Aviva has uncovered a record £230 million in insurance fraud claims and is using AI tools to counter the growing problem. The battleground has changed, and the culprits are also coming armed with a new generation of tools. We’re now in an environment where AI is being used not just to defend against fraud, but…

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Weis Markets is adding Instacart’s AI-powered shopping carts, Caper Carts, to select stores in Pennsylvania, bringing digital coupons, loyalty features, and repeat-purchase recommendations into the grocery aisle. The Pennsylvania-based grocery chain is working with Instacart to deploy the smart carts, which include cameras, certified scales, location systems, and a touchscreen. According to Instacart, Caper Carts…

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AI and chip stocks shed roughly $1.3 trillion on Friday, the semiconductor sector’s worst day since 2020, after a hot jobs report spiked interest-rate fears and Broadcom’s outlook rattled the chip trade. The sharpest people in finance flatly disagree on what it means: the bubble finally cracking, or profit-taking after a euphoric run. Here is…

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Insider Brief 1X has launched the 1X World Model Lab, a new research organization focused on developing large-scale AI world models and foundation models to improve the autonomy and adaptability of its Neo humanoid robot. The company said the lab will focus on large-scale pretraining using internet data, first-person human video, simulation environments, teleoperated robot…

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Insider Brief Bipartisan lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced separate robotics bills aimed at strengthening U.S. leadership in robotics and increasing scrutiny of robots manufactured by China and other foreign adversaries. The National Commission on Robotics Act would establish an 18-member commission to evaluate U.S. competitiveness in robotics and make recommendations on workforce…

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Alphabet has completed the largest equity offering in history, raising $85 billion across two tranches after overwhelming investor demand pushed its initial $40 billion raise to $45 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai announced the result, noting that Berkshire Hathaway alone acquired $10 billion worth of shares. The figure surpasses the previous record set by Brazilian oil…

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Amazon is introducing AI-generated product images into its shopping app search results, displaying synthetic visuals beneath autocomplete suggestions to help users who struggle to describe what they are looking for. A search for a blue gingham dress, for example, might surface several AI-illustrated style variations that users can tap to refine their results. The feature…

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Every enterprise, from a seed-stage startup deploying its first automated workflow to a Fortune 50 firm rebuilding its entire labor model, now depends on agent software to plan, reason, execute, and iterate without constant human instruction. The CEOs building that software are, in a very real sense, deciding what autonomous work looks like in the…

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Insider Brief Arpio, an AI-native cloud recovery and resilience platform, has closed a $15 million Series A round co-led by S3 Ventures and Paladin Capital Group, with participation from Draper Associates and several other investors, to expand its platform across AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and AI-native services. Founded in 2020, Arpio enables enterprises to…

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Insider Brief Factorial, a Barcelona-based AI workforce operations platform, has closed a $150 million Series D round at a $2.5 billion valuation led by General Catalyst, which is simultaneously committing up to an additional $540 million through its Customer Value Fund, bringing total capital committed to over $700 million and securing the company’s growth for…

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