Artificial Intelligence

New York – October 29, 2026 -- IBM and the USTA have renewed their partnership for five years, keeping IBM the Official AI and Cloud Partner of the US Open through 2031, after IBM-powered digital platforms drew more than 270 million total engagements at the 2026 tournament.

The 270 million figure combines activity across USOpen.org and the US Open app. The renewal extends a relationship that IBM dates back 35 years.

IBM-built features debuted at the 2026 US Open

The collaboration began with the launch of USOpen.org in 1995, followed by the mobile app in 2009. The 2026 edition added three fan-facing features: Live Updates, Key Moments and Serve Quality. According to the companies, these run on hybrid cloud and AI technologies.

DELRAY BEACH – October 29, 2026 -- The global risk analytics market will grow from USD 35.68 billion in 2026 to USD 54.69 billion by 2031, a CAGR of 8.9%, according to MarketsandMarkets. The market stood at USD 31.61 billion in 2025.

Software holds 37.2% of 2026 spending, with GRC platforms leading

Software is estimated to account for 37.2% of the market in 2026. Within software, governance, risk and compliance (GRC) platforms are expected to hold the largest share through 2031. The report attributes this to increasingly complex, sector-specific regulation. Companies use GRC tools to automate compliance monitoring, maintain audit readiness and detect policy breaches in real time, as regulatory fines and reputational damage raise costs.

San Francisco – October 29, 2026 -- Plato, a startup that builds simulated workplaces for training AI models, raised a $16 million Series A round led by Nava Ventures, lifting its total funding to $19 million.

Gradient Ventures, Transpose Platform and Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman also participated. Gradient Ventures had led the company's earlier seed round. Nava Ventures founder Freddie Martignetti joins Plato's board.

Simulations let AI labs train models without touching live systems

Plato targets the shift from AI that answers questions to AI that takes action. Training models directly in live software carries real risk: a model learning to place an order could spend actual money, and one practicing an administrative task could alter real records. Plato recreates these workflows in simulations that can be reset and reused.

SEOUL – October 29, 2026 -- Generative AI search and answer services accessed DealLabs' travel database more than 11,000 times per day in mid-October, up from around 600 daily accesses in late September, a nearly 20-fold increase in under a month.

DealLabs' database holds 280,000 verified records across seven cities

As of October 13, the Seoul-based company's database covered Seoul, Busan, Tokyo, Osaka, Bangkok, Taipei and Singapore. Each record carries its source and verification date. The data feeds more than 23,000 guide pages published in formats AI systems can read directly.

Osaka accounts for more than 114,000 records, including over 42,000 medical institutions and pharmacies and more than 30,000 restaurant permits. Taipei holds more than 63,000 records, among them 7,200 station-to-station fares.

Hamburg – October 29, 2026 -- 41 percent of communications leaders already have at least half of their content created by or with the help of AI, yet fewer than half regularly check whether their measures work. This is according to the IMPACT Study 2026 by PER Group, based on a survey of 300 decision-makers.

70 percent of executives plan AI-majority content within five years

Today, AI is used mainly for personalized customer outreach (31 percent) and to increase communication volume with target groups (28 percent). Looking ahead, 70 percent of communications leaders plan to produce more than half of their content with AI within five years.

Only 15 percent coordinate AI systems for complex tasks

Communications departments show a skills gap in agentic AI. Just 15 percent of leaders use coordinated AI systems that can carry out complex tasks.

NEW YORK – October 29, 2026 -- Zocdoc said AI agent traffic on its platform has grown nearly 30x since July, and it is opening its healthcare access infrastructure to agents that find providers, verify insurance and book confirmed appointments on patients' behalf.

Agent traffic has doubled roughly every 10 days since early September, according to the company. Zocdoc is also adding the AI agent Instinct as a partner, giving it direct access to Zocdoc's MCP (Model Context Protocol) server.

Zocdoc welcomes agents while much of the web restricts them

Zocdoc is registering agents rather than blocking, restricting or charging them, as much of the internet does. CEO Oliver Kharraz said "most of the internet is treating AI agents like intruders." He argued that errors in healthcare, such as referrals to nonexistent doctors, unavailable slots or out-of-network providers, fall on patients.

Amsterdam – October 29, 2026 -- OLX Group has launched two AI tools, Agentic Selling and DealFinder, taking its live agentic solutions to 14 across 16 marketplaces, as its own surveys show that only 5% of home seekers would trust an AI valuation over a human agent's estimate.

The classifieds operator, which carries nearly 60 million daily listings across 11 brands in seven markets, presented both tools at its CLAIM Online 2026 summit on 27 October. It also runs 86 live machine learning use cases and 28 live generative AI use cases.

Agentic Selling reaches 20% of private sellers on Otodom

Agentic Selling is live for 20% of private sellers on Otodom in Poland. It guides property owners from valuation through to posting. OLX says the tool provides data-backed pricing guidance and listing drafts, while final pricing and disclosure decisions stay with the seller.

London – October 29, 2026 -- Private equity firm Covalent Equity Partners has made a growth investment in AML Analytics (AMLA), a financial crime defense testing provider used by more than 50 supervisory authorities and over 1,450 financial institutions in nearly 60 countries. The announcement did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Capital targets engineering roadmap and global footprint

Covalent's capital and operational partnership will fund AMLA's engineering roadmap, introduce next-generation testing engines and expand the company's global footprint. Founder and Group CEO Justin Holder will continue to lead the business alongside the existing leadership team.

NEW YORK – October 29, 2026 -- Total brand value in Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2026 ranking reached $3.87 trillion, up 8.1% from $3.58 trillion in 2025, as Nvidia entered the Top 10 with the fastest growth of any brand, a gain of more than 71%.

Entertainment overtook Automotive as the second most valuable sector. Automotive recorded the sharpest sector decline.

Nvidia ranks sixth after a 71% brand value surge

Technology remained the biggest driver of value creation, with AI reshaping markets and producing new leaders. Nvidia ranks #6. Google holds #3, while YouTube (#10), Netflix (#23) and Spotify (#39) all posted significant gains.

Interbrand's data also indicates that technology companies are generating revenue faster than they build emotional connection and long-term brand preference. The consultancy stresses the need for sustained brand investment even during periods of explosive growth.

SAN CARLOS – – October 29, 2026 -- Beacon AI flew its Murdock AI pilot assistant aboard three operational U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus tankers over five flights and about 20 hours in August and September 2026, under an AFWERX Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract with Air Mobility Command (AMC). The company believes it is the first commercially developed AI pilot assistant to fly on multiple operational aircraft.

The flights began during Emerald Flag at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and continued at two more airfields, one of them a civil airport. The aircraft were already assigned to operational units and flown by fleet aircrews, not dedicated test crews.