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Google is replacing Google Assistant with Gemini in cars with Google built-in, offering drivers a more natural, conversational, and capable AI experience behind the wheel. The rollout is starting with English-language users in the United States and is expected to expand to more languages and countries in the coming months. Eligible users who are signed into their Google Account in their car will see the option to upgrade to Gemini, and the update applies to both new vehicles and existing ones through a software update — fulfilling a commitment Google made when cars with Google built-in first launched in 2020.

Standard Intelligence, a San Francisco-based AI research company focused on building aligned artificial general intelligence, has raised $75 million in new funding from Sequoia and Spark Capital. The investors joining the round include Sonya Huang and Mikowai Ashwill from Sequoia and Yasmin Razavi from Spark Capital, all of whom the company describes as deeply supportive of its long-term mission. The round also includes a group of prominent angels and advisors, among them Milan Kovac, Stanley Druckenmiller, and Andrej Karpathy, bringing together an exceptional set of backers for what remains a six-person team.

Hyundai Motor Group has unveiled Pleos Connect, a next-generation in-vehicle infotainment system designed to fundamentally transform the customer mobility experience by combining a mobile-friendly platform with advanced AI. Marking the Group's first major step in its transformation into a software-centric mobility leader, Pleos Connect is built on three core development pillars — intuitiveness, safety, and openness — and will receive continuous feature and performance enhancements via over-the-air software updates. The system debuted at a media event at UX Studio Seoul on April 29 and represents the mass-production version of the research and development concept first shown at the Group's Pleos 25 developer conference in 2025.

Casa, a home management start-up founded by veterans of Uber, is formally announcing itself to the world after approximately two years of operating in stealth mode. The company offers a monthly subscription service that includes handymen on call and proactive home maintenance work, using artificial intelligence alongside a curated team of home service professionals to manage members' ongoing home care needs. Co-

PROPWR, the power services division of ProPetro Holding Corp., has entered into a strategic framework agreement with Caterpillar to purchase up to 2.1 gigawatts of power generation assets over the next five years to support the growing energy demands of data center, oil and gas, and industrial customers. Under the agreement, PROPWR will purchase at least 1.5 GW of incremental power generation assets, with the option to bring the total to approximately 2.1 GW of additional capacity. Combined with approximately 550 megawatts previously ordered, PROPWR is positioned to have approximately 2.6 GW of power generation capacity delivered by year-end 2031 and fully deployed in 2032.

MARA Holdings, a leading energy and compute infrastructure company, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Long Ridge Energy and Power from FTAI Infrastructure for a total transaction value of approximately $1.5 billion, including the assumption of certain debt. The acquisition includes a highly efficient 505 MW combined-cycle gas power plant in Hannibal, Ohio, and more than 1,600 contiguous acres supporting an integrated digital infrastructure campus in one of the most active data center and power markets in the world.

Belden, a leading global supplier of specialty networking solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire RUCKUS Networks from Vistance Networks for approximately $1.85 billion, establishing Belden as a leading provider of complete, end-to-end IT and OT networking solutions. The transaction was approved by both companies' boards and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

AltaLink, Alberta's largest electricity transmission provider, has been selected to receive more than $1.8 million in funding from the Government of Alberta through Emissions Reduction Alberta's Industrial Transformation Challenge for its Dynamic Line Rating project. The investment will offset a portion of the project cost, supporting affordable transmission for Albertans.

RWS, a global AI solutions company listed on AIM, has appointed Brajesh Jha to its executive team as Chief Executive Officer of its Transform Business Unit for the Americas, effective May 1, 2026. The appointment reflects RWS's focus on accelerating growth across the Americas, a core market for the Transform business, which combines AI-powered localization technology with specialist services to help enterprises deliver content that is relevant, accurate, and trusted in every market.

Market Defense, a marketplace and digital marketing services company, has expanded its capabilities through the acquisition of Knoza by its parent company D2E Labs. The transaction adds a performance-driven marketplace agency specializing in on- and off-Amazon growth strategies for emerging brands, combining Knoza's agile, early-stage approach with Market Defense's broader platform reach and technology infrastructure.

Demetra, an independent international medical company specializing in bone cements, spacers, and biomaterials for orthopedic, spine, and neuro applications, has completed the acquisition of Maxxspine Innovative GmbH, a German company specializing in advanced spinal surgery solutions. The transaction was completed through Osartis GmbH, a Demetra Group company, which has acquired 100% ownership and full control of Maxxspine. Financial terms were not disclosed.

AMETEK, a leading global provider of industrial technology solutions with annual sales of approximately $7.5 billion, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire First Aviation Services, a leading provider of highly engineered, mission-critical defense and aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul services and a manufacturer of related proprietary components. Financial terms were not disclosed beyond First Aviation's approximately $80 million in annual sales.

pWin.ai, an AI-powered knowledge, capture, and proposal platform for the government contracting market, has acquired the customer portfolio of Vultron.ai, a Silicon Valley-based GovCon AI startup. Effective immediately, Vultron.ai has exclusively directed its entire user base to pWin.ai, granting customers seamless access to pWin.ai's Shipley-embedded workflows, enterprise-grade AI, and FedRAMP Moderate Equivalency security, backed by white-glove onboarding from both teams.

Truespeed and Freedom Fibre have completed their merger following regulatory approval, creating the Freedom Truespeed Group, a scaled, capital-efficient full fibre platform with an expanded regional footprint across the United Kingdom. The combined business serves more than 412,000 premises ready for service and around 70,000 customers across the North West, West Midlands, South West, and East of England.

Nominal, the hardware data infrastructure platform serving defense, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing engineering teams, has acquired Fid Labs, a startup that built AI agents for robotics and hardware workflows. Adam Wolnikowski, founder of Fid Labs, joins Nominal as AI Product Lead. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Anthropic, the AI safety company and developer of the Claude family of models, is in talks with investors to raise funds at a $900 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. No term sheet has been signed and discussions are ongoing. The potential valuation would surpass OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion in late March after closing a $122 billion funding round with contributions from Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank.

Prodalim, a global leader in juice and specialty ingredients solutions, has acquired Better Juice, a food-tech company specializing in natural sugar reduction technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition strengthens Prodalim's ability to support health-driven reformulation across beverages and adjacent food categories, including confectionery and dairy.

137 Ventures, a growth-stage venture firm backing companies including Anduril, Gusto, Ramp, and SpaceX, has closed more than $700 million across two new funds, bringing total assets under management to more than $15 billion. The raise marks a significant step in the continued scaling of the firm's platform, which is designed to invest in technology companies with the potential for significant market impact across their entire growth lifecycle.

TrueNoord, a specialist regional aircraft lessor, has announced that infrastructure investor Arcus Infrastructure Partners has entered into definitive documentation to acquire approximately 74% of the business, with founding investor Freshstream agreeing to reinvest to retain the remaining 26%. The transaction marks a significant ownership transition for TrueNoord as it enters its next phase of growth, backed by stable, long-term infrastructure capital.

HOK, a global architecture and design firm, has acquired ROSSETTI, a Detroit-based architecture firm with 57 years of sports venue expertise, deepening HOK's sports, recreation, and entertainment design practice and establishing its first office in Detroit. The combined firm will operate as HOK + ROSSETTI during the integration.

Global Brands, a UK drinks company, has acquired Skinny Brands, a low-calorie, gluten-free beer and cider brand, adding Skinny Lager, Skinny IPA, and Skinny Fruit Cider to its portfolio. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Howden, a leading global insurance intermediary group, has acquired Maven Financial Planning Limited, one of Ireland's foremost financial planning and advisory firms, establishing Howden Ireland's Life and Pensions advisory offering in Galway and expanding the company's footprint on the west coast of Ireland. The acquisition is subject to Central Bank of Ireland regulatory approval.

Fidelity Building Services Group, one of the nation's leading providers of HVAC, mechanical services, building automation, emergency power, and energy solutions, has acquired MVH Industrial, a Kentucky-based provider of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and general contracting services. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition advances Fidelity's nationwide expansion strategy and strengthens its ability to serve industrial and manufacturing clients in the South-Central region.

Netomi, an enterprise agentic customer experience platform built for the world's most complex and regulated environments, has raised $110 million in new funding led by Accenture Ventures, with participation from Adobe Ventures, WndrCo, SLW, NAVER Ventures, Metis Strategy, and Fin Capital. The round builds on early investments from AI pioneers Greg Brockman, Demis Hassabis, and Mustafa Suleyman.

IBM has announced the global availability of IBM Bob, an AI-first development partner built for enterprise software teams. The platform goes beyond code generation to automate the full software development lifecycle, from planning and coding to testing, deployment, and modernization, with governance, compliance, and security controls embedded at every step. More than 80,000 IBM employees are currently using Bob, with surveyed users reporting an average 45% productivity gain.

Silverfort, a leading identity security company, has acquired Fabrix Security, an AI-native identity security startup, to deliver the first autonomous identity security platform operating at runtime. The combined platform is designed to protect human, machine, and agentic identities at the speed and scale that traditional, rules-based approaches can no longer handle. Financial terms were not disclosed.

DISA Technologies, a Casper, Wyoming-based company pioneering solutions for mineral processing, domestic uranium remediation, and resource recovery, has closed a $33 million strategic financing led by Galvanize and supported by BHP Ventures. The raise brings the total funding raised to approximately $83 million. Existing investors, including Evok Innovations, Constellation Energy, Halliburton Labs, Valor Equity Partners, and Veriten, also participated in the round.

Blomma, an AI career coaching platform built for the realities of modern work, has launched with more than $5 million in seed funding led by Viviana Faga, general partner at Felicis. The company is founded by former Pinterest and Canva executive Silvia Oviedo López and Button co-founder and engineering leader Siddhartha Dabral, and is designed to extend structured career support to a much broader population than has traditionally had access to it.

Clessidra Private Equity, the private equity arm of Clessidra Group and one of the leading alternative investment players in Italy, has announced that its Clessidra Capital Partners Green Harvest fund has exceeded its fundraising target ahead of schedule, bringing total commitments to more than €150 million. The fund, a closed-end alternative investment vehicle focused on the Italian agrifood sector, launched last July and completed its second closing early, with the full fundraise targeted for completion by the end of 2026.

Nazca Capital, a private equity fund manager, has completed a continuation fund for Zunibal, a leading provider of technology solutions for the fishing and marine monitoring sectors, with Blue Earth Capital, a specialist global impact investor headquartered in Switzerland, joining as the new vehicle's key backer. The transaction allows Nazca to maintain its position as lead partner following a holding period of approximately five years, providing continuity to a strategy that has established Zunibal as a relevant international player in marine technology.