APAC News
Santa AI TOEFL Unveils AI Tutor and Updated Content for the 2026 TOEFL
Santa AI TOEFL , an AI-powered preparation platform and official ETS partner, has updated its service for the 2026 TOEFL iBT®, which now adds adaptive Reading and Listening sections. The platform pairs authentic content, official scoring engines, and a personal AI tutor as an alternative to the expensive prep academy. Photo Courtesy of Santa TOEFL With more than 4 million downloads worldwide and over 250,000 active learners, Santa AI TOEFL pairs official ETS content with research-grade AI to do something traditional prep could not: identify where learners are losing points and how to address them. The following is a closer look at the features that set the platform apart. Official ETS content, updated for the 2026 test. Preparing for an adaptive exam means practicing the real thing, not an imitation. As an official ETS partner, Santa doesn't reverse-engineer its material — it offers official TOEFL iBT questions and mock tests. The catalog currently includes 21+ mock tests and more than 3,500 practice questions, all updated to reflect the 2026 changes across Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking. Score prediction built on the exam's own engines. Santa's most distinctive feature is how it measures progress. Its score predictions are powered by SpeechRater® for Speaking and e-rater® for Writing. According to the company, which produces AI-predicted scores that align with actual test results 99% of the time. Instead of guessing whether they are ready, learners get a reliable estimate of their real test-day score — and can watch it climb as they study. Research-grade technology under the hood. The platform is built by Socra AI, a Seoul-based education-technology company whose researchers build language models designed specifically for test prep rather than adapted from general-purpose systems. That research compounds with scale: millions of learners have answered hundreds of millions of questions, and every response sharpens the prediction engine. Designed for real life and real budgets. Santa delivers the diagnostic precision of a private tutor at a fraction of the cost, across mobile, tablet, and PC — a fit for those who need TOEFL scores for licensing or immigration but lack a fixed study schedule. Santa also offers discounted bundle plans, including official TOEFL vouchers that are currently available in the United States and Canada, with plans to expand to additional countries. The bottom line. Santa's momentum shows in the numbers — a 4.6 App Store rating on 40,000+ verified reviews, and a global expansion that recently added an official app in India. But the story is simpler than the scale: as the TOEFL enters its adaptive era, preparation is no longer about who can spend the most time or money in a classroom. It is about who can practice smarter. Learners can access Santa AI TOEFL on the official website , the App Store, and the Google Play Store. About Santa TOEFL Santa AI TOEFL is an AI-powered TOEFL exam preparation service. An official partner of ETS, the organization behind the TOEFL, they have more than 4 million downloads worldwide and work to widen access to AI-based test preparation.
CaoCao Makes WAIC Debut with Turing Laureate Joseph Sifakis to Explore Trustworthy Robotaxi Scaling
Geely Auto and Ford Establish Joint Venture in Spain for Localized Production in Ford’s Valencia Plant
Macro Technology Group Launches Community Employment Service Center Initiative in Latin America as Regional Job Conversion and User Engagement Increase
- July 23, 2026Business
2026 Shanghai Summer Travel Guide: Explore Shanghai Effortlessly with Shanghai Pass
As inbound tourism continues to boom during the 2026 “Shanghai Summer” International Consumption Season, Shanghai Pass, an all-in-one travel card designed specifically for international visitors, has become an essential travel tool for overseas travelers. Integrating urban transportation, scenic sightseeing and merchant discounts into one single solution, it effectively solves common travel difficulties faced by foreign tourists, including complicated local payment procedures, scattered attraction reservations and inconvenient public transport top-ups. Beyond practical functions, Shanghai Pass offers a variety of unique limited editions with great collectible value, making travel in Shanghai more convenient and enjoyable. Shanghai Pass covers the full range of public transportation across the city, including metro lines, city buses, Huangpu River ferries, suburban railways, Jinshan Railway and Maglev trains. It also supports taxi payments, allowing travelers to move freely throughout Shanghai with one card. Cardholders are eligible for standard public transport transfer discounts, as well as an exclusive 20% discount on Maglev fares, greatly reducing overall travel expenses. Equipped with a multilingual interface, the card enables international visitors to top up and use transportation services easily without a local Chinese account. To accommodate diverse travel plans, Shanghai Pass offers flexible ticket packages. The One-Day Pass is perfect for travelers who wish to explore Shanghai’s most iconic scenery within a short period. It allows visitors to experience three classic Bund highlights, including open-top double-decker sightseeing buses, Huangpu River cruises and Yuyuan Garden. Travelers can also stroll around East Nanjing Road and Lujiazui to discover the city’s most famous landmarks. Exclusive merchant discounts are available for dining, cultural retail and souvenirs in surrounding tourist areas, allowing visitors to enjoy affordable sightseeing and shopping. For history, culture and art enthusiasts, the Cultural Heritage Joint Ticket provides unified reservation and admission to Shanghai’s museums, art galleries and historic sites. Travelers no longer need to book tickets separately for each venue, enabling an efficient and in-depth cultural experience. Beyond travel convenience, Shanghai Pass delivers outstanding collectible and gifting value. In addition to regular styles, creative plush and special-shaped limited editions are available with unique, eye-catching designs. They serve as exquisite travel keepsakes and ideal souvenirs for overseas family and friends. Shanghai Pass also unlocks exclusive privileges at nearly 150 premium merchants across Shanghai’s core business areas, covering popular destinations such as East Nanjing Road and the Bund, Xujiahui, and Zhujiajiao. Discounts apply to casual dining, hotel accommodation, cultural products and travel souvenirs, helping visitors reduce travel costs and enhance their overall travel experience. Combining convenient transportation, high-quality sightseeing, diverse shopping benefits and unique collectible value, Shanghai Pass helps international travelers explore Shanghai effortlessly and immersively during the summer travel season.
- July 23, 2026Medicine & Pharmaceuticals
Flavettes Celebrates Healthcare Heritage in Merdeka 2026 Campaign
Duopharma Biotech Berhad ("Duopharma Biotech" or "the Company") officially launched the Flavettes Merdeka 2026 campaign today, themed ‘Flavettes Setia Menemani Setiap Generasi’ and featuring a multi-prong collaboration with Tourism Malaysia, Watsons Malaysia and Kapten Batik. The launch event saw the attendance of Zuraini Abdul Ghani, Director of Package Development Division, Tourism Malaysia; Wan Amir-Jeffery Wan Abdul Majid, Group Chief Executive Officer, Duopharma Biotech; Noor Aida Jaafar, Chief Commercial Officer, Duopharma Biotech; Foo Hwei Jiek, Trading Director, Watsons Malaysia; Ekram Faiz, Director and Co-Founder, Kapten Batik; and Farhan Omar, Director and Co-Founder, Kapten Batik. Duopharma Biotech Group Chief Executive Officer Wan Amir-Jeffery Wan Abdul Majid remarked, “At Duopharma Biotech, we’re proud that Flavettes has been trusted by generations of Malaysians to support their health and wellness, captured in our Merdeka 2026 campaign theme ‘Flavettes Setia Menemani Setiap Generasi’. Today, after more than 30 years in the market, Flavettes offers more than just immunity support. In line with Duopharma Biotech’s aim of Providing Smarter Solutions for a Healthier Life, the brand has grown to include a wider Halal-certified portfolio of health, wellness, beauty, and skincare solutions, in various formats such as effervescent, chewable and powder in sachets, to suit the different lifestyles and preferences of modern consumers looking for a more holistic approach to well-being.”
- July 23, 2026Top Stories
Non-binding Proposal with Penske Corporation to Acquire Free-float Shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc.
Main Contents Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Kenichi Hori) and its wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc. (together, “Mitsui”), and Penske Corporation ("PC”), acting on behalf of itself and its wholly owned subsidiary Penske Automotive Holdings Corp. (collectively, the “PC-Mitsui Investors”), today, determined to submit and submitted a non-binding proposal (the “Proposal”) to acquire all of the free-float shares of common stock of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: PAG) (“PAG”). Attachment Non-binding Proposal with Penske Corporation to Acquire Free-float Shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (PDF 226KB)
- July 22, 2026Finance & Loan
Hunter Galloway Brings New Focus to Home Affordability Planning as Borrowing Decisions Grow More Complex
Rising property prices, changing lending requirements, and higher living costs have prompted many Australians to spend more time calculating what they can realistically afford before making an offer on a home. Buyers are increasingly looking beyond advertised property prices and focusing on borrowing capacity, monthly repayments, deposits, and ongoing ownership costs before entering the market. Many buyers discover that online estimates don't always reflect their personal financial situation. Two households with similar incomes can receive different borrowing outcomes based on existing debts, employment type, deposit size, or regular expenses. First-home buyers often face extra uncertainty as they compare suburbs, estimate upfront costs, and decide whether waiting longer to save could improve their borrowing position before committing to a competitive property purchase in today's housing market. Hunter Galloway has placed renewed attention on its How Much Home Can I Afford? resource, which combines educational guidance with a borrowing capacity calculator to help Australians better understand their financial position before applying for a home loan. The Brisbane-based mortgage brokerage explains how borrowing limits are determined and encourages buyers to evaluate affordability before beginning their property search. The resource forms part of the company's broader collection of free home-buying tools and guides, giving prospective buyers practical information before they speak with lenders or begin attending property inspections across Australia. Rather than producing a simple estimate alone, the calculator guides users through factors that commonly influence lending decisions. Users enter details including income, savings, employment status, deposit, and intended property purchase. The resulting report outlines estimated borrowing capacity, repayment scenarios, and other information that can help buyers understand how different financial choices may affect their options. Hunter Galloway notes that the figures are intended as estimates rather than formal loan approval, giving users a practical starting point for planning. The resource can be useful in several common situations. Someone considering upgrading to a larger home can compare borrowing potential before listing their existing property. A first-home buyer may discover that increasing a deposit or reducing other debts changes available borrowing power. Investors can use the information to begin assessing whether a planned purchase aligns with their financial position before seeking personalized lending advice. As affordability remains one of the biggest questions facing Australian home buyers, educational tools continue to play an important role alongside professional mortgage guidance. Understanding borrowing capacity early can reduce uncertainty, narrow property searches to realistic price ranges, and help buyers approach lenders with clearer expectations. Hunter Galloway's updated focus on helping Australians answer the question, "How much home can I afford?" reflects the growing demand for practical financial planning before making one of life's largest purchases.
- July 22, 2026Cryptocurrency
CryptoKiller Launches Real-Time Global Database to Expose Crypto Trading Fraud
DEX Algo Technologies Pte Ltd. recently announced the launch of an independent cryptocurrency fraud research and intelligence platform, CryptoKiller. A global monitoring initiative designed to identify and document fraudulent cryptocurrency campaigns as they launch, the platform addresses the rise of sophisticated digital asset scams by intercepting deceptive promotions across major social media ad networks in over 84 countries. “We started this initiative because we kept seeing people losing real money to crypto scams that followed the same playbook time and again — fake celebrity endorsements, fabricated trading dashboards, pressure tactics on WhatsApp and Telegram. The scams were obvious to anyone who knew what to look for. The problem was that most people had no clue! We now bring you CryptoKiller – check before you invest ,” said DEX CEO Richard Melton. To date, this ad surveillance network has analyzed over 281,110 scam ads and tracked more than 22,000 suspicious brands. The platform allows crypto investors to make informed decisions by evaluating the threat score of any crypto seller, viewing evidence of scam ads, and accessing the investigation reports prepared by the CryptoKiller team. By structuring these investigation reports to rank prominently in search engines, the platform ensures investors can benefit from verified crypto trading platform reviews before committing capital. The methodology focuses on rapid data indexation, which interrupts the typical lifecycle of cyber-enabled financial fraud by neutralizing the anonymity that operators rely on to execute successful campaigns. CryptoKiller works with trusted intelligence, referencing both public sources (such as FBI IC3 and Europol) and ad data sources, including Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency, TikTok Ad Center, Telegram, and YouTube. As an editorially independent body, CryptoKiller cannot be paid to remove or modify scam listings. The CryptoKiller platform establishes an immediate public record of deceptive advertisements before perpetrators can delete their footprints, liquidate funds, and rebrand under new entities. By creating a transparent repository of threat intelligence, the system provides retail investors with immediate clarity when researching reviews of specific crypto trading platforms. For more information, visit https://cryptokiller.org/ Digital asset fraud frequently relies on short-lived, high-intensity advertising campaigns on mainstream social networks. These campaigns often deploy deepfake media, unauthorized celebrity endorsements, and fabricated regulatory credentials to siphon capital into fraudulent web applications. Traditional regulatory enforcement and consumer protection agencies often operate on delayed timelines, allowing illicit operations to capture funds and vanish within days. Every week, thousands of people search for a crypto platform seen advertised on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. Most of those ads are placed by scam operations that run for a few days, collect deposits, then vanish. By the time they are found out, the money is gone, and the site has already relaunched under a new name. To bridge this operational gap, the CryptoKiller team captures scam advertisements the very moment they go live. Their analysts document critical forensic evidence, including creative ad assets, targeting parameters, fake endorsement data, and activity on active blockchain wallets. This data is synthesized into evidence-based investigation reports, which are published immediately to ensure the findings populate public search registries alongside the fraudulent platforms themselves. “When someone googles a suspicious platform, we want our investigation to be the first thing they find. Our analysts come from cybercrime units, platform Trust & Safety teams, and investigative journalism. They joined CryptoKiller because they want to stop reacting to scams after the damage was done, and start exposing these scammers before they reach their next victim,” said Melton. CryptoKiller monitors social media ad networks across over 84 countries and publishes evidence-based investigation reports before the scammers can disappear and rebrand. The platform maintains a public repository that allows individuals, compliance officers, and law enforcement agencies to cross-reference active investment programs against documented operational patterns, malicious smart contracts, and known fraudulent entities. About the Company: CryptoKiller is a Singapore-based digital intelligence organization specializing in real-time cryptocurrency fraud detection and mitigation. The platform monitors global social media advertising networks across 84 countries to intercept and document deceptive campaigns at inception. By compiling forensic evidence, including creative assets, targeting data, and wallet activity, CryptoKiller publishes open-access investigation reports that rank alongside the fraudulent platforms in search results, providing critical transparency for investors researching digital asset platforms.
- July 22, 2026Business
AMITIME's New Ice Bath Series to Debut at SPLASH! 2026 in Australia
From August 19 to 20, 2026, SPLASH! 2026, one of the leading pool and spa industry trade events in the Southern Hemisphere, will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia. At the exhibition, AMITIME will showcase a range of pool heat pump solutions, including its newly launched ice bath series: Virgo Ice. Designed for sports recovery and cold therapy applications, Virgo Ice features key technologies such as UV sterilization and precision filtration, providing a safe and efficient cold water recovery experience for sports rehabilitation and wellness applications. During the exhibition, visitors can get a close look at the design and product details of the Virgo Ice series, and discuss temperature control solutions for sports recovery and healthy living with the AMITIME team. We look forward to meeting you at Booth 113 during SPLASH! 2026 in Australia and exploring more possibilities of temperature control technology in the wellness industry.
- July 22, 2026Automotive
EXEED SIVP Embeds Safety into Every Step, from Recognition to Full Stop
In the rapidly evolving landscape of intelligent parking technology, the industry tends to fixate on functional boundaries first: autonomous spot-finding, remote summoning, and reduced user wait times. For EXEED, however, the core of SIVP (Super Intelligent Valet Parking) goes far beyond "letting the vehicle park itself." It is about ensuring that in low-speed, high-frequency, and complex real-world scenarios, the vehicle can execute every parking maneuver in a predictable and controllable manner. This approach breaks away from the conventional mindset in tech development — the inertia of "features first, safety later.” From day one, SIVP was designed with safety as a non-negotiable foundation, not an optional add-on. The precision of obstacle detection in low-speed scenarios, the braking redundancy when a pedestrian suddenly crosses the path, and the reliability of sensors in extreme conditions like high heat and dust — none of these are supplementary features added after the user experience. Rather, they are fundamental prerequisites that must be met before the feature can even exist. Parking lots are often perceived as low-speed, low-risk zones — but the reality is far more complex than it appears. Stationary vehicles, strolling pedestrians, temporary obstacles, narrow lanes, and even children chasing a football as they dart out from behind obstructions — these can emerge simultaneously within seconds. Under EXEED SIVP's functional architecture, the system assesses lateral clearance when encountering stationary vehicles or temporary obstructions to decide whether to steer around or pause for driver intervention. It maintains a safe following distance behind slow-moving pedestrians. When sudden risks arise — a child darting from behind an obstacle — the system prioritizes emergency braking above all else. Underpinning all of this is EXEED's fundamental understanding of redundancy: not merely about stacking hardware, but building sufficient safety margins across perception, decision-making, control, and responsibility boundaries — long before a critical moment arises. A vehicle must not only detect targets; it must also choose a more prudent strategy in uncertain environments. It must not only complete the parking maneuver, but also know when to stop decisively when conditions fall short. For SIVP, successfully pulling into a parking space is merely the outcome. How the vehicle safely reaches that parking space — that is the true core of the system's capability. This safety logic perfectly echoes EXEED's broader commitment to excellence, mirroring the top five-star Euro NCAP 2025 safety ratings earned by the EXLANTIX ES and ET from EXEED's premium EV lineup. EXEED's commitment to safety has never relied on strength in a single point. Instead, it is built upon a comprehensive framework that spans vehicle design, proactive risk anticipation, threat intervention, and collision protection. Therefore, SIVP is not just an isolated showcase of cutting-edge technology; rather, it is EXEED's safety philosophy seamlessly extended to the low-speed parking domain. From high-speed collisions to low-speed parking, from occupant protection to pedestrian safety, from structural integrity to intelligent braking — when it comes to safety, there are no secondary scenarios. With new SIVP-equipped EXEED models heading to the Middle East, the system will undergo rigorous localized validation in extreme heat and complex road conditions — guaranteeing performance that precisely aligns with the real-world environments of global users.
- July 22, 2026Business
KIDZ AI Enters into $44.6 Million Definitive GPU Compute Services Agreement with Canopy Wave
KIDZ AI Inc. (“KIDZ AI” or the “Company”), a leading provider of live online learning and AI-powered education solutions, today announced that it has entered into a definitive 60-month enterprise AI compute services agreement with Canopy Wave, Inc., with an aggregate contract value of $44.6 million. The agreement is subject to the Company’s subsidiary placing a non-cancellable order for the GPU servers necessary to perform its services under the agreement. Canopy Wave is a leading AI inference platform specializing in the deployment of top-tier open models, uniquely optimized to run affordable AI breakthroughs – including Moonshot AI’s 2.8-trillion-parameter Kimi K3 and DeepSeek architectures – with industry-leading cost efficiency. Under the terms of the agreement, KIDZ AI’s wholly owned subsidiary, Catalyst Compute LLC, will order and deploy a dedicated cluster of 256 NVIDIA HGX B300 GPUs across 32 specialized GPU nodes, each equipped with dual Intel Xeon 6776P processors, 4TB of DDR5 memory, and ultra-fast 800Gb/s InfiniBand interconnectivity. A DIFFERENTIATED NEOCLOUD MODEL The agreement reflects how KIDZ AI seeks to differentiate its neocloud model from the broader field of GPU cloud providers: rather than deploying merchant capacity and competing on raw scale, the Company pairs infrastructure deployments with long-term contracted enterprise demand and purpose-builds for what it believes is one of the fastest-growing segments of the market – high-throughput, cost-efficient inference on open-weight frontier models. The Company believes recent market developments support this positioning. Open-weight models such as Kimi K3 have meaningfully narrowed the capability gap with leading proprietary models at substantially lower token cost, and KIDZ AI expects economic efficiency – cost per token, throughput, latency, and utilization – to become an increasingly important competitive differentiator as affordable AI expands the addressable market for compute. Canopy Wave’s capabilities across optimized inference, AI cloud services, and enterprise-grade GPU infrastructure align KIDZ AI with demand-side inference workloads, and the Company believes the partnership can serve as a repeatable template for future deployments. MANAGEMENT COMMENTARY “Today’s agreement is just the beginning of our journey with KIDZ AI,” said Tao Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Canopy Wave. “We look forward to helping KIDZ AI scale additional GPU clusters and turn this infrastructure into powerful token factories for the enterprise AI market. By combining KIDZ AI’s next-generation compute platform with Canopy Wave’s optimized inference capabilities, we believe we can deliver secure, cost-efficient, enterprise-grade AI inference services with strong data privacy protections to enterprises across the United States.” “This milestone contract is an important step in KIDZ AI’s evolution into a broader AI technology and infrastructure platform,” said Stephanie Luo, Chief Executive Officer of KIDZ AI. “What we believe sets our neocloud model apart is pairing next-generation computing infrastructure with long-term contracted enterprise demand – a scalable commercial foundation rather than speculative capacity, and a model we aim to repeat across future deployments and partnerships.” “Cost-efficient open-weight models such as DeepSeek and Kimi are shifting the AI market from a race defined by raw scale to one increasingly defined by economic efficiency,” Luo continued. “Canopy Wave’s strength in optimized inference aligns directly with this shift, and we believe affordable AI will be one of the most powerful structural forces driving the next phase of adoption.” About Canopy Wave, Inc. Canopy Wave, Inc. is an AI inference and infrastructure company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company provides secure, scalable, and cost-efficient API access to open-weight AI models through its optimized inference platform and high-performance computing infrastructure. Canopy Wave supports a range of advanced model families, including Moonshot AI, DeepSeek, Qwen, and Zhipu AI, and serves AI developers and enterprise customers seeking high-throughput, low-latency inference capabilities. The company maintains SOC 2-certified data security and privacy controls. For more information, visit canopywave.com . About KIDZ AI KIDZ AI Inc. formerly known as Classover Holdings, Inc., is an AI-driven education technology company transforming live teaching experience into proprietary AI-powered learning systems. By integrating artificial intelligence, AI agents, and robotics, KIDZ AI is building global education infrastructure designed to make learning outcomes measurable, verifiable, and accessible across borders. The Company is strategically expanding into AI compute infrastructure, GPU cloud platforms, and data center ecosystems. Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on KIDZ AI’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of KIDZ AI’s business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of KIDZ AI’s control including, but not limited to: KIDZ AI’s ability to execute its business model, including obtaining market acceptance of its products and services; KIDZ AI’s ability to obtain the GPUs necessary to perform its obligations under the definitive agreement with Canopy Wave and achieve its goals and expected results; KIDZ AI’s financial and business performance, including financial projections and business metrics and any underlying assumptions thereunder; KIDZ AI’s ability to maintain the listing of its securities on Nasdaq; changes in KIDZ AI’s strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenue and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans; KIDZ AI’s ability to attract and retain a large number of customers; KIDZ AI’s future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash; KIDZ AI’s ability to attract and retain key personnel; KIDZ AI’s expectations regarding its ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection and not infringe on the rights of others; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that KIDZ AI may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; the risk that the price of any crypto asset, many of which have historically been subject to dramatic price fluctuations and are highly volatile, could fall substantially negatively impacting KIDZ AI’s financial condition and results of operations; regulatory changes related to crypto assets; and fluctuations in the price of crypto assets. These risks and uncertainties also include those risks and uncertainties indicated in KIDZ AI’s filings with the SEC. KIDZ AI’s actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by KIDZ AI in this press release is based only on information currently available to KIDZ AI and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. KIDZ AI undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
- July 21, 2026Business
Maniformer CEO Maoqing Yao Outlines Three Barriers to Advancing Physical AI at WAIC 2026
On July 17, 2026, Maniformer today announced that its Chairman and CEO, Maoqing Yao, presented the company’s approach to addressing three key challenges in Physical AI—data scarcity, physical-world representation, and closed-loop learning—at the WAIC 2026 Embodied Intelligence Forum. During his presentation, Yao highlighted scalable data infrastructure and end-to-end learning systems as important enablers for the development and real-world deployment of general-purpose Physical AI. Co-hosted by AGIBOT and Maniformer, the forum brought together industry participants to discuss advances in embodied intelligence. Yao, who also serves as Partner, Senior Vice President, and President of the Embodied Intelligence Business Unit at AGIBOT, focused his remarks on the technical and data challenges affecting the development of Physical AI. Three Barriers Slowing Physical AI According to Yao, the next breakthrough in Physical AI depends on overcoming three fundamental challenges: Data bottlenecks , caused by the scarcity of large-scale, high-quality real-world interaction data. Representation challenges , which make it difficult for AI systems to accurately model and understand the physical world. Closed-loop learning limitations , preventing robots from continuously improving through real-world deployment. "Scaling models alone is not enough," Yao noted. "Physical AI requires a complete learning loop that connects data, models, simulation, deployment, and continuous optimization." Building an End-to-End Learning Framework To address these challenges, AGIBOT has developed an end-to-end technology framework spanning pre-training, mid-training, and scalable online post-training to optimize its Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models for generalist robots. This closed-loop system continually trains models across robot fleets to adapt to real-world environments while retaining general capabilities. Rather than relying on a single model architecture, the company's roadmap advances two complementary directions in parallel: Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models for embodied decision-making and World Action Models (WAM) for modeling physical interactions. These efforts are designed to converge into a unified World Reasoning Action Model (WRAM) that integrates perception, reasoning, and action within a single foundation model. Supporting this architecture is a large-scale training infrastructure that combines simulation, reinforcement learning, and distributed real-robot training, enabling continuous iteration across both virtual and physical environments. Data as the Foundation of Physical AI Yao emphasized that advances in model capability must be matched by advances in data infrastructure. "Without scalable, high-quality physical-world data, even the most advanced models will struggle to generalize in real-world environments," he said. To support large-scale Physical AI development, Maniformer has built an end-to-end data infrastructure spanning data acquisition, governance, management, and deployment . The ecosystem includes the MEgo series of data collection devices, the MEgo Engine data governance platform, and the AGIBOT WORLD real-world robot dataset. Together, these components form a layered data supply pyramid and a deployment feedback flywheel, allowing operational robot data to continuously improve future model training. This integrated model-and-data flywheel has already been validated in production environments, including large-scale deployment on consumer electronics manufacturing lines, where robotic task execution achieved up to a 99.99% task success rate in selected production scenarios. "Models determine where intelligence begins, but data determines where it can ultimately go," Yao said. "Only through a continuously evolving model-and-data flywheel can Physical AI overcome today's barriers and move toward general-purpose intelligence." As Physical AI continues to evolve from research to large-scale commercial deployment, Yao believes the industry's next breakthroughs will depend not only on stronger foundation models, but also on scalable data infrastructure capable of continuously improving intelligence through real-world experience. About Maniformer Maniformer is a world-leading Physical AI data infrastructure company providing end-to-end solutions for real-world data acquisition, governance, management, and deployment. Through its scalable data platform and global ecosystem, Maniformer helps organizations develop, deploy, and continuously improve intelligent robotic systems.
- July 21, 2026Top Stories
Biocon Reinforces Commitment to Diabetes Care in Malaysia as Partner Duopharma Biotech Secures Insulin Tenders
Biocon Reinforces Commitment to Diabetes Care in Malaysia as Partner Duopharma Biotech Secures Insulin Tenders Bengaluru, Karnataka, India and Johor, Malaysia – July 2, 2026 Biocon Limited (BSE: 532523; NSE: BIOCON), an innovation-led global biopharmaceutical company, announced that its long-standing partner, Duopharma Biotech Berhad (“Duopharma Biotech”) via its wholly-owned subsidiary Duopharma (M) Sendirian Berhad, has secured multiple insulin contracts from the Ministry of Health (MoH), Malaysia, valued at over MYR 225 million this year. As part of these contracts, Biocon’s subsidiary, Biocon Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia, will supply short-acting recombinant human insulin, insulin glargine and insulin aspart to Duopharma (M) Sendirian Berhad for distribution, supporting continued access to high-quality, cost-effective insulin therapies for people living with diabetes in Malaysia. The contracts comprise a three-year agreement valued at ~~~~~ MYR 155.27 million for human insulin, along with two 2-year agreements: ~ MYR 18 million for insulin glargine and ~ MYR 52.5 million for insulin aspart. In line with policies indicated in the 13th Malaysia Plan (“RMK-13”) and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (“NIMP 2030”), both companies are committed to helping patients with diabetes achieve better healthcare outcomes by ensuring a steady and accessible medicine supply. Shreehas Tambe, CEO & Managing Director, Biocon Limited, said: “Malaysia has been central to Biocon’s insulin journey for over a decade, anchored by our integrated insulin manufacturing facility in the country – the largest in Asia. Our Johor operations enable us to deliver insulin at scale, expanding patient access in Malaysia and around the world. This reinforces our strategy to address growing healthcare needs while advancing our mission of making life-changing medicines affordable and accessible to patients everywhere.” Joe Sian, Site Head, Biocon Sdn. Bhd., said: “Biocon’s partnership with Duopharma Biotech has helped expand access to insulin therapies for patients in Malaysia. With an estimated 4.75 million people living with diabetes in the country, ensuring affordable insulin supply is essential. This collaboration enables us to support patients across our full portfolio of insulin products.” Encik Wan Amir-Jeffery Wan Abdul Majid, GCEO, Duopharma Biotech Berhad, said: “Duopharma Biotech is delighted and honoured to mark a decade in supporting the healthcare ecosystem together with our long-standing partner – Biocon, alongside welcoming new contracts to supply insulin products to Malaysian patients. It is more critical than ever to have robust domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity to safeguard patient access to essential medicines, strengthening national medicine security and achieving healthcare self-reliance for the country.” Biocon has been working with Duopharma Biotech since 2016 to address Malaysia’s growing diabetes burden. Through this collaboration, over 120 million insulin cartridges have been supplied to the MoH facilities over the past decade, supporting more than 450,000 patients in the Malaysia public healthcare system. Beyond diabetes care, both companies have also worked closely in oncology for more than seven years and have recently expanded into ophthalmology biologics, further improving access to high-quality biologic therapies for patients across Malaysia. About Biocon Sdn. Bhd. Biocon Sdn. Bhd., a stepdown subsidiary of Biocon Limited, operates one of Asia’s largest integrated insulin facilities for recombinant human insulin and insulin analog products. Located in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia, the state-of-the-art facility has fully integrated capabilities spanning drug substance manufacturing and drug product fill-finish operations across vials, cartridges and insulin delivery devices. It manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of regular, long-acting and rapid-acting insulins for Malaysia and global markets. The facility houses advanced R&D, Quality Assurance and Quality Control laboratories, supported by a robust Quality Management System that underpins global manufacturing and compliance standards. The site employs more than 1,100 personnel. Biocon has invested over USD 600 million in the facility since 2011 in this Center of Excellence for insulin manufacturing, representing one of the largest foreign direct investments (FDI) in Malaysia’s biotechnology sector. The facility has secured multiple global regulatory approvals, including from Malaysia’s National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), Ireland’s Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) under the framework of the European Medicines Agency, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA), Brazil’s ANVISA and Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). It remains the only manufacturing facility in Malaysia approved by both the EMA and the U.S. FDA for sterile biologic products. Biocon’s investments in Malaysia have not only advanced the country’s biotechnology sector but have also helped reduce Malaysia’s dependency on imported insulin while contributing to improved access, greater affordability and enhanced price stability of insulin for patients across the country. Recently, Biocon has partnered with the Malaysian government to contribute its industry expertise to the MyMAHIR BioTechies initiative, supporting the skilling of biotech graduates and helping bridge the academia–industry gap. About Biocon Limited Biocon Limited (BSE: 532523, NSE: BIOCON) is a global biopharmaceutical company driven by its purpose to provide affordable, life-changing medicines to patients worldwide. Headquartered in Bengaluru, India, Biocon addresses some of the world’s most pressing healthcare challenges across chronic and non-communicable diseases by offering both biosimilars and generics at scale across geographies. Through this diversified portfolio, Biocon focuses on areas of high unmet need, spanning key therapy areas including diabetes, oncology, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, immunology, ophthalmology, and bone health. The Company has pioneered several industry firsts that have helped shape the global biosimilars landscape. To date, the company has commercialized 12 biosimilar products and 30+ generic formulations globally. It has robust research and development pipeline of 20+ biosimilar assets, as well as GLP-1 peptides and other complex generics. With an integrated lab-to-patient model, Biocon brings together research and development, manufacturing, and commercial capabilities to ensure reliable and scalable supply of medicines. The company operates in more than 120 countries, supported by seven manufacturing sites, three R&D sites, 18 offices worldwide, and a workforce of over 9,500 employees. Biocon has been included in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2026 for the fourth consecutive year, underscoring its commitment to sustainable and responsible growth. Website: www.biocon.com Follow us on X: @bioconlimited LinkedIn: Biocon
- July 20, 2026Technology
Founders: The Boy Who Coded the Cosmos Inside Retrograde, the AI Vedic Astrology Platform
FOUNDERS The Boy Who Coded the Cosmos Inside Retrograde, the AI Vedic astrology platform a Bangalore twelfth-grader built with Jothishi's Anand Vadakepat — and the backward-moving planet that gave it a name By the Retrograde Editorial Team On most evenings, Pranav is doing what any twelfth-grader in Bangalore is doing: finishing homework, half-watching a match, arguing with a sibling about the remote. On the side, in the hours everyone else spends scrolling, he has been building something considerably stranger than a school project — an AI system trained to read a birth chart the way a serious Vedic astrologer would, and answer, in plain language, the questions people are usually too anxious or too far from an astrologer's calendar to ask out loud. It's called Retrograde ( www.retrograde.co.in ), and its origin story is less “startup pitch” and more “an observation that wouldn't leave him alone.” Pranav kept noticing the same gap: people wanting a real, considered answer about a marriage, a job offer, a move abroad — and the only people equipped to give one, working astrologers who actually study a full chart, were booked out for weeks. “I had access to the same tools every developer has right now,” he says. “AI, large language models, a laptop. It felt strange not to use them for something that actually mattered to people.” That “something” needed a deeper foundation than a chatbot with a horoscope script bolted on, which is where Anand Vadakepat comes in. Vadakepat had already spent years building the astrology engine behind Jothishi.com, grounded in classical method — the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, Jaimini's sutras, a person's Nakshatra placements, every divisional chart from D1 through D60, the dasha timing systems, Ashtakvarga strength scoring, Panchanga. It is, by design, the opposite of a sun-sign horoscope. “Sun-sign horoscopes give the same twelve answers to millions of different birth charts,” Vadakepat says. “That's entertainment, not astrology.” Pranav and Vadakepat began talking, and what started as a shared frustration turned into a working platform — a teenager's instinct for what people actually wanted paired with an engine built on decades of classical technique. “Retrograde is that pause — the moment someone stops, turns inward, and reconsiders before moving forward again. That's exactly the moment we built this for.” — Pranav There's a reason the name stuck. Seen from Earth, planets ordinarily seem to travel in one steady direction, what astronomers call direct motion — until, every so often, one appears to slow, halt, and drift backward across the sky. It's an optical illusion, really, a trick of relative orbital speed, but Vedic astrology has always had a word for it: Vakri gati, retrograde motion. Ketu, the lunar south node, is treated as perpetually reversed, moving opposite every other planet in the heavens. Pranav and Vadakepat liked what that implied. Not indecision — reflection. The pause before someone chooses which way to go. It is also, in its own way, a story about timing of a different kind. A sixteen-year-old and one collaborator building and shipping a genuinely complete AI-driven astrology platform would have been unthinkable even a few years ago; it would have taken a team, a runway, an office. “This is what's newly possible in the age of the one-person company,” Vadakepat says. “AI and large language models let a small team do what used to take an entire startup.” Pranav, for his part, seems less interested in the novelty of his age than in getting the thing right. Ask him what Retrograde can actually be used for and the answer is almost mundane in its practicality: career decisions, marriage timing, health, money, whether to take the leap and move abroad — “basically anything someone would want a second, informed opinion on,” he says. “Those are exactly the decisions people find hardest to get real guidance on quickly.” Underneath the product talk is a fairly unfashionable belief, one both founders return to without much prompting: that clearer decisions, made with less anxiety, add up to happier lives. Not a guarantee, not a fortune-telling promise — just the conviction that people making career changes, choosing partners, weighing financial risk, deserve access to the kind of depth an astrologer's full attention would give them, without the wait. Early users appear to be finding Retrograde largely by word of mouth, the kind of quiet trust that spreads when an answer resonates with someone's actual life rather than reading like a recycled prediction. Ahead, the plan is simply to go deeper — more astrological coverage, a fuller web and mobile experience — without cutting the corners that got Retrograde here in the first place. “Just keeping the answers honest,” Pranav says, “grounded in real methodology, not shortcuts. That's the thing we don't want to compromise on as we grow.” It's a modest ambition for a platform built on the idea of pausing before you move — and possibly the only one that ever really mattered. Retrograde is available now on web, iPhone, and Android at www.retrograde.co.in www.jothishi.com [email protected]
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