Top Innovations
Sezzle launches virtual card technology for ‘smarter spending’ enabling BNPL at non-partnered retailers through single-use cards and customizable spending limits
Pay later provider Sezzle says…
Afterpay launches its own commerce media network based on signals and audience data from 350M transactions, to help brands reach young shoppers
Afterpay’s move into advertising is…
Key News
Dun & Bradstreet ID Graph Plus links D-U-N-S Number to consumer profiles to provide a deeper understanding of consumer affinities, interests, intent and lifestyles
Dun & Bradstreet has introduced…
ProRata integrates ads into AI search uploading creative brief directly into the system’s prompt interface
ProRata.ai has introduced ProRata Ads,…
China’s agentic AI Manus offers Browser Use, a web agent that can extract a website’s elements so AI models can click through site menus and fill out forms
Manus, the viral AI “agent”…
Nous Research, the AI collective known for developing what it calls “personalized, unrestricted” language models, has launched a new Inference API that makes its models more accessible to developers and researchers through a programmatic interface. The API launch represents a significant expansion of Nous Research’s offerings, which have gained attention because they challenge the more restricted approaches of larger AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. The initial API release features two of the company’s flagship models: Hermes 3 Llama 70B, a powerful general-purpose model based on Meta’s Llama 3.1 architecture, and DeepHermes-3 8B Preview, the company’s recently released reasoning model that allows users to toggle between standard responses and detailed chains-of-thought (CoT). The API launch signals Nous Research’s move toward a more sustainable business model while maintaining its commitment to open source principles. The API represents a delicate but crucial evolution in Nous Research’s business model. By commercializing deployment while continuing to release model weights, Nous is attempting to square a difficult circle: Generating revenue without alienating the open-source community that forms its foundation. This hybrid approach appears designed to capture different segments of the market.
Wall Street banking giants have reportedly begun warning investors about risks stemming from AI use. Those risks include so-called AI “hallucinations,” use of the technology by cybercriminals and its effect on employee morale. For example, JPMorgan said in a recent regulatory filing that AI could bring about “workforce displacement” that could affect worker morale and retention, while increasing competition for employees with the appropriate tech background. While banks have in recent years been pointing to AI risks in their annual reports, new concerns are emerging as the financial world embraces the technology. It’s a balancing act: keeping on top of the latest AI advancements to retain customers, while also dealing with the threat of cybercrime. “Having those right governing mechanisms in place to ensure that AI is being deployed in a way that’s safe, fair and secure — that simply cannot be overlooked,” Ben Shorten, finance, risk and compliance lead for banking and capital markets in North America at Accenture, said. “This is not a plug-and-play technology.” Banks are at risk of using technologies that may be built on outdated, biased or inaccurate financial data sets. Citigroup said that as it introduces generative AI at its company, it faces risks of analysts working with “ineffective, inadequate or faulty” results produced.
Feedzai, the fraud prevention solution provider, has unveiled ScamAlert, a new generative AI-powered fraud prevention agent which offers users real-time alerts and actionable advice to combat increasing fraud levels. Banks will be able to integrate ScamAlert into their operations in a variety ways, ranging from self-service check at payment, in which customers verify the authenticity of advertisements, invoices, or email communications before proceeding with payments, to risk engine integration, where detailed assessments from ScamAlert enrich the bank’s overall risk strategy and transaction scoring. ScamAlert also enables customers to upload screenshots of potential scams via their mobile banking app or desktop. Whether they see anything from text messages and emails to marketplace listings, advertisements, or website URLs, users can send in screenshots for ScamAlert to analyse. The AI agent then highlights red flags linked to common scam types like purchase or CEO fraud. By delivering rapid, accurate assessments, ScamAlert not only empowers consumers but also enhances banks’ risk management. Its findings seamlessly integrate into a bank’s risk strategy, enriching transaction scoring with real-time insights into potential fraudulent activities before a payment is made, effectively turning its customers into ‘active defenders’ against new scams.
Accenture and CrowdStrike are collaborating to drive cybersecurity transformation, helping clients confidently navigate the next wave of innovation and growth. By combining Accenture’s security services with the CrowdStrike Falcon® cybersecurity platform – including cloud security, identity protection and next-gen security information and event management (SIEM)—the collaboration will bring transformative improvements and cost efficiencies to areas such as security operations (SecOps), continuous threat exposure management and AI workload protection. This will enable real-time threat visibility, prevention and remediation with optimized operational costs. “Cybercriminals are infiltrating organizations with alarming sophistication and unprecedented speed,” said Paolo Dal Cin, global lead, Accenture Security. “To combat this, we work closely with organizations to understand their unique cybersecurity needs and tailor solutions to address their specific challenges. By combining our expertise with CrowdStrike’s technology, we can help clients adopt a more proactive and efficient approach to digital defense.” WHSmith is a global travel retailer, has strengthened its security operations by leveraging Accenture’s Managed Extended Detection and Response (MxDR) services and the CrowdStrike Falcon® platform. The powerful combination of CrowdStrike and Accenture has enabled WHSmith to gain visibility across their global operations, extending advanced protection, detection and response capabilities from the corporate network to the storefront cash register. The integrated offering benefits organizations by consolidating point cybersecurity products, reducing costs and simplifying operational functions and enhancing detection and response capabilities through a unified platform. The collaboration between Accenture and CrowdStrike includes:
- SecOps Modernization – Streamlines security operations workflows into an ecosystem that integrates threat prevention, detection and response with a unified approach based on CrowdStrike’s Next-Gen SIEM technology. This approach can unlock up to 30% [1] cost optimization through streamlined security workflows enabled by AI and technology rationalization initiatives.
- Managed Detection and Response – Delivered by a seamless combination of Accenture and the Falcon platform to detect, investigate and respond to threats faster leveraging Accenture’s global scale. This powerful combination, augmented by integrated AI solutions from Accenture and CrowdStrike, can drive up to 60% [1] workflow optimization for SecOps use cases.
- Continuous Threat Exposure Management – Helps clients transform their approach to vulnerability management while optimizing investments in teams, processes and tools. The combination of the Falcon platform and Accenture’s transformation services enables clients to consolidate exposure visibility across the extended attack surface and streamline prioritization using attack path analysis. This approach can help organizations simplify processes and consolidate tooling, realizing up to 15% [1] cost optimization.
Ditto, a company that provides software to synchronize data from edge devices to the cloud, has raised $82 million in a Series B funding round. In the age of AI and computationally intensive machine learning models, this can be vital, particularly when real-time decisions are paramount, or any situation where connectivity is patchy. Speed is the name of the game. Ditto bypasses physical edge servers, which its CEO and co-founder Adam Fish says is a costly, labor-intensive endeavor that customers can do without. Ditto’s platform constitutes a core “edge sync” component, which is an embeddable SDK that device-makers can integrate with their application. This allows companies to tap into devices’ built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or local LAN capabilities to create “ad-hoc mesh networks,” whereby apps can discover and communicate with each other independently of a centralized cloud server. Ditto serves as a mobile database that apps read and write to locally. Ditto bridges edge devices and the cloud, letting developers store and sync data “peer-to-peer” (P2P) across their systems while remaining synchronized with data stored elsewhere. As such, Ditto offers distinct pricing for customers that only want to sync between the cloud and their edge devices, without the mesh networking element.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said that AI is ushering in the next fundamental shift in how humans interact with technology, describing it as a “generation change” poised to reshape the tech landscape and redefine user experiences across devices. According to Amon, rather than navigating between different apps for specific tasks, users will interact with AI agents that understand context and can seamlessly perform tasks across multiple domains. “You’re going to have different inputs, whether it’s voice and audio, or text. … Every text that you write could be a prompt for a model and for an agent to understand what you do and then be ready to help you when you need help,” Amon explained. Amon emphasized that this transformation extends beyond smartphones to other devices, such as automobiles and wearable technology like AR glasses. He also described cars as “a new computing space” where agent-based interfaces are particularly well-suited, allowing drivers to interact naturally through voice and visual cues. Amon said AI as the new user interface could be ubiquitous within five years, with edge computing further hastening the transition. This on-device AI processing is what Amon referred to as “AI at the edge.” This approach offers advantages in speed, privacy, reliability and cost compared to cloud-based alternatives, he said.
Dine Brands is planning to expand its dual-branded Applebee’s and IHOP restaurant concept at home and abroad. This includes entering the Costa Rican market with franchisee BLT UK Holdings Limited, and opening the first non-traditional restaurants in Mexico with franchisees Grupo Shogua and ATH Group. The dual-branded format, combining Applebee’s and IHOP under one roof, is a “key part” of Dine Brands’ international growth strategy, says the company. In 2025, the company aims to open 13 additional dual-branded restaurants in new international markets and complete 10 dual conversions, bringing the total number of dual-branded restaurants to 41. The company is slated to open 14 more dual-branded locations in the United States through 2026 by transforming existing single-branded restaurants and building new locations from the ground up. When guests walk through the co-branded restaurant doors, they will find distinct Applebee’s and IHOP dining areas to choose from. Dine Brands says the shared common areas, including the host stand and bathrooms, create an “integrated experience,” and the optimized back-of-house and single kitchen provide “operational efficiencies.”
ICE Mortgage Technology has announced the debut of ICE Asset Analyzer and ICE Audit Analyzer, adding to the existing ICE Income and ICE Credit analyzers. The products, which are fully integrated into the Encompass system, allow mortgage professionals to quickly and accurately streamline lending processes, improve accuracy and support compliance efforts. Asset Analyzer uses data analysis and configurable logic to “simplify the traditionally manual process of assessing borrower assets,” ICE said. It added that its key tasks include identifying large deposits, recognizing withdrawal patterns and applying a standardized checklist to ensure consistency across loans. The tools allow lenders to free up employees to execute higher-value work, ICE said. ICE’s Audit Analyzer is designed to improve post-closing quality control. Instead of relying on manual checklists, the tool uses automated technology to help identify missing documents, data discrepancies and compliance risks to ensure document accuracy, improve regulatory adherence and limit repurchase risk. Tim Bowler, president of ICE Mortgage Technology, said “By integrating these Analyzers within Encompass, we’re enabling our customers to perform more of their essential work within a single platform, making their lives easier, and saving them time and money they’d otherwise have to spend performing these functions offline.”
Lowe’s has introduced an AI-powered virtual home improvement assistant. Dubbed “Mylow” and introduced by the home improvement retailer, the tool lets customers get answers to project how-to questions while also searching for the proper products for their job. Developed in collaboration with OpenAI and leveraging Lowe’s expert advice, Mylow delivers the expertise of a trusted Lowe’s associate anytime and anywhere, providing customers with clear steps and practical solutions for projects ranging in type and complexity all from the palm of their hand. Lowe’s says Mylow is available in desktop and mobile web versions for MyLowe’s Rewards loyalty members or by visiting lowes.com/Mylow. The company says it hopes to introduce voice capabilities for Mylow and add the service to its app later in the year.
Pay later provider Sezzle says it has added improved shopping features to its platform. Amin Sabzivand, the firm’s chief operating officer, said, “By introducing these new features, we’re helping consumers effortlessly find the best deals and maximize their savings — wherever they shop.” Among the new offerings is Sezzle On-Demand, created in response to what the company says was a strong demand for a non-subscription version of its subscription product. This new product lets shoppers create a single-use virtual card for a set amount, allowing them to split payments “without being limited to partnered merchants,” Sezzle said. In addition, Sezzle has added features to its product marketplace that included personalized recommendations and instant price drop alerts. The company has also introduced an “auto couponing feature.” Shoppers can now access exclusive deals directly through the Sezzle app, with available coupons automatically applied at checkout — no extra steps required
Google’s next gen lightweight open-source family of Gemma LLMs can run on a single GPU. The new Gemma 3 models come in a range of sizes allowing developers to choose among 1 billion, 4 billion, 12 billion and 27 billion parameters. These ranges permit AI engineers and developers to pick the best model for the hardware and performance needs. With this technical design, Google said Gemma 3 can deliver high performance for its size, outperforming larger models such as Llama-405B, DeepSeek-V3 and OpenAI’s o3-mini in preliminary human preference evaluations on the LMArena leaderboard. Even when run on a single device or GPU, Gemma still provides enough power for developers to create AI applications with multimodal capabilities with advanced text and visual reasoning. It has a 128,000-token context window, which means it can handle around 30 high-resolution images, a 300-page book or an hour or more of video. This is comparable to the context length of OpenAI’s GPT-4o. Google said the model family includes function-calling and tool-use capabilities that will enable developers to automate tasks and build AI agents. In combination with the large context window, Gemma 3 will be able to ingest large amounts of data and automate complex sequential tasks. Google also announced ShieldGemma 2, a 4 billion-parameter variant that can check images for safety and label them as safe or dangerous.
More Innovations & Trends
A YouGov poll revealed that about 60% of millennials and Gen Z adults had less than $5,000 in savings and many expressed doubt about their financial future. Thomas Rudzewick, CEO of Maspeth Savings Bank finds that young people today are great at going on Instagram or Facebook and all of a sudden buying something when they really didn’t need it. It was more of an immediate want. So they’re just not aware. They’re not thinking that far ahead. They feel like they don’t have to worry about it. So what we’re creating is a reinvention of the past book account and call it our vault account. And part of this has technology built in where we can take a check and do a remote deposit, do a direct deposit through your paycheck or whatever way you’re collecting money. But once it’s in that savings account, it doesn’t go into your checking. You can put a small sum into your checking and you pay your bills, but into that savings account, if you want it out, you got to come back to the branch and you got to hand them your vault card, and that’s how you’re going to take the money out. It just makes people stop and think, and do I really need to spend that money today to buy something of a product that I probably don’t even need and say, that might be my long-term saving account where I can have money in there. We’ve all pushed our young people into understanding that it’s easy to transfer money, it’s easy to spend. We need to find a way to show them. It’s easy to save as well. And one of the things that we do during our financial literacy sessions on campus in all grades, but especially in high school and in college when they start to establish a credit score, is to monitor it carefully so that you understand that that buildup of debt needs to be paid off at some point. And the other feature that we have at Massed Federal is we really promote our debit card as opposed to a credit card because we try to explain to the young people that you’re spending your own money, you are going to have a lot more self-control when you open up your mobile app and it sees that your checking account is a lot lower than you thought it was, and now maybe you can’t go out and buy something else because your debit card is going to get capped.
Innovations & Trends
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