Product & Tech

AstraZeneca has opened its newest global strategic research and development center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, part of a more than $1 billion investment in the state that will expand its Massachusetts workforce by over 50 percent in the coming years. The 570,000 square foot, 18 story site at 290 Binney Street will house nearly 2,000 researchers and scientists alongside the company's genomic medicine site at 100 Binney Street, and includes ten floors of interconnecting laboratories integrating robotics, continuous automation and agentic AI. The scientists will work on AstraZeneca's oncology, cell therapy, chronic disease and rare disease pipeline, targeting conditions such as COPD, obesity and metabolic disease, breast cancer and rare diseases, while pursuing future innovation in cell therapy and biologics to fuel growth beyond 2030. The Massachusetts investment sits within AstraZeneca's broader $50 billion US investment, and the new site joins its other US-based global strategic research center in Gaithersburg, Maryland, as part of a coast-to-coast footprint of 24 R&D, manufacturing, commercial and corporate sites. Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said Kendall Square is a leading innovation ecosystem and one of the key locations where AstraZeneca will discover the next generation of scientific breakthroughs, while Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey called the investment a major vote of confidence in the state.

Visa is expanding its stablecoin infrastructure across nine blockchains and now supports more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs, with payment volume up nearly 200% year over year. In fiscal 2026 year to date, about 17% of Visa's stablecoin-linked card volume came from business and commercial card programs, and its stablecoin settlement volume has crossed a $20 billion annualized run rate, up more than 15-fold from a year ago. The company launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, introduced an onchain credit model in September 2026 that uses VisaNet settlement data, and expects its partnership with Bridge to take stablecoin-linked cards to more than 100 countries. Visa's Value-Added Services revenues rose to $3.8 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 from $2.8 billion a year earlier, while processed transactions rose 10% year over year to 71.7 billion. Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $16.3 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, free cash flow reached $15.2 billion, and Visa returned $6.2 billion in the third quarter through dividends and share repurchases, including $4.9 billion of buybacks, with $28.4 billion still available under its repurchase authorization as of June 30, 2026.

Novartis entered a licensing and option agreement with China-based Abogen Biosciences, giving the Swiss pharma giant exclusive worldwide rights to Abogen's lead candidate ABO2203 and options to license additional programs built on Abogen's proprietary RNA platform. Under the agreement, Abogen will receive an upfront payment of $575 million and is eligible to receive up to approximately $7.2 billion in potential milestone payments if all options covering additional programs are exercised and the specified development, regulatory and commercial milestones are achieved, plus royalties on future product sales. ABO2203 is an investigational messenger RNA-encoded CD19xCD3 T-cell engager being developed for autoimmune diseases, designed to reset B cells by directing endogenous production of T-cell engagers in vivo. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including required regulatory clearances. The deal comes as Novartis faces generic competition for Entresto and Promacta and back-to-back pipeline setbacks, including the late-stage failure of pelacarsen and the HARBOR study of del-desiran in myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Citigroup Inc. is taking Citi Token Services to Japan and the United Arab Emirates, broadening its digital payments network across key financial hubs. Built on a private and permissioned blockchain, the platform enables near-instantaneous movement of funds within Citigroup's network, helping clients overcome traditional banking cut-off times, holidays and time-zone constraints. With the addition of Japan and the UAE, Citi Token Services is now available across seven markets, including the United States, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom; Japan will support USD transactions, while the UAE will support USD and euro transactions. The platform, launched commercially in 2024 following an initial Singapore-New York pilot, was integrated with Citigroup's 24/7 U.S. dollar Clearing capabilities in 2025 and later expanded to support euro transactions through its Dublin operations. The initiative aligns with Citigroup's 2026 Investor Day strategy, which identified tokenization and next-generation platforms as longer-term Services growth drivers, with Services revenues expected to grow at a low to mid-single-digit rate in 2027-2028.

Promevo launched Insights by Promevo, a platform it calls the first to unify AI agent governance, Gemini Enterprise adoption and Google Cloud cost management into a single view. The platform delivers real-time observability across three areas: AI license optimization that identifies idle or underutilized licenses and quantifies reclaimable spend, AI agent governance and security that inventories custom-built agents and maps their permissions and data access, and AI cost attribution that connects every agent to its underlying Google Cloud resource consumption and costs. Promevo says native consoles offer fragmented data with limited 28-day lookback windows, while Insights consolidates these silos with extended historical retention, and it does so without ever reading or storing an organization's sensitive prompt or response content. The same view extends beyond Gemini Enterprise into the rest of a customer's Google Cloud environment, covering cloud FinOps, asset discovery and hierarchy, and cross-project IAM access intelligence. CEO Karthik Kripapuri said customer organizations already run thousands of agents, and the platform is available today for customers using Google Workspace and Gemini Enterprise, with expansion planned in the coming days and weeks.

Amazon Web Services Chief AI and Technology Officer Matt Wood said the cost of delivering a given level of AI intelligence is falling by one or two orders of magnitude every three to six months outside the most advanced frontier models, a decline he attributed to improving efficiency as companies learn to operationalize frontier models at lower cost. Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Wood rejected the idea that more capable AI agents must become less safe, saying developers can surround models with controls, guardrails, security and privacy protections while still improving the underlying technology, and pushed back on the notion that companies must choose between development speed and safety. Wood also defended AWS's $220 billion infrastructure investment, pointing to customer demand and internal business metrics, and said he expects additional computing capacity and greater operating efficiency to bring AI to more businesses and users. Accelerating AWS growth helped push Amazon above $3 trillion in market value for the first time in August 2026, after second-quarter results showed AWS revenue growing at its fastest pace since 2021; the stock surged more than 15% in one session, adding nearly $400 billion in market value, before gaining as much as another 5.3% as it crossed the threshold. TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge said AWS's AI business exited a quarter at roughly a $25 billion annual run rate, its fifth consecutive quarter of accelerating revenue growth, and pointed to CEO Andy Jassy's view that AWS could eventually generate $1 trillion in revenue, compared with the $600 billion long-term opportunity Jassy discussed in his April shareholder letter. Amazon expects AWS to remain capacity constrained through 2026 and 2027 because of AI demand, even as it plans to double AWS capacity by the end of 2027.

TRU Simulation + Training Inc., a Textron Inc. company and an affiliate of Textron Aviation, announced that its Veris Virtual Reality Flight Training Device configured for the Cessna Skyhawk is making its show debut at the 2026 National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas. The debut builds on momentum from NBAA-BACE 2025, where TRU Simulation announced a purchase agreement with US Aviation Academy for five Cessna Skyhawk Veris devices, with options for additional units. Attendees can experience the device first-hand through live demonstrations at booth #3415. The dual-seat device combines immersive virtual reality with advanced Full Flight Simulator features, replicates Cessna Skyhawk instrumentation and controls, and incorporates authentic Garmin G1000 NXi avionics, allowing training with or without the virtual reality headset and from either the left or right seat. Designed to meet Federal Aviation Administration Level 7 Flight Training Device standards, the Cessna Skyhawk Veris will expand TRU Simulation's Veris product line into the fixed-wing training market upon qualification.

Reactor, the developer platform for real-time generative video and world models, announced that NVIDIA and Sapphire Ventures have joined its Series A round, which is led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company said the investment comes as demand grows for infrastructure capable of running increasingly powerful world models in real time. Reactor's proprietary inference engine, global GPU cloud and low-latency streaming layer let developers and enterprises run models at 60+ FPS and sub-40ms latency through a unified SDK and API. The platform is already used across media and entertainment, where major Hollywood studios, advertising platforms and video streaming services have active projects, and by leading world model labs in the U.S. and internationally. Reactor was co-founded by CEO Alberto Taiuti and CTO Bryce Schmidtchen, both former technical leads on Apple Vision Pro, and its team includes engineers and researchers from Apple, Meta, Google, Adobe, Replicate and Microsoft.

Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 471,262 units, with deliveries up 1.3% sequentially but down 2.1% year over year. Through the first nine months of 2026, Tesla delivered 1,324,681 vehicles and needs just more than 311,448 units in the fourth quarter to break its streak of annual declines. The competitive picture remains concerning, as BYD sold 762,478 passenger battery-electric vehicles in the quarter, up roughly 31% year over year, while NIO delivered 109,178 vehicles, up 25.4% year over year. In the last reported quarter, automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credits slipped to 16.3%, and energy storage margins fell to 20.4% from 39.5%, while Tesla expects capital spending above $25 billion in 2026. Tesla's robotaxi network had covered roughly 380,000 driverless miles, compared with Waymo's more than 220 million rider-only miles, and the company recently moved its Roadster demonstration from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15. Tesla's Oct. 21 earnings report is much-awaited, and TSLA stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Veeva Systems announced that Servier has selected Veeva OpenData to standardize customer reference data across more than 80 countries, expanding the French pharmaceutical group's relationship with Veeva beyond its existing use of Veeva Link Key People. The deployment is expected to improve data consistency, connect customer information with actionable insights and support more targeted commercial and medical engagement. Veeva OpenData is one product within Veeva's broader Data Cloud portfolio, which also includes Veeva Link and Veeva Compass, each addressing different aspects of life sciences data requirements. The win could deepen Veeva's footprint within large pharmaceutical organizations and support recurring revenue growth in its Data Cloud business as drugmakers scale artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. Veeva currently has a market capitalization of $44.25 billion, and its shares have gained 22.4% year to date.

Inspire Medical Systems announced that the American Medical Association's CPT Editorial Panel approved new Category I CPT codes for procedures involving a single lead and implantable pulse generator, including the company's recent launch of the Inspire V system. The new codes, effective Jan. 1, 2028, establish a dedicated coding framework for hypoglossal nerve stimulation procedures and are expected to create a clearer, more consistent pathway for coding and reimbursement while reducing administrative burden for hospitals and physicians. The company credited support from the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the International Surgical Sleep Society in seeking a permanent coding solution. The codes now enter the Medicare valuation process, with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expected to weigh recommendations from the AMA Relative Value Scale Update Committee; Inspire Medical expects CMS to publish proposed valuations in July 2027 and final valuations in November 2027. Inspire V, a closed-loop implantable device designed to synchronize with patients' natural breathing to help maintain an open airway during sleep, has treated more than 140,000 patients over more than a decade of clinical experience. INSP stock has lost 1.1% since the announcement on Thursday and is down 24.2% year to date, against the industry's 18.4% growth and the S&P 500's 12.3% rise, with a market capitalization of $2.02 billion.

Deutsche Bank has laid out three scenarios for Meta Muse, forecasting that the product could generate $36.3 billion in sales by 2030 in its most optimistic case. The middle case projects about $10.7 million, while the base case puts revenue potential at roughly $2.4 billion. The forecasts were detailed on page seven of a Deutsche Bank note, and Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi said he double-checked the top figure to confirm it was $36.3 billion and not $36.3 million. Sozzi noted Meta's stock has climbed roughly 23 to 24 percent over the past month on optimism about Muse, citing strong downloads and early use cases. He also discussed Meta's talent push, including the hiring of the former MongoDB chief executive, with a former Meta chief technology officer who said Mark Zuckerberg personally recruits key leaders.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is exploring a robotics solution for research and laboratory operations aboard future commercial space stations, working with space and defense technology provider Redwire Corporation. Honda's U.S.-based space development team is combining its multi-fingered robotic hand with Redwire's STAARK robotic arm and experiment locker technology to automate research tasks and cut the time astronauts spend on routine lab work. The push comes as NASA shifts from the International Space Station toward commercially operated stations in low Earth orbit, where smaller crews and shorter astronaut stays are increasing the need for automation. Honda's hand uses actively controlled joints with force and tactile sensing across the fingertips and palm for precise, human-like manipulation, while Redwire operates eight facilities on the ISS and has tested the STAARK arm's ability to autonomously track and grasp dynamic objects. The integrated system could eventually support the broader experiment workflow, from sample handling and material transfers to equipment operation, plus inventory management, cargo movement and inspections.

Schneider Electric agreed to buy PTC for about $22.6 billion in an all-cash deal aimed at tapping into the artificial-intelligence boom, sending PTC shares rallying. Qualcomm shares moved higher after the company agreed to license patents underpinning Huawei Technologies Co.'s novel LogicFolding chipmaking technique. Taiwan Semiconductor shares gained as sentiment was boosted by discussions between the Taiwanese chip giant and Elon Musk's Terafab on potential collaboration.

Tempus AI has received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for two next-generation AI cardiovascular products, Tempus ECG-MR and Tempus ECG-PH. Tempus ECG-MR analyzes standard 12-lead resting electrocardiograms to detect signs associated with undiagnosed moderate or severe mitral regurgitation, while Tempus ECG-PH is an AI-enabled software device that analyzes standard 12-lead ECG data and provides a binary output for signs associated with pulmonary hypertension. The clearances come as the AI-ECG analysis market is expected to grow from $2.01 billion in 2025 to $2.40 billion in 2026, a compound annual growth rate of 19.3%, according to the Business Research report. Among peers, GE HealthCare's Advanced Imaging Solutions segment, which combines the former Imaging and AVS businesses, generated $3.77 billion in revenues in the second quarter of 2026, up 5.0% organically, with segment EBIT margin rising 90 basis points to 13.9%. iRhythm Holdings, whose platform is supported by more than 3 billion hours of curated ECG data and more than 12 million patient reports, expanded work with Desert Oasis Healthcare and signed two commercial agreements through Luum during the second quarter of 2026. Tempus shares have declined 17.7% over the past year, and the stock currently trades at a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 7.30X versus an industry average of 4.82X.

Cloudflare has entered a strategic partnership with Deutsche Telekom under which the German carrier will add Cloudflare's security and connectivity solutions to its enterprise portfolio and the two companies will directly connect their networks. Deutsche Telekom will also train and certify its professionals on the Cloudflare platform through T-Systems, giving customers support for consulting, implementation and managed security services. The deal covers protection of applications, networks and data as well as AI workloads, and the companies plan to work on digital resilience and sovereignty in Europe, including protection of critical data and infrastructure and the use of post-quantum cryptography. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cloudflare's 2026 and 2027 revenues indicates year-over-year growth of 32.5% and 28.6%, respectively. Cloudflare shares have jumped 77% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks Internet – Software industry's return of 9.9%, and the stock trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 35.28 versus the industry's average of 4.42.

LeapXpert and Webex by Cisco announced a collaboration that extends Webex beyond internal collaboration into governed client messaging, starting with WhatsApp. The integration, available now on the Webex App Hub, lets Webex users message clients on WhatsApp without leaving the platform, signing in with their existing Webex credentials on desktop or mobile. It is the first of several channels LeapXpert plans to bring into Webex, and additional messaging channels will be rolled out. Every message is checked by data loss prevention in both directions, and the full conversation is captured by LeapXpert for archiving. With Webex used by 95% of the Fortune 500 and roughly 300,000 organizations worldwide, the partnership brings governed consumer messaging within reach of tens of millions of business users. A Leap Work account and a Webex license are required, and LeapXpert will showcase at WebexOne 2026, October 5 to 8, 2026, at booth B24.

EpiSign Inc. and Geneyx Genomex Ltd. announced a partnership to advance the integration of genomic and epigenomic analysis for rare-disease interpretation. Under the collaboration, EpiSign METRIC becomes available to Geneyx customers, letting laboratories incorporate epigenomic evidence alongside genomic and phenotypic information in an integrated interpretation workflow. EpiSign METRIC automates analysis of disease-associated DNA methylation episignatures across more than 300 EpiSign-associated conditions, while EpiSign METRIC 5-base extends that capability beyond methylation microarrays to methylation data generated by Illumina 5-base, PacBio HiFi and Oxford Nanopore sequencing. Geneyx Chief Executive Officer David Yizhar said the partnership combines Geneyx's genomic and multi-omics analysis platform with EpiSign's expertise in DNA methylation and episignatures, and EpiSign co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Bekim Sadikovic said genome sequencing increasingly generates genetic and epigenetic information from the same assay. EpiSign Chief Executive Officer Dan Sinai said generating genomic and epigenomic information together from a single assay can reduce wet-lab testing and data-generation costs and shorten the diagnostic odyssey for patients and families. EpiSign METRIC 5-base is available for research use only.

Summit Therapeutics has signed a clinical collaboration with AstraZeneca and its Japan-based partner Daiichi Sankyo to evaluate ivonescimab in combination with the antibody-drug conjugate Datroway, also known as datopotamab deruxtecan, across multiple solid tumors including breast and lung cancers. The collaboration is expected to initially focus on a phase III study in first-line triple-negative breast cancer, expanding ivonescimab's development into a new tumor type. Under the agreement, each company will supply its respective drug, AstraZeneca or Daiichi will sponsor the planned studies, and the companies will share study costs while retaining development and commercial rights to their own therapies. The Datroway collaboration builds on the larger deal between AstraZeneca and Summit announced in the last week, under which AstraZeneca agreed to invest $2 billion in Summit to accelerate development of ivonescimab, with the companies also set to evaluate ivonescimab alongside AstraZeneca's investigational Claudin-18.2-targeted ADC sonesitatug vedotin, or Sone-Ve, in gastrointestinal cancers. An FDA filing is under review seeking approval for ivonescimab plus chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutated, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC who had progressed following EGFR-TKI treatment, with a final decision expected by Nov. 14, 2026.

Deutsche Bank analyst Benjamin Black estimates Meta's Muse AI agent could generate up to 8% of the company's revenue by 2030, roughly $36 billion in sales, with a lower-end forecast of $2.4 billion. Muse has already been downloaded more than 5.1 million times, according to Sensor Tower, and Meta has signed commerce deals with Shopify and PayPal. Meta also debuted the Muse Charm in late September, a standalone pocket device built exclusively for voice interaction with the Muse agent, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg showcased a shift toward "personal superintelligence" with the Meta VR Glasses, a 100-gram spatial computing device priced at $1,299 with 5K micro-OLED displays, tethered puck processing, and native eye and hand tracking. On the smart eyewear front, Meta launched the third-generation Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 glasses starting at $249, alongside camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses for open-ear listening and AI voice interaction. Meta's stock is up 25% inside of a month.

CellCarta has established a strategic partnership with Waters Corporation to jointly pursue companion diagnostic and next-generation flow cytometry opportunities with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The collaboration will initially emphasize flow cytometry-based programs, aiming to give sponsors a coordinated path from biomarker strategy through clinical development, regulatory submission and global commercialization. Waters will provide underlying technology capabilities including instrumentation, reagents, standardized panels, assay development, software analysis, and where appropriate custom reagent and IVD commercialization, while CellCarta will integrate and deploy assays across its global CDx Lab Network, supporting Phase I-III clinical trial testing, analytical and clinical evidence generation, regulatory and logistics support, and commercial laboratory services. The companies cited existing platform alignment between CellCarta's CAP-accredited laboratory in Jining, China and BD flow cytometry platforms as a practical foundation for global sponsors seeking to include China in future multinational CDx and biomarker programs. Todd Chermak, President of CellCarta, said the partnership offers sponsors a more connected path from biomarker strategy through global clinical development and, where appropriate, commercialization, and that the companies are already engaging pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on near-term opportunities.

Maris-Tech Ltd. announced it has received a pilot order for an armored vehicle situational awareness application from a leading global defense company, secured through a distributor. The pilot follows an extensive engineering and adaptation process in which Maris-Tech's Jupiter product line was adapted to meet the end customer's specific video streaming requirements for armored vehicle situational awareness. The company said the adaptations developed through this process have expanded the capabilities of its products and may also support additional applications and market opportunities across the modern battlefield. Based on estimates and forecasts provided by the end customer, successful completion of the pilot could result in significant follow-on orders over the coming years, according to the company. Chief Executive Officer Israel Bar said the pilot represents the result of a substantial engineering process focused on meeting the specific video requirements of a major defense customer, and that the capabilities developed strengthen the versatility of the Jupiter product line and expand its relevance to additional armored vehicle and battlefield applications.

NextNav Inc. announced a strategic partnership with AiRANACULUS to advance integrated sensing and communications across NextNav's licensed lower 900 MHz spectrum. The collaboration combines NextNav's ground-based 5G-powered 3D PNT network with AiRANACULUS's advanced signal processing technology to expand NextNav's drone sensing and long-range early warning capability for counter-unmanned aircraft systems while reducing the infrastructure required for wide-area sensing coverage. The two companies will validate long-range ISAC capabilities using NextNav's 5G PNT Network and AiRANACULUS's hardware and software stack, with initial testing focused on extended-range threat detection to identify and track drone activity within NextNav's 5G PNT Network footprint in Santa Clara County, California. Deepak Joseph, Vice President of Product at NextNav, said safe airspace management is critically enhanced by long-range detection capabilities that provide early warning and scale cost effectively, while AiRANACULUS Founder and CEO Dr. Apurva N. Mody said applying digital beamforming and advanced receiver signal processing to low-band 5G enables detection of smaller targets at much greater distances. NextNav said results from the collaboration will support ongoing assessments of performance and applicability across critical infrastructure and national security use cases.

OceanaGold reported new drilling results from its Wharekirauponga project in New Zealand in late September 2026, highlighting multiple wide, high-grade gold intercepts that reinforce the continuity of the southern high-grade EG Vein and associated hanging-wall structures. Drilling has accelerated with five active rigs, and promising intercepts outside the current resource model point to a potentially larger, better-defined mineralized system that could influence future resource classification and project planning. The company's narrative projects $2.2 billion in revenue and $764.2 million in earnings by 2028, requiring 12.7% yearly revenue growth and a $388.4 million earnings increase from $375.8 million today. The update comes as OceanaGold plans the April 2027 retirement of CEO Gerard Bond, who is set to stay on as a Special Advisor for six months. Before this Wharekirauponga update, the most pessimistic analysts were still penciling in about US$2.6 billion of revenue and US$1.4 billion of earnings by 2029.

Vistar Media announced the availability of enhanced audience segments for digital out-of-home activation, powered by T-Mobile's privacy-centric first-party carrier data and offered exclusively through the Vistar demand-side platform. The thousands of segments draw on an expanded universe of consented data, using deterministic signals such as real app ownership and engagement plus location insights to build larger, more representative audiences. T-Mobile Advertising Solutions converts proprietary carrier signals into aggregated audience scores showing where selected audiences are more likely to be present throughout the day, and Vistar matches those scores to available inventory so advertisers can target the screens most likely to reach the desired audience. Lucy Markowitz, General Manager of Vistar Media Americas Marketplace, said mobile usage patterns offer some of the clearest signals into where and how audiences engage with the world around them. Jess Zhu, Head of Advertising Products and Development at T-Mobile Advertising Solutions, said the provenance and fidelity of the carrier data is a genuine differentiator, giving a direct, consented understanding of mobile behaviors.

TELUS and AST SpaceMobile have successfully completed their first integration test between TELUS' wireless network and AST SpaceMobile's space-based network, a milestone toward delivering broadband data, voice calls and text messages directly between smartphones and satellites. The service is expected to be available to TELUS customers within the next year, letting eligible smartphones connect beyond the reach of traditional cell towers. AST SpaceMobile's constellation features the largest communication arrays ever deployed in Low Earth Orbit. Nazim Benhadid, Executive Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer at TELUS, called the milestone a major step forward in extending cellular coverage to places where service isn't available today, while AST SpaceMobile Chief Commercial Officer Chris Ivory said the test reflects the strength and maturity of the company's technology. The partnership builds on TELUS' ongoing investments in its wireless network, including faster 5G+ and LTE speeds and expanded coverage across Canada.

Ruanyun Edai Technology Inc., trading as RYET, has signed a definitive agreement to grant BioNexus Gene Lab Corp., or BGLC, an exclusive license to its Cogni AI document-intelligence platform for healthcare in Malaysia, alongside a reciprocal share exchange. The license runs ten years from closing and is renewable at BGLC's option for two further five-year terms, up to 20 years in total, and is exclusive in Malaysian healthcare for the full term. RYET would receive a 10% royalty on qualifying technology receipts collected by BGLC and its affiliates, with no minimum royalty or guaranteed revenue, and the same 10% royalty applies to any other industry BGLC adds in Malaysia by notice. At closing BGLC would issue 410,000 common shares to RYET for the license, a consideration of US$3.5 million, and a further 150,000 shares in exchange for 500,000 new RYET ordinary shares, with no cash payment or true-up. Based on Nasdaq closing prices on October 2, 2026, of US$1.27 for BGLC and US$0.8599 for RYET, the 410,000 license shares had a quoted value of US$520,700, the 150,000 BGLC exchange shares US$190,500, and the 500,000 RYET shares US$429,950. The deal comes as Malaysia accelerates public healthcare digitalization, after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced a RM1 billion allocation on August 30, 2026, involving 150 hospitals and 2,000 health clinics, though neither company is a party to or has been awarded any contract under these government programs, and Cogni AI is not an electronic medical records system. Closing remains subject to conditions including BGLC's written acceptance of the technology after testing, due diligence, corporate and regulatory approvals, and any PRC approval, registration or license RYET needs to license and deliver the technology, with either party not in default able to terminate if closing has not occurred by March 31, 2027.

Abbott announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for updates to its CardioMEMS HF System that, for the first time, let U.S. CardioMEMS patients view their pulmonary artery pressure readings directly on their smartphones through the new CardioGuide HF App. The new capabilities also include Dynamic Treatment Plan, a software feature that lets clinicians set up personalized medication adjustment plans based on changes in a patient's pulmonary artery pressure and send medication adjustment instructions directly to patients through the app. The CardioMEMS HF System, which measures pulmonary artery pressure through an implanted sensor in the pulmonary artery, has been shown to reduce heart failure hospitalizations and mortality risk, and clinicians have used its readings for more than a decade to identify signs of worsening heart failure and guide treatment. Abbott said it plans to make the CardioGuide HF App and Dynamic Treatment Plan available later this year. Katie Spayde, vice president of Abbott's heart failure division, said the new capabilities help patients stay informed, engaged and connected to their care between doctor visits.

JAKKS Pacific is debuting Doll Haus of Dread, a new collector fashion doll line that reimagines horror icons as high-style collectibles, launching exclusively at Walmart and Walmart.com in Fall 2026. The debut lineup features 11-inch dolls inspired by Ghost Face as seen in Scream, Billy the Puppet from Saw, Jason from the Jason Universe franchise, and Pinhead from Hellraiser, each priced at $39.97 with franchise-authentic fashions, signature accessories, and nine points of articulation. Two Ghost Face dolls are offered, one classic hooded version and a limited-edition version available exclusively at Walmart.com wearing a bling-encrusted mask. Dominick Lisi, Senior Vice President of Marketing at JAKKS Pacific, said the dolls honor the DNA of each property while introducing fresh creative perspectives for horror enthusiasts and collectors. The line marks the first chapter in a broader Doll Haus collector destination, with JAKKS planning sub-collections, direct-to-consumer exclusives, and a growing presence at conventions and events.

Keurig Dr Pepper unveiled a first look at its 2027 beverage innovation pipeline ahead of the 2026 National Association of Convenience Stores Show, spanning new flavors, an expanded energy lineup and refreshed iconic brands. On the carbonated soft drink side, the company will launch Dr Pepper Ice Cream Float nationwide as a permanent offering in cans and 20 oz. bottles beginning February 2027, with fountain and frozen formats arriving mid-year, alongside a limited-time 7UP Miami Vice in June 2027, the holiday return of 7UP Shirley Temple with a new 20 oz. package, and Canada Dry Raspberry Lemonade in Spring 2027. In energy, KDP will distribute more than 25 new items across its energy brand portfolio in 2027, including permanent versions of GHOST Energy x 7UP and GHOST Energy x A&W, the January launch of GHOST Energy Sour Strips Appleberry, and a limited-time GHOST Energy Blueberry Cream, while Bloom Energy adds Strawberry Shortie in October 2026 and Cotton Candy and Lemon Freezie in January 2027, and C4 Energy expands its zero-sugar Cereal's Most Wanted lineup with Cocoa Loco and new 8.4-ounce mini cans. GHOST is now a $1 billion brand at retail, and KDP said innovation and limited-time offerings drive nearly three-quarters of energy category growth. The company is also investing in iconic brands, following 7UP's most significant brand evolution in more than 15 years with a lime-forward formula and refreshed packaging, while Sunkist will introduce updated graphics and a refreshed recipe in Q1 2027. Attendees at the 2026 NACS Show in Las Vegas will get an exclusive preview of upcoming innovations across KDP's owned and partner brands, including Snapple, Electrolit, Polar, La Colombe and Vita Coco.

Diskover Data announced a new collaboration with NetApp that extends the Diskover Platform's governed visibility and control to ONTAP and StorageGRID environments in media and entertainment, semiconductor design, and other file-intensive sectors. Under the collaboration, customers will be able to purchase Diskover Platform through NetApp beginning in November 2026, with the platform available now for NetApp ONTAP and StorageGRID environments. Diskover's DataDiscovery uses specialized scanners to index metadata in place across ONTAP and StorageGRID, capturing ownership, permissions, age, cost, and project context in a searchable, governed catalog. Diskover says customers typically reclaim 10 to 30 percent of their footprint, exceeding three million dollars in larger environments, with return on investment inside 30 to 60 days. Will Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Diskover Data, said the collaboration gives NetApp customers a governed, searchable view of the data behind their projects, while Sandeep Singh, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Platform at NetApp, said Diskover extends the NetApp ecosystem with specialized discovery for customers with file-intensive workloads.

ORO Labs announced an agreement with SAP under which its procurement orchestration solution will be sold as a solution extension named SAP Ariba Procurement Orchestration by ORO Labs. The offering gives SAP customers a purpose-built orchestration layer connecting procurement experiences, workflows and systems across complex enterprise environments, spanning both SAP and third-party systems, including current-generation and next-generation SAP Ariba environments, and working with Joule Work as the primary user engagement layer. ORO Labs CEO and Co-founder Sudhir Bhojwani said the partnership brings agentic orchestration to SAP customers by combining SAP Ariba solutions with ORO's procurement orchestration capabilities, while SAP Autonomous Suite President and Chief Product Officer Manoj Swaminathan said the solution extension reflects how the ecosystem lets customers modernize at their own pace. ORO Labs is an SAP Solution Extension partner, and such extensions must pass SAP's qualification process and are SAP-branded, sold and supported. SAP Procurement Orchestration by ORO Labs is planned to be generally available by November 2026.