Governance
Athens Democracy Forum highlights AI challenge for democracy
(DigAWatch – 1 October 2025) The 2025 Athens Democracy Forum opened in Athens with a dedicated session on AI, ethics and democracy, co-organised by Kathimerini in partnership with The New York Times. Held at the Athens Conservatoire, the event placed AI at the heart of discussions on the future of democratic governance. – https://dig.watch/updates/athens-democracy-forum-highlights-ai-challenge-for-democracy
US State Age Verification Efforts Threaten Online Speech and Privacy – The Supreme Court Seems Ready to Allow Them
(Sarah Forland – Tech Policy Press – 1 October 2025) The US Supreme Court recently weighed in on state age verification efforts, rewriting our ability to freely and privately access content online. In late June, the Court reversed decades of precedent in the Free Speech Coalition v Paxton decision to uphold Texas HB 1181. While the opinion narrowly approved age verification for sexual content online, the supporting language waved away privacy risks and seemed to create space for wider interpretations. Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas found that “adults have no First Amendment right to avoid age verification.” At a time when states are testing the boundaries for online restrictions in the name of youth safety, this is a concerning message for the future of the free and open web. – https://www.techpolicy.press/us-state-age-verification-efforts-threaten-online-speech-and-privacy-the-supreme-court-seems-ready-to-allow-them/
Implementation Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration on Promoting the High-Quality Development of “Artificial Intelligence+” Energy
(CSET – 30 September 2025) The following policy describes China’s vision for the adoption of AI technology in its energy sector through 2030. A spinoff of the August 2025 “AI+” strategy, this plan identifies numerous ways that Chinese electric utilities and energy companies should use AI to improve their operations. These include areas such as predictive maintenance, coordinating supply and demand of renewable energy, and replacing dangerous or labor-intensive tasks in coal mining and offshore oil drilling. The plan covers applications of AI technology to support the energy sector, and does not address the flip side of the issue, namely how to supply enough electricity to meet the increasing energy needs of China’s AI industry. – https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/china_ai_plus_energy_opinions_2025/
Opinions of the State Council on Deepening the Implementation of the “Artificial Intelligence+” Initiative
(CSET – 24 September 2025) The following Chinese government policy encourages accelerated adoption of AI across virtually every industry and segment of society in China from 2025 to 2035. It advocates for research and innovation in various AI paths and seeks to expand and improve the supply of data, compute, and talent for AI development. In particular, the policy emphasizes the value of a flourishing open-source AI ecosystem. – https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/china-ai-plus-opinions-2025/
Harmonizing AI Guidance: Distilling Voluntary Standards and Best Practices into a Unified Framework
(Kyle Crichton, Abhiram Reddy, Jessica Ji, Ali Crawford, Mia Hoffmann, Colin Shea-Blymyer, and John Bansemer – CSET – September 2025) Organizations looking to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) systems face the challenge of deciphering a myriad of voluntary standards and best practices—requiring time, resources, and expertise that many cannot afford. To address this problem, this report distills over 7,000 recommended practices from 52 reports into a single harmonized framework. Integrating new AI guidance with existing safety and security practices, this work provides a road map for organizations navigating the complex landscape of AI guidance. – https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/harmonizing-ai-guidance-distilling-voluntary-standards-and-best-practices-into-a-unified-framework/
Geostrategies
OpenAI Strikes Landmark Chip and Data Center Deals in South Korea to Power Stargate Project
(AI Insider – 1 October 2025) OpenAI has signed agreements with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to supply high-bandwidth memory chips and build AI data centers in South Korea as part of its $500 billion Stargate infrastructure initiative with Oracle and SoftBank. The letters of intent were finalized in Seoul following a meeting between Sam Altman, President Lee Jae-myung, Jay Y. Lee, and Chey Tae-won. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/openai-strikes-landmark-chip-and-data-center-deals-in-south-korea-to-power-stargate-project/
Security
EU consistently targeted by diverse yet convergent threat groups
(ENISA – 1 October 2025) The 2025 ENISA Threat Landscape shows that threat groups are reusing tools and techniques, introducing new attack models, exploiting vulnerabilities and collaborating to target the security and resilience of the EU’s digital infrastructure. Through a more threat-centric approach and further contextual analysis, this latest edition of the ENISA Threat Landscape analyses 4875 incidents over a period spanning from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025. At its core, this report provides an overview of the most prominent cybersecurity threats and trends the EU faces in the current cyber threat ecosystem. – https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/etl-2025-eu-consistently-targeted-by-diverse-yet-convergent-threat-groups
AI’s Hidden National Security Cost
(Caroline Baxter – Lawfare – 1 October 2025) AI tools are reshaping how Americans learn, work, and solve problems. These tools exist on a spectrum, from the machine learning and natural language processing that powers Siri in iPhones, to major defense initiatives like Project Maven that rapidly generates lists of targets by synthesizing intelligence and a myriad of inputs. But a certain subset of these tools – generative AI, like chatbots and large language models (LLMs), advertised as research and writing supports—come with a particular risk that matters deeply for the U.S. national security workforce whose decisions can carry life-and-death consequences. Regular use of generative AI programs may erode many of the very cognitive skills U.S. security depends on. Unless policymakers act, the same tools marketed as efficiency boosters could undermine national security professionals’ ability to think critically, respond rapidly, and outmaneuver adversaries. Considering how risk averse the national security space tends to be, this is a consequence worth acknowledging and addressing. – https://www.justsecurity.org/121289/ai-hidden-national-security-cost/
Schools are swotting up on security yet still flunk recovery when cyberattacks strike
(The Register – 1 October 2025) Schools and colleges hit by cyberattacks are taking longer to restore their networks — and the consequences are severe, with students’ coursework being permanently lost in some cases. New figures from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), which regulates school qualifications, examinations, and assessments in England, reveal a troubling trend: more teachers are receiving cybersecurity training, yet institutions struck by attacks are increasingly struggling to recover. Teacher training in the art of cybersecurity jumped from 61 percent during the 2023 to 2024 school year to 72 percent in 2024 to 2025. Despite this progress, recovery times have worsened significantly. – https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/school_cyberattack_recovery/
China-linked hacking group Phantom Taurus targeting embassies, foreign ministries
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 1 October 2025) Espionage hackers aligned with China are targeting foreign ministries, embassies and telcos across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, researchers have found. Palo Alto Network’s Unit 42 has been observing a previously undocumented nation-state hacking group that it dubbed Phantom Taurus targeting government and telecommunications organizations with the goal of obtaining information connected to geopolitical events and military operations. The group has been operating for about two-and-a-half years. – https://therecord.media/china-linked-phantom-taurus-hacking
Taliban impose tele-ban and take Afghanistan offline
(The Register – 1 October 2025) Afghanistan has dropped off the global internet. Outage-watchers NetBlocks and Cloudflare both attribute the outage to government action, a reasonable assumption given that the Taliban who rule Afghanistan recently cut off internet access in some provinces, citing the need to curb immoral behaviour. NetBlocks and Cloudflare both observed internet traffic to Afghanistan waning on Monday, before traffic in and out of the country collapsed later that day. NetBlocks reports that telephone services are also down. Cloudflare spotted a drastic reduction in traffic from local mobile carriers. – https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/afghanistan_goes_offline/
Allianz Life says July data breach impacts 1.5 million people
(Bleeping Computer – 1 October 2025) Allianz Life has completed the investigation into the cyberattack it suffered in July and determined that nearly 1.5 million individuals are impacted. The American insurance giant has notified all potentially affected individuals that their names, addresses, dates of birth, and social security numbers (SSN) has been compromised. Allianz Life is part of Allianz SE and provides annuities and life insurance for more than 1.4 million Americans. Allianz SE, which is a global giant with over 125 million customers, was not impacted. – https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/allianz-life-says-july-data-breach-impacts-15-million-people/
Seniors targeted in global Facebook scam spreading new Android malware
(The Record – 1 October 2025) Researchers have uncovered a scam campaign that uses Facebook groups promoting social activities for seniors to trick victims into installing Android malware on their devices. The scheme first surfaced in Australia in August, when users reported suspicious groups advertising dance events, day trips and community gatherings for older people. Researchers at Dutch cybersecurity firm ThreatFabric later identified dozens of similar groups across Facebook, many relying on AI-generated content to lure victims into downloading malicious apps. – https://therecord.media/seniors-targeted-facebook-android-malware-scam
North Korea IT worker scheme expanding to more industries, countries outside of US tech sector
(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 30 September 2025) North Korea is rapidly expanding its illicit IT worker scheme beyond the U.S. tech sector, successfully obtaining interviews and potentially employment at companies in dozens of industries across the world. Cybersecurity giant Okta published a report on Tuesday outlining its continuing research into the IT worker campaign, which has seen North Korea illegally place thousands of its citizens in high-paying roles at U.S. companies to circumvent sanctions and earn millions of dollars for Pyongyang’s military. Using fake IDs or stolen documents, North Korea initially focused on getting its citizens hired at cryptocurrency companies and other blockchain-related firms. Before long, most Fortune 500 companies had interviewed or hired a North Korean IT worker. – https://therecord.media/north-korea-it-worker-scheme-expands-outisde-us-tech
Smishing Campaigns Exploit Cellular Routers to Target Belgium
(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine – 30 September 2025) A newly identified wave of smishing attacks has been traced to exploited Milesight Industrial Cellular Routers. According to research by Sekoia.io’s Threat Detection & Research (TDR) team, the routers’ APIs were abused to send phishing text messages – a tactic that has repeatedly targeted Belgian users by impersonating official government services. The malicious activity was first detected on July 22 2025, when honeypots recorded suspicious requests. Investigators found the routers had been manipulated to send SMS messages containing phishing links, often disguised as communications from CSAM and eBox (two widely used Belgian government platforms). Messages were written in Dutch and French and consistently featured Belgium’s +32 country code. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/smishing-exploit-cellular-routers/
US Cuts Federal Funding for MS-ISAC Cybersecurity Program
(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine – 30 September 2025) The US federal government is cutting support for a major federal cyber threat information-sharing program. In a public statement published on September 29, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed its cooperative agreement with the Center for Internet Security (CIS) will come to an end on September 30. This means federal funding for the CIS-run Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) will cease, casting doubt on the program’s future. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/us-cuts-funding-ms-isac/
New Android RAT Klopatra Targets Financial Data
(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine – 30 September 2025) A previously unknown Android Remote Access Trojan (RAT) has been identified by security researchers, marking a significant advancement in the evolution of mobile banking threats. The malware, named “Klopatra,” was uncovered by Cleafy’s Threat Intelligence team in late August 2025 and is already being used in large-scale campaigns targeting financial institutions in Europe. Unlike most mobile malware, Klopatra employs commercial-grade protection techniques rarely seen in Android attacks. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/android-rat-klopatra-targets/
Gemini Trifecta Highlights Dangers of Indirect Prompt Injection
(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine – 30 September 2025) Network defenders must start treating AI integrations as active threat surfaces, experts have warned after revealing three new vulnerabilities in Google Gemini. Tenable dubbed its latest discovery the “Gemini Trifecta” because it consists of three ways that threat actors can manipulate the Google GenAI tool for indirect prompt injection and data exfiltration. The first indirect prompt injection vulnerability affects Gemini Cloud Assist: a tool designed to help users understand complex logs in the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) by summarizing entries and surfacing recommendations. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/gemini-trifecta-dangers-indirect/
CIISec Members Say Budgets Are Falling Behind Threats
(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine – 30 September 2025) Cybersecurity budgets in the UK are stagnating, even as job prospects and industry growth improves, a new poll of industry professionals has revealed. The Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) published the latest findings from its upcoming State of the Security Profession report, which is based on interviews with its members. Just 5% agreed that budgets are in line with or ahead of threats, while 84% claimed the opposite. However, over three-quarters (78%) claimed their job prospects are good or excellent, and a similar share (73%) expect the security market to grow over the next three years. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ciisec-members-budget-falling/
Scattered Spider, ShinyHunters Restructure – New Attacks Underway
(Security Affairs – 30 September 2025) A new Resecurity report has uncovered a rapidly unfolding—and potentially much larger—global cybercrime campaign led by the notorious alliance of LAPSUS$, ShinyHunters, and Scattered Spider. Contrary to recent claims of “retirement,” the so-called “Trinity of Chaos” continues to conduct coordinated hacks and extortion operations against leading enterprises, with multiple major data breaches yet to be disclosed to the public. This timely report highlights a surge of private extortion attempts, signaling that the true blast radius of these threat actors may far exceed what has so far come to light. – https://securityaffairs.com/182799/cyber-crime/scattered-spider-shinyhunters-restructure-new-attacks-underway.html
WestJet confirms cyberattack exposed IDs, passports in June incident
(Security Affairs – 30 September 2025) WestJet airline confirmed the June security breach exposed customer passports and IDs. WestJet is a Canadian airline that operates both domestic and international flights. Founded in 1996, it started as a low-cost carrier and has grown to become Canada’s second-largest airline, after Air Canada. The cybersecurity incident impacted some of its internal systems and mobile app, which had blocked access for several users. The company mitigated the attack with specialized internal teams and coordinated the response with law enforcement and Transport Canada. – https://securityaffairs.com/182823/data-breach/westjet-confirms-cyberattack-exposed-ids-passports-in-june-incident.html
Asahi Suspends Operations in Japan After Cyber-Attack
(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 30 September 2025) Brewing giant Asahi has suspended operations in Japan following a “system failure” caused by a cyber-attack. The firm, which is headquartered in Tokyo, said that order and shipment operations at group companies in Japan have been suspended, as have call center operations, including customer service desks. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/asahi-operations-japan-attack/
Frontiers
World-first: Surfboard-sized robot records live data inside Category 5 hurricane
(Interesting Engineering – 1 October 2025) A robot no bigger than a surfboard has done what no machine has ever done before. On September 28, a small, wind-powered ocean robot became the first uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) to capture and transmit data from inside a Category 5 hurricane. The breakthrough came during Hurricane Humberto, when one of the four-foot-long vessels, called a C-Star, entered the eyewall of the storm. It became the smallest USV ever to do so, relaying live measurements from the planet’s most dangerous weather zone. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/tiny-ocean-robot-hurricane-data
Quantum entanglement may be nature’s secret for moving energy at lightning speed
(Interesting Engineering – 1 October 2025) Photosynthesis and other natural processes depend on energy moving quickly and efficiently across molecules. When sunlight strikes a leaf, energy races across protein structures before it can be stored and used. For decades, scientists have wondered whether quantum mechanics plays a role in this astonishing efficiency. Now, Rice University researchers have found evidence that quantum entanglement can accelerate this process. – https://interestingengineering.com/science/quantum-entanglement-energy-transfer
World’s fastest supercomputer simulates black hole jets shaping galaxy clusters
(Interesting Engineering – 1 October 2025) It takes the fastest machine on Earth to simulate the largest structures in the universe. Scientists have turned to Frontier, the world’s most powerful supercomputer, to uncover how galaxy clusters regulate the immense energy from supermassive black holes. The breakthrough offers the clearest picture yet of how these cosmic giants survive for billions of years without collapsing. – https://interestingengineering.com/space/frontier-supercomputer-black-hole-simulations
German scientists use 3D blast simulations to make WWII bomb disposal safer
(Interesting Engineering – 1 October 2025) Hundreds of thousands of unexploded aerial bombs from the Second World War remain buried across Germany. People have to experience large-scale evacuations, district closures, and transport interruptions when they are discovered. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut (EMI), together with virtualcitysystems GmbH and the Ministry of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, are developing modelling tools intended to predict fragmentation flight and simulate the underground spread of shock waves. The aim is to reduce evacuation zones and improve forecasting of risks to people, buildings, and subterranean infrastructure. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/software-powered-wwii-bomb-detonations
Flax-made smart sensor fabric lets asphalt roads self-report damage without drilling
(Interesting Engineering – 1 October 2025) Scientists have developed a smart fabric embedded with sensors that can monitor the hidden health of asphalt roads in real time, in a breakthrough that could make resurfacing more sustainable, cost-effective, and less disruptive for drivers. To design the innovative solution, the team of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research, at the Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut (WKI) in Germany, teamed up with experts in the SenAD2 project. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/smart-sensor-fabric-in-asphalt-roads
Capital Rx Announces Funding Round of $400M to Accelerate AI-Powered Health Benefits Platform; Rebrands as “Judi Health” to Reflect Expansion Beyond Pharmacy
(AI Insider – 1 October 2025) Capital Rx raised $400M, including a $252M Series F led by Wellington Management and General Catalyst, and rebranded as Judi Health™ to reflect its expanded role as a full-service health benefits technology company. Judi Health integrates pharmacy, medical, vision, and dental benefits into a unified, AI-powered Enterprise Health Platform, delivering transparent pricing, simplified administration, and scalability for employers and health plans. With over 4M PBM members and 54M health plan lives already on its platform, Judi Health is positioned to address rising U.S. healthcare costs and inefficiencies, offering a transformative alternative to legacy benefit systems. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/capital-rx-announces-funding-round-of-400m-to-accelerate-ai-powered-health-benefits-platform-rebrands-as-judi-health-to-reflect-expansion-beyond-pharmacy/
AmplifAI Closes $33.7M in Funding to Power High-Performing Human Teams and AI Agents Driving the Future of Customer Experience
(AI Insider – 1 October 2025) AmplifAI raised $33.7M in Series B funding and a credit facility led by CVS Health Ventures, with support from LiveOak Ventures and Dallas Venture Partners, to expand its AI-powered contact center performance platform. The platform unifies human and AI agent performance, using generative AI on multi-channel data to deliver real-time coaching, automated workflows, and insights that reduce costs, strengthen loyalty, and improve customer outcomes. Since 2018, AmplifAI has helped major brands in healthcare, retail, financial services, and tech boost sales conversions by over 100%, cut costs per contact by nearly 10%, and improve resolution rates by more than 20%. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/amplifai-closes-33-7m-in-funding-to-power-high-performing-human-teams-and-ai-agents-driving-the-future-of-customer-experience/
Nscale Announces $433M Pre-Series C SAFE, Building on Historic $1.1B Series B Momentum
(AI Insider – 1 October 2025) Nscale secured $433M in a Pre-Series C SAFE, just days after its record-setting $1.1B Series B, with backing from investors including Blue Owl Managed Funds, Dell, NVIDIA, and Nokia. The U.K.-headquartered company provides vertically integrated AI infrastructure — covering compute, networking, storage, managed software, and AI services — through its own and colocated data centers worldwide. With over 50 data centers, a massive GPU pipeline, and global supercomputing partnerships, Nscale is positioning itself as a sovereign, scalable hyperscaler for enterprise-grade AI workloads. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/nscale-announces-433m-pre-series-c-safe-building-on-historic-1-1b-series-b-momentum/
PredictAP Secures Additional $5M Funding to Cap a Year of Growth, Impact, and Industry Leadership
(AI Insider – 1 October 2025) PredictAP closed an additional $5M funding round led by RET Ventures and Wise Ventures, supporting its expansion, AI technology enhancements, and deeper integrations with major property management software. Over the past year, the company has grown to 100+ customers, processed more than 4M invoices annually, and delivered an average 80% time savings per invoice, reducing approval cycles from 11 days to just 3. Recognized as a top proptech innovator, PredictAP secured a U.S. patent for its AI invoice coding technology, won “Innovative Solution of the Year,” and continues to transform AP automation for the real estate industry. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/predictap-secures-additional-5m-funding-to-cap-a-year-of-growth-impact-and-industry-leadership/
Scientists Create Carbon Nanotube-based Superconducting Quantum Bit
(Quantum Insider – 1 October 2025) Researchers at École Polytechnique have demonstrated the first superconducting quantum circuit architecture that integrates a carbon nanotube as a qubit, published in Nature Communications. The nanotube-based Josephson junction enables control of qubit properties using a simple electrical voltage while maintaining superconducting performance at very low temperatures. The team successfully placed the qubit in superposition states, measured its lifetime, and studied pathways to improve stability for future experiments. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/10/01/scientists-create-carbon-nanotube-based-superconducting-quantum-bit/
Supercomputers Could Train Quantum Engines For The Next Era of Computing
(Quantum Insider – 1 October 2025) Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and North Carolina State University demonstrated a framework that integrates quantum simulators and cloud services with supercomputers to run hybrid quantum-classical applications. Benchmarks showed that different backends excel at different tasks, with state-vector, tensor-network, and distributed approaches each offering workload-specific advantages. The study highlights that reproducible, backend-agnostic orchestration is key to scaling hybrid quantum-HPC workflows and preparing for practical quantum advantage. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/10/01/supercomputers-could-train-quantum-engines-for-the-next-era-of-computing/
Phasecraft Launches Quantum-Enhanced Optimization Software Platform Mondrian
(Quantum Insider – 1 October 2025) Phasecraft unveiled Mondrian, a quantum-enhanced software platform that accelerates classical optimization for hard industrial problems across energy, finance, logistics, and other sectors. Mondrian uses outputs from quantum algorithms to speed existing classical solvers, enabling high-quality results on today’s error-prone, small-scale quantum hardware. Backed by a £1.2M UK Quantum Catalyst Fund award and co-developed with the UK National Energy System Operator, early tests report up to 1,000× speed-ups on grid use cases like power exchange, intentional islanding, and renewable siting, with trials already under way with partners. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/10/01/phasecraft-launches-quantum-enhanced-optimization-software-platform-mondrian/
Quantum Brilliance, CyberSeQ And LuxProvide Partner to Advance Post-Quantum Cryptography With Certified Randomness
(Quantum Insider – 1 October 2025) Quantum Brilliance, CyberSeQ, and LuxProvide signed a letter of intent to develop quantum-secure encryption methods using post-quantum cryptography and true random numbers. The project integrates nondeterministic quantum-derived numbers from Quantum Brilliance’s virtual quantum processing unit into CyberSeQ’s PQC algorithms, with validation conducted on LuxProvide’s MeluXina supercomputer. The collaboration targets rising demand for certified randomness in PQC standards from NIST and European agencies, with applications across industries such as financial services and data security. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/10/01/quantum-brilliance-cyberseq-and-luxprovide-partner-to-advance-post-quantum-cryptography-with-certified-randomness/
Chicago Breaks Ground on Quantum Campus at Former South Works Site
(Quantum Insider – 1 October 2025) Illinois has broken ground on the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a multibillion-dollar quantum computing campus on Chicago’s South Side that is expected to attract global firms, billions in investment, and thousands of jobs, according to The Chicago Tribune. The 440-acre redevelopment of the former U.S. Steel South Works plant will feature anchor tenant PsiQuantum in a 300,000-square-foot facility, alongside companies including IBM, Infleqtion, and Diraq, with early state funding commitments totaling $700 million. The project is designed as both a research hub and economic engine, supporting scientists, engineers, and skilled workers while integrating community spaces, housing, and retail into the long-vacant lakefront site. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/10/01/chicago-breaks-ground-on-quantum-campus-at-former-south-works-site/
Scientists Explore New Spin on Quantum Computing
(Quantum Insider – 1 October 2025) Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory and collaborating institutions report experimental evidence that a cobalt-based honeycomb oxide (NCSO) material may be approaching a quantum spin liquid state, a long-sought phase of matter relevant for quantum computing. By applying pressures exceeding 1 million atmospheres with diamond anvil cells at the Advanced Photon Source, the team suppressed conventional magnetic order in NCSO and observed frustrated spin behavior consistent with spin liquid properties. The findings suggest honeycomb-structured materials could host topologically protected quantum spin liquids, offering a potential platform for stable qubits and advancing efforts toward fault-tolerant quantum technologies. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/10/01/scientists-explore-new-spin-on-quantum-computing/
Periodic Labs Emerges from Stealth with $300 Million Seed Round to Build ‘AI Scientists’
(AI Insider – 1 October 2025) Periodic Labs emerged from stealth with a $300 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz to build “AI scientists” and autonomous labs, funding hiring, lab scale-up, and initial industry products. Backers include Felicis, DST Global, Accel, NVentures, and individual investors Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt, Jeff Dean, and Elad Gil; founders William Fedus and Ekin Dogus Çubuk cite team contributions to ChatGPT, GNoME, Operator/Agent, the attention mechanism, and MatterGen. The company will start in the physical sciences—targeting higher-temperature superconductors and industrial use cases like chip heat dissipation—by coupling large models with automated experimentation to generate proprietary data and compress R&D cycles. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/periodic-labs-emerges-from-stealth-with-300-million-seed-round-to-build-ai-scientists/
AiM Medical Robotics Secures $8.1 Million Series A Financing to for Neurosurgery with MRI-Compatible Surgical Robotics
(AI Insider – 1 October 2025) AiM Medical Robotics closed an $8.1M Series A led by IQ Capital and 1540 Ventures to advance its MRI-compatible neurosurgery robot toward first-in-human trials. The platform combines real-time intraoperative MRI with robotic guidance to precisely place neurostimulation leads and supports cranial procedures such as biopsy, ablation, and targeted drug delivery. The round (initial close June 2025, including $3.75M in converted notes) drew backing from WPI, Sontag Innovation Fund, Cancer Research Horizons, and multiple angel groups, with proceeds for the first-in-human study, partnerships, product development, and regulatory milestones. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/aim-medical-robotics-secures-8-1-million-series-a-financing-to-for-neurosurgery-with-mri-compatible-surgical-robotics/
InOrbit.AI Secures Series A Funding to Scale Robot Orchestration Platform
(AI Insider – 1 Octrober 2025) InOrbit.AIclosed a Series A co-led by L’ATTITUDE Ventures and Globant Ventures to accelerate its robot orchestration platform and expand across manufacturing, logistics, retail, and hospitality. Its InOrbit Space Intelligence software coordinates heterogeneous fleets and integrates with enterprise systems (e.g., WMS/ERP), bringing agentic AI to physical operations for customers such as Colgate-Palmolive and Genentech. A partnership with Globant will extend enterprise AI capabilities and deployment at scale, while momentum includes selection to the 2024 Google for Startups Founders Fund as InOrbit positions itself as shared infrastructure for a coming wave of robots. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/inorbit-ai-secures-series-a-funding-to-scale-robot-orchestration-platform/
Summer Robotics Raises Series A Financing led by Applied Ventures, LLC
(AI Insider – 1 October 2025) Summer Robotics completed the first close of its Series A led by Applied Ventures, with Solasta Ventures, NAVER D2SF and others participating, to accelerate its Kortx machine-vision platform for robots operating in unstructured, variable-lighting environments. The company appointed Rick Van Valkenburg as chief commercial officer, adding nearly 30 years of automation and machine-vision experience—including 28 years at Perceptron—to drive commercialization and partnerships. Pilot programs with automotive manufacturers are underway as Summer expands to additional industries, positioning Kortx to unlock new automation use cases across manufacturing, logistics and emerging humanoid applications. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/10/01/summer-robotics-raises-series-a-financing-led-by-applied-ventures-llc/
Nvidia Announces New Robotics Open Models and Simulation Libraries
(AI Insider – 30 September 2025) Nvidia added the open-source Newton physics engine to Isaac Lab and introduced the open Isaac GR00T N1.6 reasoning VLA model with new AI infrastructure, creating an open, accelerated platform for standardized training, testing, and sim-to-real transfer. Newton—GPU-accelerated, Linux Foundation–managed and co-developed with Google DeepMind and Disney Research—targets complex humanoid dynamics for safer real-world deployment and is being adopted by ETH Zurich, TUM, Peking University and others. New tools span a dexterous grasping workflow in Isaac Lab 2.3, the upcoming Isaac Lab-Arena evaluation framework co-developed with Lightwheel, and hardware fr om GB200 NVL72 and RTX PRO Servers to Jetson Thor, with adoption by Agility, Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, LG and more. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/30/nvidia-announces-new-robotics-open-models-and-simulation-libraries/
Seven-Eleven Japan and Telexistence Partner for Humanoid Robots with Generative AI
(AI Insider – 30 September 2025) Telexistence and Seven-Eleven Japan will co-develop “Astra,” a generative-AI, Vision-Language-Action humanoid robot for convenience stores, with deployments targeted for 2029. The collaboration will identify automatable store tasks, design humanoid hardware for real-world retail conditions, and build large-scale motion datasets to train and deploy VLA models. TX will leverage data from its Ghost restocking robots and work with AIRoA (including Waseda’s Ogata, UTokyo’s Matsuo, and Toyota) to accelerate dataset creation and implementation, aiming to ease labor shortages and elevate in-store customer experience. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/30/seven-eleven-japan-and-telexistence-partner-for-humanoid-robots-with-generative-ai/
PayPal Ventures Leads Finary’s Series B Funding Round
(AI Insider – 30 September 2025) Finary raised €25M in Series B funding led by PayPal Ventures with participation from LocalGlobe, Hedosophia, Shapers, Y Combinator, and Speedinvest, bringing total funding to €38M and adding leaders like Axel Weber and Harsh Sinha to its backers. Profitable since 2024, the wealth management platform plans to launch new financial products, expand its private-wealth offering Finary One, enhance AI-driven tools, strengthen its European presence, and hire 50+ new team members. Founded in 2021 by Mounir Laggoune, Finary has already helped over half a million French households centralize and optimize their investments, aiming to democratize wealth management across Europe amid shifting savings, pensions, and generational wealth transfer trends. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/30/paypal-ventures-leads-finarys-series-b-funding-round/
DoorDash Unveils Dot, the Delivery Robot Powered by its Autonomous Delivery Platform
(AI Insider – 30 September 2025) DoorDash unveiled Dot, an all-electric autonomous delivery robot built to navigate bike lanes, roads, sidewalks and driveways, launching via early access in Tempe and Mesa and natively integrated with DoorDash’s marketplace and Autonomous Delivery Platform. The platform acts as an AI dispatcher that selects the optimal mode—Dasher, Dot, drone or sidewalk robot—by balancing speed, cost, location and experience, with SmartScale and secure handoffs designed to streamline merchant operations and reliability. DoorDash frames autonomy as complementing human couriers to improve peak coverage, reduce congestion and emissions, and accelerate local commerce, with plans to expand to additional markets through partnerships and municipal collaboration. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/30/doordash-unveils-dot-the-delivery-robot-powered-by-its-autonomous-delivery-platform/
AppZen Closes $180M Growth Round Led by Riverwood Capital to Take the Next Step in Autonomous Finance
(AI Insider – 30 September 2025) AppZen raised $180M in Series D funding led by Riverwood Capital to accelerate adoption of its agentic AI platform, which automates finance workflows across T&E, accounts payable, and corporate card programs. Powered by proprietary ZenLM models and the Mastermind AI Automation Platform, AppZen helps over 500 global enterprises, including 65+ Fortune 500 companies, cut costs, reduce fraud, and shift up to two-thirds of manual finance work to AI-driven digital coworkers. With deep semantic capabilities across 40+ languages and support for complex, multi-entity operations, AppZen is positioned as the leader in autonomous finance, enabling CFOs to scale efficiency, compliance, and decision-making without additional headcount. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/09/30/appzen-closes-180m-growth-round-led-by-riverwood-capital-to-take-the-next-step-in-autonomous-finance/