Aquant Inc., the provider of an AI platform for service professionals, introduced “retrieval-augmented conversation,” a new way for LLMs to retrieve and present information to users that allows them natively to act as a guided domain expert instead of receiving and presenting knowledge as a single all-in-one answer. RAC can be thought of as an expert technician that is aware of its capacity and capabilities, Indresh Satyanarayana, vice president of product technology and labs, and the father of retrieval-augmented conversation, told. It helps the AI look at a user’s question and ask follow-up questions to fill knowledge gaps and generate tailored solutions. Unlike RAG, RAC introduces dynamic turn-taking, much more like a human conversation with an expert in the field in question. It’s designed to provide “bite-sized actions,” which he says avoids cognitive overload for the user. Not only that, RAC can incorporate even more data points into its conversational context depending on the persona developers want to build into their AI app. “It retrieves not only manuals but transactional data, job history, parts catalogs, internet of things readings, and key performance indicator targets, then reasons over that richer context to recommend the action that best balances cost, risk and time,” said Satyanarayana. RAC does not fundamentally replace RAG; it will still perform the retrieval-augmented portion. Documents still need to be searched and retrieved, and this aspect will guide the conversation for the user. On the other end, developers will have a chance to decide how “chatty” their app acts. It can do one-to-one questions solving one ambiguity at a time and then provide a final answer after they have all been resolved. Alternatively, they could develop an app that can resolve multiple questions at once, the way some people can hold multiple threads of conversation at the same time — like many open tabs in Chrome while researching — before resolving the problem.
Google’s new app lets users not only virtually “try on” outfits but also see themselves in motion while wearing them in AI-generated videos
Google launched an experimental app that lets users not only virtually “try on” outfits but also see themselves in motion while wearing them. The new Doppl app from Google Labs builds on the capabilities of the AI Mode virtual try-on feature launched in May by Google Shopping, adding the ability to turn static images into artificial intelligence-generated videos. The dynamic visuals give users “an even better sense for how an outfit might feel.” Users can generate these images and videos by uploading a full-body photo of themselves as well as photos or screenshots of the items they would like to try on. “With Doppl, you can try out any look, so if you see an outfit you like from a friend, at a local thrift shop, or featured on social media, you can upload a photo of it into Doppl and imagine how it might look on you,” Google’s post said. “You can also save or share your best looks with friends or followers.”
Treasure Data has released its MCP Server that allows AI assistants like Claude, GitHub Copilot Chat, and Windsurf to interact directly with intelligent Customer Data Platform (CDP )cc
Treasure Data, the Intelligent Customer Data Platform (CDP) built for enterprise scale and powered by AI, has released its MCP Server, a new open-source connector that allows AI assistants like Claude, GitHub Copilot Chat, and Windsurf to interact directly with your Treasure Data environment. Powered by the open Model Context Protocol (MCP), this solution gives data teams a new superpower: the ability to explore and analyze customer data in an easy and effective way, using plain language and a conversation window. With the Treasure Data MCP Server, teams can query parent segments and segments, explore tables, and analyze data using natural language, making data insights more accessible than ever. The MCP Server acts as a local bridge between your LLM-enabled tools and the Treasure Data platform. Once configured, it allows AI agents to securely interact with your CDP through structured tool calls. Instead of spending an hour writing multi-step SQL and debugging joins, the AI does it for you, writing, refining, and executing the query directly within Treasure Data. The MCP Server handles the permissions, safely limits results, and ensures your API keys and environment variables are managed securely. For most enterprises, the biggest barrier to using AI effectively isn’t the model, it’s the data. If an LLM can’t access high-quality, governed data, it can’t generate useful insights. The Treasure Data MCP Server removes that barrier. The AI accesses the CDP directly, securely and intelligently, so teams can finally start having productive conversations with their customer data.
Walmart’s AI architecture rejects horizontal platforms for targeted stakeholder solutions, each group receives purpose-built tools that address specific operational frictions
Walmart continues to make strides in cracking the code on deploying agentic AI at enterprise scale. One of the retailer’s primary objectives is to consistently maintain and strengthen customer confidence among its 255 million weekly shoppers. Walmart’s AI architecture rejects horizontal platforms for targeted stakeholder solutions. Each group receives purpose-built tools that address specific operational frictions. Customers engage Sparky for natural language shopping. Field associates get inventory and workflow optimization tools. Merchants access decision-support systems for category management. Sellers receive business integration capabilities. The segmentation acknowledges the fundamental need of each team in Walmart to have purpose-built tools for their specific jobs. Store associates managing inventory need different tools from merchants analyzing regional trends. Generic platforms fail because they ignore operational reality. Walmart’s specificity drives adoption through relevance, not mandate. Walmart’s Trend to Product system quantifies the operational value of AI. The platform synthesizes social media signals, customer behavior and regional patterns to slash product development from months to weeks. The system creates products in response to real-time demand rather than historical data. The months-to-weeks compression transforms Walmart’s retail economics. Inventory turns accelerate. Markdown exposure shrinks. Capital efficiency multiplies. The company maintains price leadership while matching any competitor’s speed-to-market capabilities. Every high-velocity category can benefit from using AI to shrink time-to-market and deliver quantifiable gains. Walmart’s approach to agent orchestration draws directly from its hard-won experience with distributed systems. The company uses Model Context Protocol (MCP) to standardize how agents interact with existing services. Walmart leverages decades of employee knowledge, making it a core component of its growing AI capabilities. The company systematically captures category expertise from thousands of merchants, creating a competitive advantage no digital-first retailer can match. The strategic advantage compounds. Walmart’s 2.2 million associates represent proprietary intelligence that algorithms cannot synthesize independently. Their framework applies across industries. Financial services organizations balancing customer needs with regulatory requirements, healthcare systems coordinating patient care across providers, manufacturers managing complex supply chains are all facing similar multi-stakeholder challenges. Walmart’s approach provides a tested methodology for addressing this complexity.
Wirex launches institutional-grade stablecoin payments on Fireblocks digital asset platform- issuing fully stablecoin-backed Visa debit cards, opening stablecoin checking accounts, and managing high-volume treasury and payments
Wirex Pay Chain is now officially supported on Fireblocks, the leading digital asset and payments infrastructure platform. This integration enables Fireblocks’ institutional clients to easily access Wirex Pay’s self-custodial stablecoin payment infrastructure, offering a secure and scalable gateway to stablecoin innovation. Through this support, Fireblocks customers can now issue fully stablecoin-backed Visa debit cards, open stablecoin checking accounts, and manage high-volume treasury and payments — all while retaining complete control over their assets. Wirex Pay redefines enterprise-grade finance with a focus on control, flexibility, and regulatory alignment: Retail App – Stablecoin Checking Accounts: Open stablecoin-backed current accounts with a Visa debit card, enabling instant global payments and yield on balances. Business Banking – Corporate Stablecoin Accounts: Manage fiat and stablecoins with built-in treasury, corporate cards, and real-time settlement—all fully self-custodial. Stablecoin BaaS – Stablecoin Infrastructure APIsStablecoin Infrastructure APIs: Embed stablecoin accounts and card issuing into any fintech or wallet product using modular APIs and smart contracts. Pavel Matveev, Co-Founder of Wirex said, “This unlocks a powerful new chapter in institutional stablecoin adoption — bringing together security and programmable payments infrastructure to Fireblocks’ digital asset network. Now, institutions can launch stablecoin-backed card programs and checking accounts at speed, with full control and built-in compliance.”
Universities athletic departments enter partnerships with PayPal to enable institutional payments for student-athletes in new revenue sharing model
PayPal announced multi-year agreements with the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences that will modernize the distribution of institutional payments from universities to student-athletes in a new revenue-sharing model. The new institutional payments initiative enables athletic departments to seamlessly dispense payments through PayPal, ensuring a secure, efficient, and transparent way to distribute funds to payees. With the funds in their wallets, students will have the option to access all the benefits of PayPal’s commerce ecosystem, from seamlessly buying tickets to a sporting event or purchasing their books for the year at the university bookstore. The recent court decision, which allows colleges and universities to share revenue directly with student-athletes, stands to revolutionize college sports. This partnership helps make that real by distributing those funds to student-athletes in a fast, simple, and secure way. Venmo is doubling down in its focus on younger consumers by expanding its position as a cornerstone of campus life and commerce. Venmo will be the presenting partner of the first-ever Big Ten Rivalry Series, spanning football, men’s and women’s basketball, embedding the brand in some of the most iconic matchups in college sports. With the Big 12, Venmo will serve as the official partner of the Big 12 Conference across Big 12 football, basketball, and Olympic sports championships for both men and women. Venmo will also be seen across all 16 institutions’ athletic events. Venmo is accelerating the expansion of its commerce capabilities, introducing even more ways to use a Venmo balance beyond peer-to-peer, from everyday purchases on campus to earning rewards in-store and online 1 with the Venmo Debit Mastercard. Venmo will be working with the Big Ten and Big 12 to enable acceptance for real-world campus spending, including at bookstores, for ticketing, concessions, and merchandise, giving students more flexibility to shop and pay with the app they already use every day. Students who use the Venmo Debit Card can for a limited time unlock up to 15% cash back at select national brands with added features like tap-to-pay when added to a mobile wallet, automatic transfers to top up your balance, and the ability to shop internationally anywhere Mastercard is accepted with no foreign transaction fees.
Audos offers a methodology for identifying promising everyday entrepreneurs and matching their unique expertise with viable AI business opportunities aligning personal strengths with business opportunity
Audos announced $11.5 million in combined Pre-Seed and Seed funding. Audos helps solo entrepreneurs quickly turn their expertise into business opportunities through a unique combination of AI tools, human support, and capital. Audos’ Program focuses on four key pillars: The Million-Dollar Business Model: A codified methodology from successful entrepreneurs to identify promising everyday entrepreneurs and match their unique expertise with viable AI business opportunities using a proprietary framework that aligns personal strengths with business opportunity. The result is a focus on founder-market fit, profitability, sustainability, and solving real problems from day one. Rapid Market Validation Through Doing: Helping entrepreneurs offer real services immediately instead of just testing concepts, handling technical implementation and customer acquisition so entrepreneurs can focus on relationships. The Audos Program: An all-in-one system combining human expertise with AI tools. Based on success patterns from the founders’ dozens of successful start-ups, the program helps entrepreneurs discover their business concept, identify and target customers, and create AI applications that operate 24/7 across multiple channels. The program’s agentic capabilities unlock a business’s potential through features including automated customer service, actionable insights, autopilot functions, and strategic iterative updates based on growth opportunities and customer data. Aligned Capital & Support: A model where Audos succeeds only when entrepreneurs succeed, providing flexible financing capital, support, and shared upside within a community of founders. The approach provides day-one resources with no personal risk through a revenue-sharing system, allowing entrepreneurs to grow at their own pace.
Levelpath’s AI agents unify model grounding, context management, orchestration and identify the relevant business context to solve real procurement challenges such as sourcing event creation, supplier onboarding, and risk assessments
AI-native procurement platform Levelpath announced $55+ million in Series B funding led by Battery Ventures, bringing the total raised to $100 million. At their core, Levelpath’s AI Agents are designed to act autonomously and proactively on behalf of users, solving real procurement challenges such as sourcing event creation, supplier onboarding, and risk assessments to drive exponential productivity. These AI Agents do not simply support rigid and fragile task automation; they deliver smarter workflows, faster deployment, and predictable outcomes from day one. With preconfigured agents available out of the box, teams can immediately benefit from enhanced decision-making and operational efficiency without the need for complex IT support. Powered by Hyperbridge, Levelpath’s AI-native architecture, these AI Agents unify model grounding, context management, and orchestration while ensuring secure, compliant data handling. By identifying the relevant business context, routing queries to the most suitable large language models, and tailoring outputs to specific organizational needs, Levelpath empowers procurement teams to achieve greater efficiency and impact, with fewer resources. This foundation enables organizations to benefit from rapid AI innovation without the need for constant due diligence on the models or integrations themselves.
Pay-by-bank solution provider Trustly’s total payment value increases by 54% year over year in 2024 to $85 billion driven by new products and strategic partnerships in North America and Europe
Pay-by-bank solution provider Trustly reported that its total payment value increased by 54% year over year in 2024, driven by new products and partnerships in North America and Europe. The firm’s total payment value reached $85 billion, up from $55 billion in 2023. “Strategic partnerships have been critical for Trustly,” Trustly Group CEO Johan Tjärnberg said. “In Europe, our ongoing collaboration with [His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)] strengthens our public sector leadership. In North America, expanded engagements with financial institutions and gaming providers highlight the strength and adaptability of our risk engine.” Trustly processed 1.3 billion HMRC payments totaling 4.7 billion pounds (about $6.4 billion) in January. The company’s collaborations in North America include BNY’s Bankify, Newline by Fifth Third, Coinbase, IGT, Light & Wonder, and an expanded partnership with Cross River Bank that now includes the FedNow® Service in addition to the RTP® network. On the product front, Trustly launched its artificial intelligence-powered recurring payments solution in June 2024, saying that a single integration enables merchants to accept repeat transactions directly from customers’ bank accounts. “By eliminating friction in repeat transactions, we’ve enabled merchants to better serve their customers and capture more revenue,” Tjärnberg said. “Similarly, our proprietary data engine, Azura, is driving higher engagement and conversion — proof of our innovation’s tangible impact.”
Sezzle BNPL’s new budgeting and checkout tools simplify the repayment process for consumers through a pre-loadable digital wallet and auto-prompts shoppers to earn rewards and save with available coupons
Sezzle has introduced features it says are designed to help customers weather increased financial pressure. “With record-low consumer confidence — the Conference Board’s index recently plunged to its lowest level since May 2020 amid fears of tariffs and recession — the current climate makes budgeting tools more essential than ever,” Sezzle said. Among the new features are Sezzle Balance, designed to simplify the repayment process for consumers through a pre-loadable digital wallet. There are two additional products in beta: “Express Checkout,” described as a “streamlined flow that reduces friction for returning shoppers,” and Browser Extension, a tool that automatically prompts shoppers to earn Sezzle Spend and save with available coupons. “When shoppers see real savings, they come back — it’s that simple,” said Charlie Youakim, Sezzle Chairman and CEO. “That’s why we’re focused on delivering value at every touchpoint, whether it’s through smarter discovery, seamless checkout, or transparent pricing. The more we help consumers feel in control and save money, the more they trust and choose Sezzle as their go-to way to shop.”