Author: Art Ryan

Mercor, which connects AI labs with domain experts for training their foundational AI models, has raised $350 million at a $10 billion valuation, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. Felicis Ventures, which led the company’s previous $100 million Series B at a $2 billion valuation, is also leading this round. Existing investors Benchmark and General Catalyst, and new investor Robinhood Ventures also participated. TechCrunch reported in September that Mercor was in talks with investors to raise a Series C at a valuation of $10 billion, up from its target of $8 billion a few months prior. The company at the time told potential investors…

One of the most compelling updates this week came from a Harvard Business Review article “Designing a Successful Agentic AI System.” Its authors argue that agentic AI will only deliver value when companies redesign workflows around outcomes, not tasks, and rethink how humans and intelligent systems collaborate. The authors describe agentic AI as a “team of digital colleagues” capable of autonomous reasoning, planning and coordination across departments, freeing organizations from the limits of rules-based automation. Case studies from Hitachi Digital, NTT DATA and Bigblue show how these systems can rewire complex operations by turning fragmented, multi-system environments into seamless, outcome-driven workflows. To…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fueling American economic growth, though its effect on employment is limited. That’s according to a recent report from the Bank of America (BofA) Institute, which finds that AI-related capital expenditures, especially in software and computing, were key drivers of GDP growth or 2025. “After a slight decline in Q1, GDP growth rebounded in Q2 with 3.8% for an annualized rate of 1.6% in 1H,” the report said. “One major reason for the resiliency in growth to date is the investment being poured into technology- and AI-related categories.” And while there have been fears that AI could cause steep job losses, the report found…

SoftBank has reportedly taken another step toward completing its massive $30 billion investment in OpenAI. The Japanese conglomerate’s board has greenlit a second installment of $22.5 billion restructuring that would set the stage for an eventual public offering, The Information reported Saturday (Oct. 25), citing a source with knowledge of the decision. The report noted that this approval indicates SoftBank’s expectation that OpenAI will prevail in that effort, through which it will turn into a public benefit corporation. SoftBank had said in April that it could reduce its planned investment in OpenAI if the company didn’t carry out its restructuring by the end of…

This month, researchers from AI Impacts and the universities of Oxford and Bonn released what has become the largest survey to date of artificial intelligence (AI) experts, offering a rare view into how the people building artificial intelligence systems perceive their pace, power and risks. Published in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, the study asked 2,778 authors who had presented at top AI conferences to forecast milestones such as human-level performance and full automation of labor. Human-Level AI May Arrive Decades Earlier Than Expected The survey found a dramatic shift in how experts perceive the timeline for advanced artificial intelligence. Researchers gave…

Artificial intelligence is making its deepest inroads yet into the legal profession. It is turning pilot-scale experimentation into production-level automation. From research and contracting to compliance and billing, AI systems are becoming embedded infrastructure in law firms and in-house operations. Investors are taking notice. Funding to legal technology startups has already surpassed $2.4 billion in 2025. This is the highest annual total on record, according to Crunchbase. The surge reflects confidence that automation can relieve the sector’s document-heavy workloads. It can also unlock new operating leverage for firms. From Pilots to Infrastructure What began as narrow pilots in document review has…

OpenAI is working on a new tool that would generate music based on text and audio prompts, according to a report in The Information. Such a tool could be used to add music to existing videos, or to add guitar accompaniment to an existing vocal track, sources said. It’s not clear when OpenAI plans to launch such a tool or whether it would be available as a standalone product (as opposed to integrating with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and video app Sora). One source told The Information that OpenAI is working with some students from the Juilliard School to annotate scores as a way…

Valthos said Friday (Oct. 24) that it has raised $30 million to build “next-generation biodefense” to combat the threat of biological threats enabled by artificial intelligence. This kind of defense is needed because AI has expanded access to biotechnologies that can create diseases as well as eliminate them, the company said in a Friday blog post. “Today, it’s faster to weaponize biology than to advance new cures,” Valthos said in its post. “Leaders in AI have identified this as one of the largest threats of our time.” Valthos is building tools that government and life sciences experts can use to identify biological…

As demand for artificial intelligence (AI) training large models rises, traditional providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud are facing limits in available capacity. A group of smaller infrastructure firms known as “neoclouds” has started to fill that gap. These companies lease clusters of graphics processing units, or GPUs, to AI developers and enterprises that need computing resources on short notice. Rather than offering full software platforms, they specialize in the raw compute that powers AI systems. Training and deploying modern AI models requires far more computing power than most data centers were built to handle. Each GPU draws substantial…

OpenAI has acquired Software Applications Inc., an AI startup founded by former Apple engineers who helped build the iPhone’s Shortcuts app, according to Bloomberg. The deal strengthens OpenAI’s effort to make ChatGPT more interactive by integrating it directly with users’ computers, enabling the model to perform tasks beyond text-based prompts. The startup’s flagship tool, Sky for Mac, is a desktop assistant that lets users control software through natural language and visual context. The system can identify what appears on screen and execute actions like opening files, drafting messages or navigating apps. OpenAI said the company’s dozen employees will join its ChatGPT…

Retailers and suppliers are finding that the key to unlocking millions in savings lies in how they manage working capital. According to PYMNTS Intelligence commissioned by Visa, 4 in 5 CFOs and treasurers studied for the 2025/2026 Working Capital Index have unlocked about $19 million in average savings thanks to the efficient use of external working capital solutions. For JOOR CFO Rich Rein, that figure reflects how embedded finance is reshaping relationships between brands and retailers. “The retail industry is really a classic example of how important working capital and working capital management is,” Rein told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster. “It’s a textbook case.” Cash Flow: Retail Balancing Act Payments between buyers and suppliers in retail are…

AI has brought a shift in the way finance leaders operate, FIS EVP, Group President, Office of the CFO JP James writes in a new PYMNTS eBook, “Headlines That Will Shape the Close of 2025.” As 2025 draws to a close, artificial intelligence stands out as a primary catalyst redefining the function and influence of the office of the CFO. No longer confined to the realm of automation or basic analytics, AI has evolved into a dynamic engine powering strategic decision-making, risk management and financial innovation across global organizations. The final quarter of the year is set to highlight how AI’s integration is not…

California has passed a series of artificial intelligence and social-media bills establishing the nation’s most extensive state-level safeguards for minors and requiring AI developers to disclose their training data. Governor Gavin Newsom this month signed five bills addressing child online safety and AI accountability, introducing new standards for chatbot oversight, age verification and content liability. The laws mark the most comprehensive attempt yet by a U.S. state to regulate how generative AI and social platforms interact with users. California Sets New Rules for AI and Social Platforms According to California’s official announcement, the legislation creates new guardrails for technology companies, including requirements for chatbot disclosures,…

BigBear.ai (NYSE: BBAI), a leading provider of mission-ready AI for national security, today announced the deployment of its veriScan™ biometric identity platformto support theU.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Enhanced Passenger Processing (EPP) program at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). “Border security starts with trusted identity,” said Kevin McAleenan, Chief Executive Officer, BigBear.ai.Share The EPP system has enabled highly secure entry for U.S. citizensreturning home across multiple ports of entry. Now in collaboration with the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), this milestone implementation marks a major advancement in securing and accelerating international arrivals for those U.S. citizens at ORD. “Border security starts with…

DURHAM, N.C. & HARRISBURG, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SinglepointAI, the intelligent data automation layer designed to simplify and connect the retirement plan ecosystem, and PensionPro, a leader in workflow management software for Third-Party Administrators (TPAs), today announced that SinglepointAI is now an integration partner with PensionPro. Validated in production, the integration powers PensionPro’s new automated onboarding feature—eliminating one of the most painful bottlenecks in retirement plan administration. Built for retirement pros, by retirement pros. Streamlined 401(k) onboarding through PensionPro, powered by SinglepointAI’s intelligent data automation layer.Share Onboarding plans swiftly and efficiently has long been a challenge for TPAs. Manual, repetitive data entry, missing…

New research from Anthropic and academic collaborators, finds that only a few hundred malicious data points can introduce hidden vulnerabilities into large language models (LLMs). The study examined models from 600 million to 13 billion parameters. Parameters being the internal numerical weights a model tunes to predict and generate text. The result: larger models did not require proportionally more poisoned data to be compromised. According to Anthropic’s analysis, the attack succeeded when roughly 250 manipulated documents were added to an otherwise clean dataset. These samples created a “backdoor,” meaning the model learned an unintended behavior linked to a secret trigger. For example,…

Retail is no longer a tale of shelves and sales. It’s a story of systems. The industry has evolved from an art of merchandising into a science of experience design and data orchestration. This evolution is being driven not only by changing customer expectations, but by technology’s ability to re-architect both what the customer sees (the “front end”) and what happens behind the scenes (the “back end”). Amazon, for example, on Wednesday (Oct. 22) announced it is equipping its delivery drivers with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart glasses to accelerate last-mile logistics, part of a broader operational overhaul that also includes enhanced delivery…

Alibaba has unveiled a new artificial intelligence chatbot for consumers and announced the pricing and launch date of its new AI glasses. The company’s consumer-facing AI application, Quark, announced the Quark AI Chat Assistant, saying it enables users to access real-time information and services via text or voice, according to a Thursday (Oct. 23) press release. Integrated into the Quark app and powered by Alibaba’s latest Qwen3 models, the chatbot provides a combination of search and conversation, as well as capabilities around deep search, photo-based problem solving, AI writing and photo editing, according to the release. It will also “further integrate various MCP (Model Context…

These days, working for America’s AI giants means putting in 80 to 100-hour weeks. That’s according to a report late Wednesday (Oct. 22) by The Wall Street Journal, which says that many researchers at Silicon Valley artificial intelligence (AI) labs compare the situation to being at war. “We’re basically trying to speedrun 20 years of scientific progress in two years,” said Josh Batson, a research scientist at Anthropic. Major advances in AI systems are happening “every few months,” he said. “It’s the most interesting scientific question in the world right now.” According to the report, executives and researchers at tech companies like Anthropic, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI have said…

The plumbing of B2B finance isn’t exactly cutting edge. In fact, the only “cutting edge” many of the traditional pipes that facilitate enterprise payments can boast is their rusty bits. But the rise of autonomous agents, or artificial intelligence (AI) systems empowered to decide, initiate, and complete transactions, is set to polish up this legacy reality. “AI is going to have an impact widely across what I would call the procure-to-pay process,” Nabil Manji, SVP head of FinTech Growth & Financial Partnerships at Worldpay, told PYMNTS during a discussion for the B2B PYMNTS 2025 event, “B2B.AI: The Architecture of Intelligent Money Movement.” “If you think about reconciliation, it’s about as repetitive and…