Author: Art Ryan

SpaceX has been nominated for the 2026 World AI Awards in the Aerospace category, recognising a company whose spacecraft, launch vehicles and autonomous systems have pushed software-driven operations into some of the most demanding environments in aerospace. The nomination comes as autonomy becomes increasingly important to modern spaceflight. SpaceX has developed systems capable of autonomously navigating spacecraft to the International Space Station, controlling complex phases of orbital flight and returning reusable rocket boosters to Earth with high precision. The World AI Awards recognises organisations, individuals, products and technologies contributing to the development and real-world application of artificial intelligence across industries.…

Raytheon Technologies, now operating as RTX, has been nominated for the 2026 World AI Awards in the Aerospace category, recognising work across artificial intelligence, autonomy, aircraft maintenance and next-generation aviation systems. The nomination comes as AI moves deeper into both commercial and military aerospace. Across RTX businesses Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon, the technology is being applied to problems ranging from pilot workload and engine inspections to predictive maintenance and autonomous aircraft operations. The World AI Awards recognises organisations, individuals, products and technologies contributing to the development and real-world application of artificial intelligence across industries. For RTX, artificial…

The United Arab Emirates has retained its position as the world’s leading country for artificial intelligence adoption, with 73.3% of its working-age population now using generative AI tools, according to the latest data from the Microsoft AI Economy Institute. The figure comes from Microsoft’s Global AI Diffusion Report for the second quarter of 2026 and places the UAE well ahead of other high-adoption markets. Singapore remains second at 64.3%, while Ireland reached 49.9% and France followed at 49.6%. The numbers show that AI adoption in the UAE is no longer limited to early experimentation. Generative AI tools are becoming increasingly…

Lockheed Martin has been nominated for the 2026 World AI Awards in the Aerospace category, recognising the aerospace and defence company’s work applying artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomous technologies across aircraft, space systems and military operations. The nomination comes as AI moves deeper into aerospace systems where software must work alongside sensors, aircraft, satellites and human operators. Lockheed Martin’s efforts range from autonomous helicopter flight and predictive aircraft maintenance to AI-assisted analysis of large volumes of space and defence sensor data. The World AI Awards recognises organisations, individuals, products and technologies contributing to the development and real-world application of…

The UAE and Lebanon are taking AI skills training to an unusually large scale. The ambitious One Million Lebanese AI Experts initiative highlights just how committed the region is to shaping the future of technology through education. The two countries have launched the One Million Lebanese AI Experts initiative, a programme designed to give one million people in Lebanon practical experience with generative artificial intelligence and prompt engineering. The initiative was announced during a meeting between UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Lebanese Prime Minister Dr. Nawaf Salam in New…

Boeing has been nominated for the 2026 World AI Awards in the Aerospace category, recognising the aerospace company’s work applying artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomy across commercial aviation, defence and space systems. The nomination comes as Boeing expands its use of AI beyond conventional data analytics. Its work now stretches from predictive aircraft maintenance and automated flight systems to autonomous military aircraft and experimental onboard AI designed to help spacecraft interpret problems when communications with Earth are limited. The World AI Awards recognises organisations, individuals, products and technologies contributing to the development and real-world application of artificial intelligence across…

Web Summit Qatar is already gathering momentum for its 2027 edition. More than 70 global partners are confirmed months before the technology gathering returns to Doha. Scheduled for January 31 to February 3, 2027, at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC), the event is expected to bring together startups, investors, technology companies, policymakers and business leaders from around the world. Artificial intelligence should once again sit prominently within that mix. In fact, AI companies will compete for enterprise customers, investment and international partnerships. Web Summit’s official website expects the 2027 gathering to attract more than 30,000 attendees, 1,500 startups…

Abu Dhabi, UAE — Global Trading Show has announced an update to its event dates, with the highly anticipated event now set to take place on 10–11 December 2026 in Abu Dhabi co-located with Global Blockchain Show. Organized by VAP Group and powered by Times Of Trading, the first edition of the event brings together the full spectrum of the trading world, including the most influential market movers such as ultra-HNW investors, brokers, regulators, exchanges, institutional desks, high-volume traders, influencers and leading financial key opinion leaders, all under one roof at one of the region’s most prestigious venues.Until now, the…

Airbus has been nominated for the 2026 World AI Awards in the Aerospace category, recognising the global aerospace group’s work in applying artificial intelligence to some of aviation’s most complex technological and operational challenges. The nomination comes as AI moves deeper into the aerospace sector, with applications extending from data analysis and predictive maintenance to computer vision, pilot assistance, flight automation and research into increasingly autonomous aircraft operations. The World AI Awards recognises the organisations, individuals, products and technologies helping shape the development and real-world application of artificial intelligence. With more than 10,000 nominees spanning over 1,000 categories, the programme showcases AI innovation…

Anthropic is making another major infrastructure bet as demand for artificial intelligence continues to climb. The Claude developer has signed a seven-year cloud services agreement with Akamai Technologies worth $11.6 billion, giving Anthropic access to more computing capacity as it scales its models and enterprise services. The agreement could eventually become much larger. Akamai said the relationship includes room for an additional $9 billion in commitments, which could push the total value of the partnership close to $20 billion. The deal is notable not only because of its size. It also includes an equity component that could give Anthropic ownership…

McDonald’s AI strategy is reshaping how the company puts artificial intelligence deeper into its restaurant operations as it looks for new ways to attract customers and improve efficiency. The fast-food giant is pushing ahead with its McDonald’s > NEXT strategy. The plan combines AI-powered restaurant technology, new menu products and redesigned locations. McDonald’s is investing billions of dollars in the effort as it tries to modernize how its restaurants operate while giving customers more reasons to return. The interesting part isn’t simply the arrival of AI at the drive-thru. Much of the technology will work quietly behind the counter, where…

Hotels have experimented with AI chatbots for years. Dextr AI is betting the bigger opportunity sits deeper inside the property — answering reservation calls, coordinating staff, managing guest requests and handling the operational work that rarely stops. The San Francisco startup has raised $6.7 million in seed funding as it expands its AI agent platform for the hospitality industry. Elevation Capital led the round, with Foundation Capital participating. The financing marks Dextr AI’s first institutional funding round. Founded by Sajid Shariff and Scott Arnold, Dextr AI is building specialized AI agents that work across different parts of hotel operations. Rather…

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is pushing for broader choice in online search, and artificial intelligence is now firmly part of that conversation. The regulator has strengthened proposals that would require Google to give people more freedom when selecting a search service on Android devices and Chrome. The updated plan could allow AI assistants to appear alongside traditional search engines, reflecting how quickly tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing the way people find information online. Rather than treating conversational AI as separate from search, the CMA is responding to a market where users increasingly turn to…

Microsoft is putting more money behind the Gulf’s fast-growing artificial intelligence ambitions. The technology giant plans to invest more than $10 billion across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030. The spending will cover AI infrastructure, cloud capacity, connectivity, cybersecurity, digital resilience and workforce development. Around $2 billion of that total represents additional spending beyond previously announced commitments, including Microsoft’s major investment program in the UAE. The announcement shows how quickly the Gulf’s AI race is moving beyond software. Data centers, subsea cables, cloud regions and national digital infrastructure are becoming just as important as the…

Accor is pushing artificial intelligence deeper into the hotel experience with the launch of ALL Concierge, a conversational AI travel assistant designed to support guests across far more than the initial hotel search. The hospitality group says the new tool can help travelers discover destinations, compare hotels, manage bookings, understand loyalty benefits, receive assistance during a stay and continue getting support afterward. Following a pilot phase, Accor plans to deploy ALL Concierge across its digital ecosystem, including the ALL Accor website, mobile app, WhatsApp and iMessage. The company is positioning the technology as an end-to-end conversational travel companion rather than…

The race to build an AI agent capable of planning and booking an entire vacation is getting crowded. Expedia, though, is not convinced that one digital assistant will end up controlling the whole journey. Expedia Group CEO Ariane Gorin has outlined a more fragmented vision of AI-powered travel. Rather than expecting travelers to hand everything — destination research, hotel selection, flights, payments and changes — to one conversational AI, Expedia sees a future shaped by multiple tools, platforms and entry points. That does not mean Expedia is staying outside the agent boom. The company is moving deeper into the ecosystem…

Abu Dhabi is preparing to host another major gathering of the global artificial intelligence industry as AI Everything Abu Dhabi 2026 brings more than 350 AI companies, enterprises and startups together at the ADNEC Centre on October 6–7. The two-day event will focus heavily on applied AI, enterprise deployment, autonomous agents, infrastructure, robotics and startup innovation. Rather than treating artificial intelligence as a distant concept, the event is expected to showcase systems already moving into business, government and industry workflows. That shift matters. The AI market is no longer centered only on what models can generate. Companies now want to…

Verizon is putting serious money behind a problem that keeps following the artificial intelligence boom: plenty of companies want AI, but not enough workers know how to use it confidently. The US telecommunications giant has announced a $70 million investment in Verizon AI Skills for America, a nationwide initiative offering free AI training to job seekers, early-career professionals, displaced workers, educators and small businesses. The program combines $50 million in new funding with Verizon’s existing $20 million Reskilling and Career Transition Fund. That earlier fund was created to support departing Verizon employees with training and career-transition assistance. It is a…

Liquid AI is pushing personalized artificial intelligence deeper into the device itself. At Snapdragon Summit 2026, the company announced that Liquid Context, its on-device context layer, has been optimized for Snapdragon processors and Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU. The collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies is designed to give AI agents a persistent understanding of a user’s routines, preferences and needs without sending every piece of information to the cloud. The announcement points toward a different kind of personal AI. Instead of forcing users to explain their situation every time they interact with an assistant, AI agents could already have access to relevant context,…

Meta’s new Muse personal AI agent is supposed to handle real-world tasks for users, from making bookings to contacting businesses. But behind some of that automation, there may still be a human on the other end. Meta has been testing the use of human contractors to handle certain phone calls initiated through Muse, according to reporting from Reuters and Social Media Today. This arrangement is part of Meta’s effort to expand what its AI agent can accomplish. The technology is still developing. It also brings back an old question for AI assistants: how much of an “AI” experience is actually…