Top AI news of the week #29: 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 

• The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office selected Google Cloud’s Gemini for Government to serve as the first enterprise AI deployed on the U.S. Department of War’s GenAI.mil to 3 million civilian and military personnel
• Accenture and Anthropic expanded their partnership to help enterprises move from AI pilots to full-scale deployment by forming the Accenture Anthropic Business Group—with approximately 30,000 professionals to receive training, as well as a new joint offering for CIOs to scale AI-powered software development and they will co-develop solutions for regulated industries including financial services, life sciences, healthcare, and public sector
• GIBO partnered with technology and infrastructure solutions provider E Total Technology Sdn Bhd, under which the parties will work together on the planning, site sourcing, feasibility studies, and deployment of next-generation artificial intelligence compute centers in Malaysia
• The French Defence Procurement Agency awarded Airbus Defence and Space a framework contract worth up to €50 million for the integration of artificial intelligence components into the weapons, information, communication and cybersecurity systems used by the French armed forces
• Siemens and GlobalFoundries, a full-service semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits in high volume, partnered to deploy AI-driven manufacturing to strengthen global semiconductor supply
• The University of Texas at Dallas partnered with Tech Mahindra, a provider of technology consulting and digital solutions to enterprises across industries, to collaborate on artificial intelligence innovation, skill development and research
• Hornets Sports & Entertainment and Honeywell partnered, designating Honeywell as the Official Building Automation Partner for the Charlotte Hornets, deploy its AI-driven solutions to help enhance the safety and efficiency of HSE’s two core facilities – Spectrum Center and the Novant Health Performance Center – for guests, players and employees
• The New Jersey Artificial Intelligence Hub partnered with Plug and Play to launch an AI Accelerator early next year
• The UK government partnered with Google DeepMind to open its first automated research lab in the UK next year
• S&P Global partnered with Google Cloud to accelerate its enterprise-wide transformation across agentic innovation, data distribution and workflow automation
• Global energy technology company SLB partnered with Shell to develop digital and AI solutions that drive measurable performance and efficiency gains across upstream operations for the company and the wider industry

Strategic and AI Startup Collaborations

• Microsoft partnered with professional services company Cognizant, digital services and consulting provider Infosys, business solutions company TCS, and technology services and consulting company Wipro, to accelerate the adoption of agentic AI, with each company deploying over 50,000 Microsoft Copilot licenses, collectively surpassing 200,000 licenses, and setting a new benchmark for enterprise-scale AI adoption
• Braden Business Systems, a provider of managed IT services, office technology, and digital transformation, partnered with Pragmatico, a specialist in AI cultural adoption
• Nissan Technical Centre Europe and vehicle software company Sonatus partnered to accelerate the vehicle development process by integrating advanced artificial intelligence technologies
• Prince George’s County Public Schools partnered with Lumi Story, an AI platform that aims to empower all creators to tell stories, launching a pilot program that will allow kids to use the artificial intelligence-powered graphic design tool
• Purdue Athletics partnered with JABA, an artificial intelligence platform tailored for the future of the name, image and likeness and revenue sharing landscape
• Benzinga, a financial news and data provider, partnered with Perplexity, an AI answer engine, to deliver Benzinga’s data and insights directly into Perplexity’s AI platform
• Aidoc, a developer of artificial intelligence tools for radiologists and multidisciplinary patient treatment, expanded its partnership with WellSpan Health, a health system serving central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland, scaling Aidoc’s full aiOS across all nine hospitals and more than 250 care locations, benefitting more than a million patients served annually by WellSpan
• Accenture Federal Services partnered with Kovr.ai, an AI native cyber compliance automation platform, to help federal agencies accelerate cloud and artificial intelligence adoption while complying with security standards
• Noteworthy AI, a provider of AI-powered distribution grid inspection and asset intelligence solutions, expanded its partnership with Esri, advancing into the Esri Partner Network as a formal Member Program partner
• CAMB.AI, a provider of AI-powered multilingual voice translation and content localization, partnered with Kompact AI by Ziroh Labs, a CPU-first AI platform that enables large language models to run efficiently on server-grade CPUs without compromising performance
• Intive, a global technology company dedicated to crafting digital experiences that blend technical excellence with customer centricity, partnered with Cursor, a developer-focused code editor with collaboration and debugging tools, to accelerates the company’s AI-Native Transformation Program

AI Startup Acquisitions

• Cision, a provider of consumer and media intelligence, acquired Trajaan, a search intelligence platform
• Royal Philips acquired AI-enabled intravascular imaging specialist SpectraWAVE
• AECOM acquired Consigli, a developer of AI-based tools for building and infrastructure design and engineering
• MANTECH, a provider of cyber, AI and other technology solutions, acquired Elder Research, a provider of AI and data science solutions, applications and training for Fortune 500 and U.S. government clients
• Nextech3D.ai, an AI-first 3D model and AI event solutions company, acquired Krafty Labs, an AI virtual and in-person event engagement platform serving global enterprises customers including Google, Netflix, Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, Dropbox, and over 400 additional Fortune 500 and multinational clients
• Thoma Bravo, a software investment firm, acquired Verint Systems, a provider of AI-driven customer experience automation
• osapiens, a software provider for sustainability and transparency solutions, acquired Lucent AI, which develops agentic AI technology for risk managers
• Movate, a provider of digital technology and customer experience services, acquired Solomo, a Salesforce, data and AI consulting company with specialization in the healthcare sector
• Duco, a provider of expert-in-the-loop AI safety and security, acquired AI data firm Nurdle
• NVIDIA acquired open-source workload management provider SchedMD
• Avalon, a developer of precision diagnostic consumer products, acquired RPM Interactive, a generative artificial intelligence publishing and software company
• Freshworks acquired FireHydrant, a provider of AI-powered Incident Management software
• Cvent, a meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider, acquired Goldcast, an AI-powered video content platform built for B2B webinars and events
• GOUT Technologies, a company focused on next-generation artificial intelligence and data infrastructure, acquired DAOBase, a decentralized governance and on-chain data infrastructure platform
• Pinterest, an AI-powered visual search and discovery platform, acquired tvScientific, a connected TV performance advertising platform
• Healthcare Triangle, a provider of digital transformation solutions for healthcare and life sciences, acquired Teyame AI, an AI customer engagement business
• Joy Parenting Club, developer of an AI-powered tracker for feeding, sleep and diapers, acquired Heba Care, a technology platform that supports families navigating complex health and developmental needs
• HarmonEyes, an AI-driven eye-tracking software company, acquired iFocus Health, an ADHD treatment monitoring solution that tracks eye movement to objectively assess patient response to medication
• Checkmarx, a provider of agentic application security, acquired Tromzo, a developer of AI-native autonomous security agents
• Insure.ag, an AI-optimized crop insurance agency, acquired CropCore, an AI powered coverage-level optimization engine
• Semify, a white-label digital marketing software platform specializing in Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search Advertising, Paid Social Advertising, and AI Optimization, acquired Dragon Metrics, an international SEO/AI/PPC reporting software platform

AI Outtakes

• McDonald’s Netherlands withdrew an advertisement generated entirely by artificial intelligence after backlash on social media. Entitled “the most terrible time of the year,” the 45-second video, featuring a reworked version of the Andy Williams song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” showed a series of mishaps befalling people at Christmas: presents are knocked off the top of a car by a low bridge, carol singers have their sheet music blown away and even Santa Claus’ sled gets stuck in traffic. Customers are then advised to escape the festive “madness” and “hide out in McDonald’s till January’s here.” The humorous take on the festive period did not go down well with some social media users, and McDonald’s pulled the ad. 

Disclaimer: This information is provided for general information purposes 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.