Top AI news of the week #20: Advsr AI Spotlight

Advsr AI Spotlight

Highlighting notable AI moves at the intersection of strategic operating companies and emerging startups. Big ideas in the works.

Strategic Deployments of AI 

• Nokia announced new software tools and AI-models to improve operational efficiencies and enhance network reliability. The new digital features, part of Nokia’s Altiplano platform, will enable operators to create a comprehensive digital twin of their FTTH network and establish a single unified view of active and passive components
• Digital Realty, a provider of carrier-neutral data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions, partnered with Dell Technologies and DXC to bring AI directly to customers’ data, on their terms, through a combination of validated use cases, private AI solutions and expert-led implementation and end-to-end management
• Global automaker Stellantis and Mistral AI, a provider of generative artificial intelligence, expanded their partnership to accelerate the integration of artificial intelligence across Stellantis’ operations
• Schneider Electric partnered with NVIDIA on developing new reference designs that accelerate time to deployment and aid operators as they adopt AI-ready infrastructure solutions
• The NBA and AWS partnered to launch NBA Inside the Game, powered by AWS, a new basketball intelligence platform that will provide AI-powered stats to help fans dive deeper into the games, teams, and players they follow
• Intel announced its AI-Ready School Initiative to prepare students to become responsible AI solution builders, a commitment that’s an extension of Intel’s participation in The White House AI Education pledge
• UiPath, a provider of agentic automation, launched an expanded set of offerings for its UiPath Platform for agentic automation and orchestration, including a combination of pre-built solutions, new capabilities for orchestrations, and supporting tools for building and testing agents and automations
• CoreWeave partnered with Meta to provide Meta with $14.2 billion of artificial intelligence cloud infrastructure
• Cisco announced enhancements to the Webex Customer Experience portfolio, including a new AI-powered tool for supervisors launching in early 2026 to unify quality management across the contact center

Strategic and AI Startup Collaborations

• Spectatr.ai, a provider of AI-powered sports technology, partnered with Triple B Media, a full-service content company that specializes in global distribution, to transform the sports fan experience through the power of artificial intelligence
• IBM and AMD partnered with Zyphra, an open-source AI research and product company, so IBM can deliver a large cluster of AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs on IBM Cloud for Zyphra to use for training frontier multimodal foundation models
• SambaNova, a next-gen AI infrastructure provider, partnered with Hume AI, a provider of emotionally intelligent speech models, to launch Hume’s models exclusively on its high-speed SambaCloud platform
• PitchBook, a private capital market intelligence platform, partnered with generative AI platforms Finster, Model ML, and Farsight AI to expand access to PitchBook’s firmographic data by embedding it directly into conversational AI tools
• HappyRobot, an AI enterprise platform developer, partnered with Tokio Marine Future Fund, the venture arm of Japan’s leading insurance group Tokio Marine, to strengthen HappyRobot’s footprint in Asian markets and support the adoption of AI-driven operational systems across enterprise sectors
• Medintel Technology, a subsidiary of VisionSys AI, a technology services company specializing in brain–machine interaction and advanced AI systems, partnered with Marinade Finance, to launch a digital treasury program valued at up to $2 billion
• Emagene Life, a healthcare company integrating advanced functional medicine, longevity science, and artificial intelligence, partnered with The Institute for Functional Medicine to accelerate functional medicine, longevity, and AI-driven healthcare

AI Startup Acquisitions

• Uber acquired Segments.ai, a platform for computer vision data labeling, focusing on training data for AI and machine learning
• Waystar, a provider of leading healthcare payment software, acquired Iodine Software, an AI-powered revenue cycle solutions
• OpenAI acquired Roi, an AI-powered personal finance app
• Workday acquired Paradox, a candidate experience agent that uses conversational AI
• Insight Enterprises, a solutions and systems integrator, acquired Inspire11, a business transformation and technology delivery firm that helps organizations accelerate growth and scale their AI investments
• SimpleDocs, a legal technology company that uses AI to automate and streamline the process of drafting, reviewing, and managing contracts, acquired Law Insider, a public contract and clause database
• Vectra AI, a cybersecurity AI company that protects modern networks from modern attacks, acquired Netography, a provider of cloud-native network observability
• Perplexity acquired Visual Electric, a design tool that lets users create images using AI and apply edits on an infinite canvas
• Natus Medical Incorporated, a pure-play neurodiagnostics company, acquired Holberg EEG, a developer of an AI model capable for EEG interpretation
• Coupa, an AI platform for total spend management, acquired Scoutbee, an AI-powered supplier discovery platform and network
• Credo, a provider of connectivity solutions that deliver improved reliability and energy efficiency, acquired Hyperlume, a developer of MicroLED-based optical interconnect technology for chip-to-chip communication, to provide customers with novel options for scaling up AI networks
• Smarter Technologies, an automation and insights platform for healthcare efficiency, acquired Pieces Technologies, a physician-led AI company focused on improving care delivery through automation
• Carta, a software platform purpose-built for private capital, acquired Accelex, an AI-powered data automation platform focused on alternative investments for institutional limited partners
• Velocitor Solutions, a provider of enterprise technology solutions, acquired NextBillion.ai, a provider of AI-powered routing and route optimization solutions
• Databricks acquired data lakehouse Mooncake Labs to enhance Lakebase, a new category of OLTP database built on Postgres, integrated into the Lakehouse, and optimized for AI agents
• CoreWeave acquired Monolith AI Limited, a company applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve complex physics and engineering challenges
• Switchboard Health, creators of a digital health platform connecting patients with high-value specialty care, acquired Conduce Health, an AI-driven solution for personalized multispecialty care

AI Outtakes

• Deloitte Australia will partially refund the 440,000 Australian dollars ($290,000) paid by the Australian government for a report that was littered with apparent AI-generated errors, including a fabricated quote from a federal court judgment and references to nonexistent academic research papers. The report to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations was originally published on the department’s website in July; a revised version was published after a Sydney University researcher of health and welfare law said he alerted the media that the report was “full of fabricated references.” Deloitte had reviewed the 237-page report and “confirmed some footnotes and references were incorrect,” the department said in a statement. “Deloitte had agreed to repay the final instalment under its contract.” only and does not constitute any form of endorsement, recommendation, or advice. Links to third party websites are provided for reference and convenience purposes. This information has not been independently verified.