Industry marketing leader joins Storyteq to accelerate growth and strengthen ITG's position as the world's leading AI-powered content company.

CHICAGO, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspired Thinking Group (ITG), the world's leading AI-powered content company, today announced the appointment of Juliette Aiken as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Storyteq, the company's marketing technology platform. Juliette will lead global marketing strategy and brand growth as ITG continues to expand its position at the forefront of AI-powered content creation, management, and activation.

Juliette arrives at ITG with a strong reputation for driving growth in global technology businesses and brings a wealth of experience scaling marketing operations for international organizations. She previously worked at Dotdigital, where she was key in supporting the company's growth to more than 3,000 clients worldwide.

As CMO of Storyteq, Juliette will be responsible for strengthening awareness of a platform that has been named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Content Marketing Platforms across each of the last four years.

Of particular focus for Juliette will be Storyteq's role in powering ITG's wider proposition: helping organizations transform how content is created, managed, and delivered through a combination of AI, technology, data, and expert services. Her appointment comes at a time when brands are increasingly seeking solutions to deliver meaningful business outcomes through more personalized, efficient, and effective marketing at scale.

"Our next phase of growth is concentrated on strengthening the combination of intelligence, technology, and services that differentiates our offering in the market," notes Andrew Swinand, CEO of ITG. "Juliette's expertise will help us communicate that vision more effectively, deepen our engagement with existing and potential clients, and accelerate our ability to support brand growth by making content a true competitive advantage."

Commenting on her appointment, Juliette Aiken said, "I'm delighted to be joining ITG at such an important stage of its journey. The company has built an impressive reputation for helping global brands create and deliver exceptional content at pace and scale, through a combination of services and AI-powered technology that feels unique in the current market.

"Uniting those two worlds is a big part of what makes us such a valued partner to our clients, and I'm excited to help bring ITG and Storyteq even closer together as we continue to help shape the future of marketing for some of the biggest brands out there, at a time when change is coming thick and fast."

ITG's integrated proposition combines AI-enabled technology, strategic intelligence, and managed services to help some of the world's most recognizable brands improve marketing effectiveness, increase operational efficiency, and drive growth through more personalized content and campaigns.

SOURCE Inspired Thinking Group (ITG)

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Official Cervezas of MetLife Stadium to Continue Enhancing the Fan Experience with a New Beer Garden Sponsorship, Expanded Activations, and Premium Hospitality

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MetLife Stadium, the New York Jets and the New York Giants today announced a long-term extension of their partnership with Corona®, the #1 most loved beer brand in the U.S.1, and Modelo®, the #1 beer in the U.S. by dollar sales2.

As Official Cervezas of MetLife Stadium, Corona and Modelo play a key role in elevating the fan experience through innovative activations, premium hospitality offerings, and brand integrations throughout the stadium. The renewed agreement further expands the partnership and reinforces the shared commitment to delivering memorable experiences for fans attending Giants and Jets games, concerts, and world-class events at MetLife Stadium.

"Corona and Modelo have been an outstanding partner over the past several years, and we're excited to continue growing our relationship well into the future," said Mark Stefanacci, President & CEO of MetLife Stadium. "Both Corona and Modelo have become important staples of the fan experience at MetLife Stadium, and this extension allows us to build on that success through new activations, expanded hospitality opportunities and enhanced engagement with our fans."

A centerpiece of the extended agreement will be the introduction of a new title sponsorship of the stadium's popular Beer Garden, located within the fan Tailgate Zone between the MetLife and Verizon Gates. The branded space will serve as a premier gathering destination for fans before Jets and Giants games with entertainment and fan activations.

The partnership will also extend beyond MetLife Stadium through annual series of team-themed events hosted at participating bars throughout the Tri-State market. These fan-focused events will feature appearances by team alumni, exclusive giveaways, branded merchandise, interactive games and opportunities for fans to enjoy gamedays together.

Additional highlights of the expanded partnership include continued operation and enhancement of branded destination spaces throughout the stadium, including the popular Modelo Cantina on the West Side of the 100 Level, branding throughout stadium kiosks and walk-up bars on the 100 and 300 Levels, and retail and packaging rights throughout the NY/NJ marketplace. Corona and Modelo will also continue to receive prominent stadium branding and messaging for games and year-round events.

"Our longstanding partnership as Official Cervezas of MetLife Stadium, the Giants and the Jets has provided a powerful platform to connect Corona and Modelo with passionate sports fans across the region," said Rene Ramos, SVP of Brand Activation, Constellation Brands. "We believe any visit to the stadium is best enjoyed with a beer in hand, which is why we're extending this successful relationship to further create best-in-class experiences that bring fans closer to the teams and brands they love."

The new agreement positions Corona and Modelo to remain among the most visible and engaged consumer brands at MetLife Stadium as the venue continues to host some of the world's most prominent sporting events, concerts, and entertainment experiences. The renewed partnership underscores the long-term commitment among MetLife Stadium, the Jets, the Giants, Corona, and Modelo to deliver innovative fan experiences and strengthen connections with consumers across the New York / New Jersey region.

About MetLife Stadium

MetLife Stadium, located in East Rutherford, NJ, is the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets and has the largest seating capacity in the NFL (82,500). The venue is one of the busiest stadiums in the world and ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for both tickets sold and ticket revenue in 2024 per Pollstar. MetLife Stadium was named "Highest Grossing Stadium of the Year" nine times by Billboard and "Venue of the Year" by StadiumBusiness. It has hosted major international events including the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final and Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014.

In 2021, MetLife Stadium became the first NFL Stadium to join the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change's Sports for Climate Action Framework, which aims to achieve global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions goals. In 2026, MetLife Stadium became officially LEED Gold Certified, marking operational excellence across energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, indoor environmental quality, and sustainable transportation practices.

About the New York Giants

A cornerstone franchise of the National Football League, the New York Football Giants began play in 1925. The Giants have won eight championships: 1927, 1934, 1938, 1956, 1986, 1990, 2007 and 2011. After twice winning two titles in five years, the Giants are the only NFL franchise with Super Bowl victories in four consecutive decades. Headquartered at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., the Giants enter their 102nd season of play this fall.

About the New York Jets

The New York Jets were founded in 1959 as the New York Titans and served as a charter member of the American Football League. Following the 1968 season, the team made history by becoming the first AFL franchise to win a world championship, defeating the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III—a victory widely credited with validating the AFL ahead of its 1970 merger with the NFL. Today, as one of the league's flagship franchises in the nation's largest media market, the Jets represent the sport on one of its biggest global stages.

The Jets enhance the fan experience through innovation and storytelling, including 1JD Entertainment, a digital content platform that connects fans across social and digital channels. The organization is also committed to community impact, supporting youth football, girls' and women's flag football, and programs serving disadvantaged communities throughout the tri-state area.

The Jets play at MetLife Stadium - one of the world's most successful multi use venues - and are headquartered at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, New Jersey.

About Corona

The Corona brand family is home to Corona Extra, Corona Light, Corona Familiar, Corona Premier, Corona Non-Alcoholic and Corona Sunbrew Citrus Cerveza. The entire Corona portfolio is brewed in Mexico by Constellation Brands and imported and marketed exclusively to the U.S. by the company. Corona Extra, the flagship brand of the Corona brand family, is a pilsner-style lager with a golden hue that was first brewed in Mexico in 1925. Corona embraces every moment with "La Playa Awaits" and encourages consumers to live life more presently no matter where they are. The refreshing flavor and carefree attitude of Corona Extra holds a respected place in U.S. culture as the #1 most loved beer brand.

About Modelo

Born in 1925 in the small town of Tacuba, Mexico, Modelo has been bringing distinctive high-quality beer to those with the Fighting Spirit ever since, including Modelo Especial®, Modelo Negra®, Modelo Oro and a flavorful lineup of Modelo Cheladas and Modelo Spiked Aguas Frescas.

Modelo Especial is a golden, full-flavored pilsner-style lager with a clean, crisp finish and is the #1 beer in the U.S. in dollar sales. The Casa Modelo brand family is exclusively brewed in Mexico, imported and marketed within the U.S. by Constellation Brands.

1 Morning Consult Equity Tracking 8/26/25 - 6/16/26

2 Circana $ Sales L52 week ending 10-04-26

SOURCE New York Jets

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Promotion follows 765% year-over-year revenue growth, investment from Databricks Ventures, and recognition as the 2026 Databricks C&SI Emerging Partner of the Year as v4c continues to expand its world-class Databricks practice

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- v4c.ai, a strategic boutique pure-play Databricks services partner, today announced the promotion of Michael Gibson from Chief Revenue Officer to Chief Executive Officer. Gibson's appointment builds on his leadership in scaling v4c's global sales organization and expands his responsibilities to leadership across the business as the company continues to strengthen its market-leading position in the Databricks ecosystem.

As Chief Revenue Officer, Gibson helped scale v4c's global sales organization during a period of 765% year-over-year revenue growth and a 350% increase in its worldwide client base. Central to that expansion has been his focus on aligning v4c's go-to-market strategy with Databricks, building relationships across its field organization, and connecting enterprise customers with the expertise needed to advance their Databricks initiatives.

Gibson brings experience on both sides of the enterprise technology relationship: building sales teams within a global software organization and leading growth within technology services. Having been a driving force behind v4c's success, he will build on that foundation with broader responsibility for the company's continued growth and evolution. As CEO, he will work closely with the Board to define v4c's strategy and vision, uniting leaders across all functions to translate that direction into company-wide execution. His focus will span business performance, leadership development, and a culture of collaboration and accountability, while advancing customer success and delivery excellence as v4c enters its next chapter in the Databricks ecosystem.

"Mike has been a key driving force behind v4c's meteoric rise, translating our vision into a pace of growth that we believe is unprecedented in the Databricks ecosystem," said Vijay Rao, Founder and Board Member of v4c. "He has built an organization that earns the confidence of Databricks leaders and field teams, wins the trust of enterprise customers, and turns those relationships into shared success. His understanding of where Databricks is going—and how v4c can help our mutual customers get there—will be critical as we continue to expand our capabilities within the ecosystem. The Board is confident that Mike is the right leader to build on this momentum and advance our vision of becoming the world's best Databricks SI."

Previously, Gibson served as Senior Area Vice President at MuleSoft, where he led nationwide sales teams serving enterprise customers across banking, retail, consumer goods, and manufacturing. His leadership and performance earned him multiple MuleSoft Owner's Awards for management and culture building, two AVP of the Year honors, and Chairman's Club recognition. His tenure spanned the company's initial public offering and subsequent acquisition by Salesforce, giving him firsthand experience navigating rapid growth and organizational change. That experience also shaped his understanding of how platform providers and services partners work together to earn customer trust, support complex technology decisions, and expand enterprise adoption.

Gibson transitions into the CEO role following two major milestones in v4c's relationship with Databricks: an investment from Databricks Ventures and recognition as the 2026 Databricks C&SI Emerging Partner of the Year. Together, these milestones reinforce the strategic alignment between the organizations and provide a foundation for further investment in Databricks expertise, joint field engagement, and global delivery capabilities.

"I'm proud of what this team has built and grateful to Vijay, Venkat and the Board for the opportunity to lead v4c," said Gibson. "Databricks is at the heart of our go-to-market, and our vision is to become the world's best Databricks SI partner. That means earning the confidence of Databricks teams in every market we serve and delivering for the customers who trust us with their data and AI priorities. As CEO, I'll focus on deepening those relationships and investing in the people and capabilities that make v4c a partner Databricks can count on as we grow together."

In this new role, Gibson will lead v4c's global strategy and execution, deepening strategic alignment with Databricks and guiding investments in the people and capabilities behind the company's growth. His leadership will focus on scaling the business while preserving its culture, advancing delivery excellence, and strengthening the trust v4c has earned with customers and partners.

About v4c

v4c.ai is a premier IT services consultancy specializing in Databricks, helping organizations modernize their data platforms and build enterprise AI capabilities. As a Databricks Ventures portfolio company and the 2026 Databricks C&SI Emerging Partner of the Year, v4c brings expertise across data engineering, AI strategy and governance, generative AI, and machine learning. Learn more at www.v4c.ai.

Media Contact

Savannah Cole

[email protected]

SOURCE v4c.ai

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NC AI Officially Releases VARCO Sound, the Generative AI Sound Production Service

- Text, image, and video inputs generate audio and enable detailed modification through "Multitrack"

- Special release promotion offers 50% discount on the first month's subscription fee and bonus points

- Conversational AI "Sound Agent" uses natural language processing, allowing intuitive and accurate arrangements

- Desktop application and Unity plugin allow seamless integration with existing workflows

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Create and arrange a variety of sounds for a single scene with VARCO Sound, the multitrack AI sound generator.

Multimodal AI company NC AI announced the official release of its generative AI platform, VARCO Sound, on the 20th. Users can easily generate and edit scene-appropriate audio using text, images, and videos. VARCO Sound is designed to help developers and producers who are unfamiliar with sound design bring their creative ideas to life with high-quality soundtracks.

Users can also access the web version of VARCO Sound by signing up on the official website.

NC AI also announced a promotion for VARCO Sound and the AI 3D generator VARCO 3D, running until Nov. 30 following the release. The offer supports continued creation by making AI-based content generation tools more accessible and is available to both new members and existing members who have been using the free version.

Users who make their first purchase during the promotion can receive a 50% discount on the first month of their subscription. Additional bonus points will also be provided, with higher-tier subscriptions receiving even more points. This offer is available once per account for VARCO Sound and VARCO 3D each.

Events will also be held in the official VARCO Discord community. Users who join through the dedicated links provided in each service announcement can enjoy one month of free access to the VARCO 3D Plus plan or the VARCO Sound Lite plan. The first 100 users to join the community will receive the exclusive "VARCO OG" title. In addition, the top five users who share game assets created with VARCO 3D in the community will be selected to receive service credits and titles. Event periods and participation details are available in the Discord announcements for each service

VARCO Sound is a comprehensive platform that allows users to generate and fine-tune audio tracks for content such as games, videos, and animations. Users can describe the desired audio through text or upload an image or video, and the AI analyzes the input to generate scene-appropriate Foley sounds, sound effects, ambient audio, and more.

The tool's most unique feature is its ability to provide separate tracks for each audio source rather than a single audio file. Users can check each track individually, adjust its volume, or replace specific sound effects to further polish the result and better realize their creative vision.

In addition, the "Variation" feature allows users to build on their existing work. Users can upload an original sample to generate variations while preserving its texture and nuance. This substantially reduces the time required to refine ideas and develop prototypes.

The entire generation and editing process can be conducted through natural language using the conversational AI "Sound Agent." A simple description of the desired outcome is analyzed by the AI agent, which automatically applies the appropriate features, lowering the entry barrier for new users.

Furthermore, VARCO Sound comes with an automatic volume mixer feature that prevents sounds from clashing when multiple tracks are played simultaneously. The AI examines and adjusts the volume balance between different tracks so that no sound is too loud or too quiet.

Currently, the maximum length of an audio file that can be generated is 60 seconds, and NC AI plans to continue improving the tool's performance to support video inputs of up to 120 seconds.

NC AI has also released a desktop application and a Unity plugin that allows the tool to seamlessly integrate into the existing workflows of creators. Assets created through the desktop application can be dragged and dropped into other DAWs for immediate use. A personalized library search feature based on natural language and audio will be added in the future to further streamline each user's workflow.

Moreover, the Unity plugin was selected as a Unity Verified Solution, demonstrating its performance and compatibility. The plugin allows game developers to stay within the Unity engine while creating audio tracks using just text and images and immediately apply them to their projects using the built-in editing tools.

NC AI's CEO Yeonsoo Lee said, "VARCO Sound has evolved into an 'AI platform designed for professional needs' that boosts creators' efficiency without disrupting their existing workflows." Yeonsoo Lee added, "We will establish a new paradigm in the global audio creation ecosystem through continuous technological advancement and seamless integration with a wide range of external platforms."

About NC AI

NC AI leverages over a decade of game AI expertise to develop advanced multimodal and Physical

AI solutions for digital content and industrial sectors. Under its proprietary VARCO brand, the company delivers generative AI tools spanning text, audio, and 3D assets. Under the VAETKI brand, NC AI expanding into Physical AI including Digital Twins, World Models, and Robot Foundation Models (RFM). NC AI applies virtual simulation and reinforcement learning to mission-critical industries like defense and smart manufacturing, seamlessly connecting digital intelligence to physical execution.

NC AI Official Website and Social Media

| Websites   Company Website: https://nc-ai.com/  

Official LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nc-ai/

Official Blog: https://medium.com/nc-ai

Official Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/ncai_official/

Official YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nc_ai/  

Official Discord: https://discord.gg/uTBqazNuKr 

SOURCE NC AI

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Synteq brings managed application hosting and serverless compute to its own infrastructure and network, so developers can run their code alongside their VPS instances, GPUs, and storage.

WILMINGTON, Del., Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Synteq today announced the launch of Apps and Serverless Functions, two managed products that let developers deploy applications and code without provisioning or operating servers. The launch is the first release in Synteq's expansion into developer tools and platform services.

Apps run web services, APIs, and workers directly from source. Users can point Synteq at a GitHub repository or run a single CLI command, and the platform detects the language, builds the image, deploys it, and serves it over HTTPS on a Synteq subdomain or custom domain. Every app runs in its own isolated microVM with dedicated CPU, memory, and network. Deployments use readiness checks and zero-downtime rolling updates with one-command rollback. Live logs, per-replica metrics, and request data live in the Synteq Cloud, where custom domains, automatic HTTPS, and first-class secrets are built in.

Serverless Functions run individual handlers on demand, each invocation isolated in its own microVM. They support Node.js and Python runtimes, can be triggered by HTTP or cron, and deploy from the web editor, CLI, or GitHub.

Apps and Functions run on the same hardware and network as Synteq's VPS, GPU servers, and block storage, so customers can put their application layer in the same location as the infrastructure it depends on.

"Great infrastructure is only half of a great product. The other half is how it feels to use," said Ben Haupt, Director of Growth & Product at Synteq. "Functions let teams run scheduled jobs, webhooks, and automation right next to their existing Synteq servers, with every invocation isolated. Apps give developers a git-push path to production. Building a platform that's easy for developers to operate is at the core of our roadmap, and this is the first step."

"Our customers already trust us with their most demanding workloads, but have been asking for a broader product ecosystem to migrate their full workloads away from other providers," said Eric Yingling, Chief Executive Officer of Synteq. "Apps and Functions give developers one place to ship everything, from a weekend project to the production API at the core of their business."

Launch highlights

- Deploy from source: GitHub, direct upload, or a single CLI command, with automatic builds and Dockerfile support

- Serverless Functions: run scheduled jobs, webhooks, and automation on demand, with no servers to manage

- Full tenant isolation: every app and function invocation runs in its own Firecracker microVM

- Budget-bound autoscaling: apps scale with demand up to a spending limit you set

- Locations at launch: Dallas (DFW) and Chicago (CHI)

- 99.99% uptime SLA

Apps and Functions are available today in Dallas and Chicago and are managed from the same API, CLI, and Synteq Cloud control plane customers already use for GPU servers, virtual machines, and block storage.

In the coming months, Synteq plans to add Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), floating IPs, load balancers, and cloud firewalls to its platform. Apps will also gain SSO and password protection for preview environments. VPC support will let Apps and Functions connect privately to customers' existing Synteq servers and storage.

About Synteq

Synteq delivers GPU compute, bare metal, and virtualized infrastructure to enterprises, researchers, and developers worldwide, operating its own network (AS400304) and infrastructure footprint across multiple sites. Synteq combines enterprise-grade infrastructure with exceptional price-performance compute, storage and virtualization. Learn more at synteq.com.

Media Contact: [email protected], https://www.synteq.com

SOURCE Synteq Digital

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NMEA and IBEX recognize the expansion of CRMR Tech's connected-vessel intelligence, which has scaled across 1,000+ boats

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CRMR Technology Inc. was awarded two of the marine industry's top product honors: the 2026 NMEA Best New Product Award and a 2026 IBEX Innovation Award in Safety Equipment. CRMR Tech is the Viam-powered technology company behind Canyon Runner's CR MAP and BRIZO system. Through the BRIZO system, CRMR Tech brings vessel monitoring, mapping, alerts, and fleet analysis into one connected platform, helping mariners and operators see more of what is happening on and around their boats.

Viam, the leading harness for physical AI and robotics, links the onboard electronics of CRMR Tech's vessels to the cloud to power a fleet of 1,000+ boats. Across recreational and commercial marine, companies are increasingly turning their vessels into connected software products, scaling from analog, mistake-prone activity to sophisticated technology infrastructure.

"These awards are a tremendous validation of the role connected technology can play in the future of boating," said Tomer Shemesh, CTO of CRMR Tech. "Over the past 18 months, we've scaled to over 1,000 vessels, turning real-time data from across our fleet into actionable insights for every captain we serve."

At the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) Conference & Expo in Dallas, CRMR Tech's Inlet Map & Fleet Analyzer was named the year's Best New Product. The Inlet Map turns the live tracks of the company's connected fleet into a continuously updated picture of safe passage through shifting inlets. Fleet Analyzer is a real-time offshore intelligence tool that aggregates live telemetry, crowdsourced catch reports, and environmental data from a network of over 1,000 member boats to give captains an exact, collaborative picture of active fishing conditions.

At the International BoatBuilders' Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) in Tampa, Boating Writers International judges selected CRMR Tech's Connected Vessel Intelligence as one of 12 Innovation Award winners. Connected Vessel combines live vessel data, predictive analysis, weather intelligence, navigation insight and crowdsourced fleet data to help recreational and professional captains make safer decisions.

The foundation of both products is the CR Box, which connects to a boat's NMEA 2000 network and Starlink and runs Viam's open-source software at the edge. The platform streams vessel data into the cloud, where CRMR Tech fuses it with weather, satellite and AIS sources for captains. Both awards recognize CRMR Technology's approach to making marine data easier to access, understand, and act on.

"CRMR Tech's rapid growth is an example of how Viam's infrastructure is transforming the marine technology space and connecting vessels like never before," shared Viam Founder and CEO Eliot Horowitz. "Their team can focus on providing innovative products and experiences while Viam handles the complex technology infrastructure that powers them."

Viam continues to expand Viam Marine, its platform for companies building connected and intelligent vessels and products. Through "Powered by Viam" partners including CRMR Tech, GOST, Kongsberg and Digital Yacht, Viam provides the infrastructure needed to integrate with NMEA 2000 networks and onboard sensors, secure remote fleet management and software updates, capture and warehouse data, and run AI models on vessels or in the cloud. Each partner leverages distinct hardware, applications and brands, while Viam supplies the infrastructure underneath it all.

Viam also works with Viking Yachts to support fiberglass sanding at the company's 1 million square feet of manufacturing facilities in New Jersey. Viam will be at additional marine shows and conferences this fall including FLIBS, WorkBoat and METSTRADE.

About Viam

Viam is the harness for physical AI: agentic infrastructure to develop, deploy, and operate robotics applications safely. With Viam, developers can build robotics applications with any agent, any model, and any hardware, and take them from a single robot to fleets at scale. Viam works with teams across manufacturing, marine, climate, logistics, entertainment, and more. Founded in 2020 by MongoDB co-founder and former CTO Eliot Horowitz, Viam is headquartered in New York City, where it operates its robotics lab. viam.com

About CRMR Tech

CRMR Tech is the Viam-powered technology company behind Canyon Runner's CR MAP and BRIZO system. A Florida based company, CRMR Tech brings vessel monitoring, mapping, alerts, and fleet analysis into one connected platform, helping mariners and operators see more of what is happening on and around their boats. Learn more at www.crmrtech.com.

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A public college system serving nearly 200,000 learners selects CourseArc to support accessible, engaging and consistent digital learning across its colleges.

FULTON, Md., Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CourseArc recently announced a multi-college agreement with a public college system serving nearly 200,000 learners. The contract, one of the largest in CourseArc's history, will provide faculty, instructional designers and subject-matter experts with a shared platform for creating and managing online course content across the system's colleges.

The agreement comes as public colleges and universities are preparing for new federal web accessibility requirements under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department of Justice rule establishes WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for web content and mobile apps provided by state and local government entities, including public colleges and universities. Following an April 2026 extension, the compliance deadline is April 26, 2027, for state and local government entities with populations of 50,000 or more, other than special district governments. ADA.gov

For institutions, meeting a compliance deadline is only part of the challenge. The longer-term work is creating a repeatable way to build, review and maintain accessible course content as courses change, new programs are introduced and more people take part in course development.

The college system will use CourseArc to support that work across multiple colleges while allowing each institution to maintain its own themes and branding. Faculty, instructional designers and subject-matter experts can create and revise content together, reuse shared course resources and manage development in a common authoring environment.

"When you are working across multiple colleges, you cannot reinvent the course-development process on every campus," said Katie Egan, co-founder and CEO at CourseArc. "Accessibility becomes sustainable when it is part of how people build courses from the beginning, rather than another step that has to be addressed at the end. The goal is to give course teams a consistent foundation so they can keep their attention on the learning experience."

CourseArc provides shared templates and reusable content to help institutions establish consistent approaches across courses and programs. Collaboration tools allow faculty, instructional designers and subject-matter experts to comment, assign tasks and work within defined roles, while administrative dashboards provide visibility into course development, comments and outstanding work.

Accessibility support is built into the authoring environment. CourseArc supports the creation of content that conforms to WCAG 2.2 Level AA, which includes success criteria beyond the WCAG 2.1 Level AA standard required by the Title II rule.

"Accessibility and ease of use have guided CourseArc from the beginning," said Bethany Meyer, co-founder and CTO at CourseArc. "The technology must support an entire college system without making the everyday work of building courses more complicated."

Organizations interested in creating and managing accessible, engaging course content can request a demonstration at CourseArc.com/request-a-demo.

About CourseArc

CourseArc is an accessibility-first course authoring and management platform headquartered in Fulton, Maryland. It helps organizations create, manage and scale engaging online learning without coding or specialized technical skills. The platform combines collaborative authoring, built-in accessibility support and its Magic AI Toolset.

To date, CourseArc has reached nearly 1.3 million learners across more than 157,000 courses, with 35 million module completions and 236 million learning interactions recorded.

Learn more at CourseArc.com.

Media contact:

Katie Egan

Co-Founder and CEO, CourseArc

[email protected]

SOURCE CourseArc

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New Platinum members include Nebius, Nscale and Shopify, deepening the PyTorch Foundation's role as the intelligence layer for open source AI development

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The PyTorch Foundation, a community-driven hub for open source AI under the Linux Foundation, today announced the addition of nine new members at PyTorch Conference North America 2026. Expansion of the PyTorch Foundation ecosystem signals increased advancements to come in open source AI, with the foundation serving as a compounding hub for innovation.

The Foundation welcomes the following new members:

- Platinum: Nebius, Nscale, and Shopify Inc.

- Silver: LightSeek Foundation and Lablup Inc.

- Associate: SKOPOS INDIA FOUNDATION, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan, Messiah University, and Valencia College

AI innovation now happens across all stack layers simultaneously, with research, models, infrastructure, hardware, and production continuously driving each other forward. The PyTorch Foundation serves as the central hub of this interconnected ecosystem, uniting researchers, developers, and companies building open AI. Membership growth advances PyTorch as the critical enabler of AI hardware, with the future of AI innovation built on projects like PyTorch, vLLM, DeepSpeed, Ray, Helion, and Safetensors.

"Open systems learn faster when more people, projects, and organizations are working together, creating compounding gains," said Mark Collier, executive director of the PyTorch Foundation. "Open source ecosystems let breakthroughs travel between organizations instead of staying locked inside one company. We are thrilled that these new members will share their advancements with the foundation in the pursuit of accelerated, open intelligence."

Ecosystem Growth: PyTorch Foundation Member News

Recent milestones across the PyTorch ecosystem highlight how AI itself is joining the learning loop to improve code, kernels, and research workflows. Updates include:

- Bringing ExecuTorch to Arm Cortex-M CPUs – ExecuTorch now provides a direct path from PyTorch training to on-device inference. The Cortex-M backend enables PyTorch models to run directly on Arm Cortex-M CPUs with Arm CMSIS-NN acceleration. It supports all capability tiers (Scalar, DSP, and MVE/Helium) from a single workflow.

- The announcement of TorchNeuron –TorchNeuron is an open source native PyTorch backend for AWS Trainium (and corresponding Amazon EC2 instances: Trn2 and Trn3), enabling AI researchers and practitioners to experiment and run PyTorch workloads with a single configuration change. With eager execution, torch.compile, and native support for PyTorch APIs (DTensor, torch.distributed) and libraries like TorchTitan, TorchNeuron enables workflows from research experimentation to production deployment.

- Native PyTorch is now publicly available for TPUs – Google is proud to announce TorchTPU, native PyTorch for TPU developers, enabling developers to deploy models on TPUs with minimal code changes and access popular ecosystem projects (vLLM, SGLang, Ray, LLM-d).

- Extending Inductor for the IBM Spyre Accelerator – In a recent blog, IBM's AI-native Spyre software stack extends PyTorch's Inductor compiler and native runtime, reducing Spyre-specific compiler code by 7x while maintaining performance parity on tested workloads. AI-assisted development enabled support for thousands of models with just 44 adapters and approximately 10,000 lines of code, complemented by hardware-agnostic vLLM integration and continuous testing against upstream PyTorch updates.

- A new case study in which Shopify built a continual learning loop with PyTorch and vLLM – Using a continual learning loop with PyTorch and vLLM, Shopify compresses production failures into model weights every day, beating frontier-model quality, and cutting serving costs by 96%.

The open source community is gathering in San Jose for PyTorch Conference North America this week. From bare-metal infrastructure to applications and agents, the conference covers the entire AI stack, exploring the interconnected system building AI in the open. The foundation brings together practitioners focused on training, inference, kernel engineering, and responsible AI work, creating a hub for the future of open intelligence.

To learn more about the next breakthrough in open source AI, visit https://pytorch.org/foundation.

Supporting Quotes

"Lablup has built Backend.AI as an open-source project from the beginning, and PyTorch workloads run on our platform every day. We have benefited greatly from the PyTorch ecosystem over the years. Joining the PyTorch Foundation is our way of supporting the community that has helped us grow and contributing what we have learned from operating AI infrastructure at scale."

– Jeongkyu Shin, Co-founder and CEO, Lablup Inc.

"Efficient inference is essential to making AI accessible at global scale, and we believe the infrastructure behind it must be open. PyTorch brings developers, researchers, and hardware innovators together around a shared foundation. Joining the PyTorch Foundation allows us to contribute directly to that ecosystem and help turn advances in models and hardware into practical improvements in performance, cost, and accessibility for the next generation of AI applications."

– Yineng Zhang, President and Governing Board, LightSeek Foundation

"At Nebius, we believe the future of AI depends on a strong, connected ecosystem, from training to deployment. Joining the PyTorch Foundation as a Platinum member allows us to collaborate more deeply with the community and contribute our expertise in high-performance infrastructure and applied AI. Together, we can help developers and enterprises move more easily from experimentation to production and scale their AI applications."

– Ryan Hanrui Wang, Senior Vice President, Applied AI, Nebius

"Most infrastructure providers treat the framework and the data center as two separate problems. We treat them as one. PyTorch has remained the base layer of AI because it kept the Pythonic style researchers know, while getting serious about performance. Ray, also part of the PyTorch Foundation, does something different: getting that work to run across thousands of GPUs. With Anyscale, the creators of Ray, set to join Nscale, we're not just using that ecosystem, we're building the infrastructure underneath it. Joining the PyTorch Foundation as a Platinum member is us backing that directly, not just benefiting from it."

– Nick Jones, VP of Cloud Native Platform Engineering, Nscale

About the PyTorch Foundation

The PyTorch Foundation is the vendor-neutral home for the open source intelligence layer developers use for training, optimizing, serving, and running models on any chip in any cloud for any agent. As a community-driven hub hosted by the Linux Foundation, the PyTorch Foundation supports the core PyTorch framework alongside a growing portfolio of innovative projects including vLLM, DeepSpeed, Ray, Helion, and Safetensors. Through open governance, strategic support, and a global contributor community, the PyTorch Foundation empowers developers, researchers, and enterprises to build and deploy AI at scale. Learn more at https://pytorch.org/foundation. 

About the Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the world's leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects, including Linux, Kubernetes, Model Context Protocol (MCP), OpenChain, OpenSearch, OpenSSF, OpenStack, PyTorch, Ray, RISC-V, SPDX and Zephyr, provide the foundation for global infrastructure. The Linux Foundation is focused on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see its trademark usage page: www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Media Contact

The Linux Foundation

[email protected] 

SOURCE PyTorch Foundation

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), The Firearm Industry Trade Association, today filed a lawsuit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against New Mexico Attorney General (AG) Raúl Torrez for the state's continued enforcement of New Mexico's seven-day "cooling off" period after a law-abiding New Mexican passes an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification to purchase a firearm.

"New Mexico's Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raúl Torrez are blatantly and unconstitutionally enforcing New Mexico's seven-day waiting period law, despite it having twice been held to violate Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Mexicans," stated Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF's Senior Vice President & General Counsel. "Criminals do not purchase firearms at retail and do not submit to a waiting period before illegally obtaining a gun. This unconstitutional law only impacts law-abiding citizens seeking to exercise their constitutional rights to purchase and possess a firearm for lawful purposes. Twice now federal courts have ruled this law is unconstitutional. It is outrageous that the governor and attorney general are still moving ahead to enforce an unconstitutional law. It is a grotesque misuse of government power, a waste of taxpayer money and puts law-abiding citizens at risk while doing nothing to punish criminals. NSSF is confident we will be victorious in court."

Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled in an NSSF-supported challenge Ortega v. Grisham that New Mexico's seven-day waiting period for firearm purchases infringes on the Second Amendment by preventing the lawful acquisition of firearms by those who had already passed a NICS check. The case was remanded to the district court which, citing the Tenth Circuit's decision, granted summary judgment and entered a permanent injunction barring the state from enforcing the law as to the named plaintiffs. Despite these rulings, the state is appealing again and has said it will enforce this unconstitutional law. NSSF has been on the frontline of this legal challenge, funding the initial appeal and remand proceedings, as well as the opposition to the state's new appeal.

It is NSSF's position that the Tenth Circuit was clear that the law is unconstitutional as to all individuals who receive a "proceed" from NICS and strongly disagrees with the state's threat to enforce this unconstitutional law against federally licensed firearm retailers who are not a party to the original case. It is regrettable that NSSF and its litigation partners have no choice but to file a second lawsuit to ensure that its members are protected.

About NSSF

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen's organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.

SOURCE NATIONAL SHOOTING SPORTS FOUNDATION

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WEST HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Legrand, the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures, today launched the Starline T5 DoubleBar track busway. Engineered specifically for high-density environments, the T5 DoubleBar offers the highest ampacity open-channel busway available on the market with the most pluggable space, addressing the exponential power demands of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

By featuring a configuration with two T5 bars in parallel, the system delivers up to 2000A, enabling robust power distribution for high-density environments. This hybrid busway design successfully combines open-channel flexibility with busduct-level ampacity for maximum adaptability.

"As AI workloads push rack densities past 100kW, data center operators have been forced into a clear trade-off: install heavy, rigid busducts to get high amperage, or use track busways to maintain operational flexibility," said Mark Swift, Vice President of Engineering for Starline, a brand of Legrand. "With the T5 DoubleBar, we've completely eliminated that compromise. By delivering 2000A in a continuous open-channel architecture, we give operators the raw power density of a traditional busduct without forcing them to clutter their white space with redundant busway runs or sacrifice the agility to reconfigure on the fly."

Key Features and Benefits of the Starline T5 DoubleBar

The T5 DoubleBar eliminates spacing constraints common in traditional busduct systems and minimizes the whitespace footprint in dense data center layouts.

- Unmatched AI & HPC Support: The system handles rack loads up to 150kW, meeting next-gen data center demands. It is also compatible with LVDC installations to 1000VDC.

- Increased Pluggable Space: The high-density double-bar architecture utilizes parallel conductors to increase amperage and pluggable space without increasing the system's footprint.

- Zero-Downtime Reconfiguration: Hot-pluggable tap-off capability allows for the safe, live installation and removal of tap-off units without a system shutdown, maximizing operational continuity.

- True Modularity and Scalability: The modular design supports multiple ratings without system redesign. Furthermore, it is designed for future expansion up to 5000A, protecting long-term capital investments.

- Complete T5 Ecosystem Compatibility: The system maintains open-channel plug-in access and full compatibility with all existing T5 plug-in units.

Launching Alongside High-Capacity Plug-in Unit (HCP)

To complete this end-to-end high-density power distribution system, Legrand is simultaneously launching a new High-Capacity Plug-in Unit (HCP) designed for seamless integration directly on T5 infrastructure, including the new DoubleBar.

These new plug-in units offer up to 250A capacity and multiple enclosure formats, delivering more power through a single unit. By powering high-density AI and HPC racks directly, the HCP reduces the need for multiple lower-amperage plug-ins, simplifying the overall power delivery architecture.

For more information on the Starline T5 DoubleBar and High-Capacity Plug-in Units, visit the Starline website.

About Legrand:

Legrand is the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. Its comprehensive offering of solutions for residential, commercial, and datacenter markets makes it a benchmark for customers worldwide. The Group harnesses technological and societal trends with lasting impacts on buildings with the purpose of improving life by transforming the spaces where people live, work and meet with electrical, digital infrastructures and connected solutions that are simple, innovative and sustainable. Drawing on an approach that involves all teams and stakeholders, Legrand is pursuing a strategy of profitable and responsible growth driven by acquisitions and innovation, with a steady flow of new offerings that include products with enhanced value in use. Legrand reported sales of €9.5 billion in 2025. The company is listed on Euronext Paris and is a component stock of the CAC 40, CAC 40 ESG and CAC Transition Climat indexes (code ISIN FR0010307819). www.legrand.us

Media Contact:

Jaymie Scotto & Associates

+1 866.695.3629 ext. 19

[email protected]

SOURCE Legrand DPC LLC

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