as skull and beak structure.

San Antonio – October 15, 2026 -- TrueLoyal has launched a beta of its Model Context Protocol (MCP) connector, letting loyalty teams query member and transaction data from the AI assistant of their choice and get answers in the same conversation, without a reporting ticket.

The beta is live for select Rewards customers. General availability is scheduled for later this year.

TrueLoyal MCP replaces ticket-and-wait reporting with plain-language queries

Loyalty teams typically get program answers through dashboards and reporting requests. A question about which members are lapsing, or how many members a brand can email, usually means a ticket, a data pull and a wait. By the time the answer arrives, the moment to act has often passed, according to TrueLoyal.

DALLAS – October 15, 2026 -- SDG Group, a global data and AI consulting firm, received Everest Group's 2026 "Voice of the Customer Honor – Service Excellence" at the research firm's Elevate conference in Dallas.

The honor recognizes service providers that more than 700 customers rated highly on client management, ease of doing business and proactive engagement. SDG Group presents it as third-party validation of its service delivery.

Everest Group scored providers on three client-facing criteria

According to SDG Group, the criteria translate into three client experiences:

College Park – October 15, 2026 -- The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business will launch a 30-credit, one-year Master of Science in Marketing (MSM) in fall 2027, built around generative and agentic AI.

Curriculum pairs marketing fundamentals with AI tools

The program targets early-career professionals. Coursework covers marketing and brand strategy, consumer insights, and account and client management, with an emphasis on AI applications. Students will also work with emerging customer engagement and campaign management platforms.

Two semesters of experiential work anchor the degree

Over two semesters, students will apply classroom learning through consulting projects, executive presentations and cross-functional team assignments.

Minneapolis – October 15, 2026 -- GUDEA, an AI-powered narrative intelligence platform, has been named a Top 20 Finalist in the Startup Battlefield 200 competition at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, selected from more than 2,500 startups that applied worldwide.

GUDEA will compete for a $100,000 equity-free prize on the Disrupt Stage

The company will pitch on the Disrupt Stage in San Francisco for the $100,000 equity-free grand prize and the Disrupt Cup. TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 runs October 13-15 at Moscone West.

GUDEA says it is the sole representative of the Narrative Intelligence category among the Top 20 finalists.

Arlington, Va. – October 15, 2026 -- The American Institutes for Research (AIR) has hired neuroscientist Gayathri "Gaya" Dowling, who for more than a decade directed the $500 million Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, to lead its 100-year AI Century Study on how artificial intelligence shapes human development, education and opportunity.

Dowling brings a decade of large-scale longitudinal study management to AIR

Dowling has led the ABCD Study since its inception in 2015. The project is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and led by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). It follows nearly 12,000 students from late childhood through adolescence into young adulthood, tracking biological and behavioral development.

New York – October 15, 2026 -- Othello, an applied AI lab building models for live sales calls, has raised $8 million in seed funding from a16z speedrun, Owl Capital and Long Journey Ventures, and says its coaching software is already deployed at more than 50 large enterprises.

Angel roster includes founders of DoorDash, Ripple and Hugging Face

Angel investors in the round include DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf, Sentry co-founder David Cramer and Writer co-founder Waseem AlShikh. Axonius co-founder Dean Sysman, Deel co-founders Alex and Philippe Bouaziz and TransDigm CEO Kevin Stein also participated.

Hamlet model delivers live suggestions in under 500 milliseconds

Othello runs on Hamlet, a proprietary model built for live sales calls. A desktop app launches when a call begins and displays pop-ups in any online meeting without joining as a participant.

Atlanta – October 15, 2026 -- Clarion Communications LLC, which says it and its predecessor companies have completed more than 30 acquisitions in over 20 years, is pursuing further tuck-in deals in the UCaaS and managed service provider (MSP) market while its IPitomy Communications LLC subsidiary adds AI-powered Advanced Call Management (ACM) to its proprietary UCaaS platform.

IPitomy bundles call control, intelligence and caller identity in ACM

ACM combines three capability sets across the call lifecycle in a single platform. Call Control covers inbound and outbound call management, consistent routing, centralized number management and flexible call handling.

Call Intelligence adds call recording, searchable transcripts and greater visibility into customer interactions and calling activity. Caller Identity covers branded calling, caller ID management and tools that support number reputation.

Greenwich – October 15, 2026 -- WIN, a fertility and family support benefit company, has appointed three senior leaders to newly created roles as its supported population grows from more than 500,000 to nearly one million families over two years.

Claudio Stefan joins as Chief Growth Officer, Stacey Zeltner as Chief People Officer, and Dr. Michael Meighu as Vice President of Artificial Intelligence. The company says the hires will help it scale employer and health plan partnerships, build the organization to support that growth, and apply emerging technology to benefits delivery.

WIN reports 900 employer clients covering 9.5 million lives

The employer base has grown 20% in two years. WIN also expanded from 55 to 124 countries, a 125% increase.

White Plains – October 15, 2026 -- Rockbridge Growth Equity-backed FormativGroup has acquired Saige Consulting, an AI and technology consulting firm, to add AI implementation and software engineering capacity to its application and data architecture business. The announcement did not include financial terms.

FormativGroup combines application platforms with Saige's AI delivery

FormativGroup brings application platforms, workflow development and data architecture. Saige adds technology strategy, software development and AI implementation. The companies say the combined offer covers a client engagement from strategy through scalable delivery.

Saige works with public and private sector organizations on cloud, data, AI and workflow automation. It has experience embedding AI and automation in core business workflows, which the companies describe as moving clients from aspirational thinking to repeatable use cases.