E.l.f. Beauty's chief technology and AI officer Ekta Chopra has introduced an AI system called E.l.fluencer that helps community managers respond to the huge volume of comments the brand receives on TikTok and Instagram. The tool was trained on the company's stylebook and years of past human-written replies, allowing it to autogenerate answers to common shopper questions about product launches, comparisons, and suitability for different skin or hair types.
Caterpillar CIO Jamie Engstrom, who leads a global IT team of over 2,200 employees across 28 countries, is expanding the company's three-decade use of AI into advanced analytics, automation, and supply chain optimization. Engstrom frames the effort around 'the art of the possible,' emphasizing that AI should augment employees' capabilities rather than replace their jobs.
Delta has completed rollout of Delta Concierge, its generative AI travel assistant, to 100% of SkyMiles members as of August 2026. The tool, first unveiled by CEO Ed Bastian at CES in January 2025, helps travelers with flight disruptions, self-service cancellations, and bag tracking. The expansion has occurred under new chief digital & technology officer Amala Duggirala, who is extending AI beyond this assistant into other airline operations like baggage handling.
Michael Wisler, who became M&T Bank's chief information officer in 2018 after years at Capital One, has shifted the 170-year-old Buffalo-based bank away from outside tech contractors toward an in-house engineering team. The move aims to speed up how quickly the bank can adapt its systems to new technology and customer demands while building more resilient infrastructure.
The Kansas Department of Labor, under Secretary Amber Shultz, has modernized its unemployment insurance technology, replacing software that dated back to the 1970s. Previously, agents juggled five separate screens, some requiring command-line input without mouse support, and the system shut down nightly for batch processing, blocking claims filed in the evening. The agency has now introduced AI-driven tools to streamline the filing process and support staff.
Sony's WH-1000XM5 noise-canceling headphones are currently on sale for $198, a $202 discount that marks one of the lowest prices seen for the model. Several other Sony headphones are also discounted as part of the same sale, though the WH-1000XM5 remains the standout deal despite being one generation behind the newer WH-1000XM6.
Ahead of Apple's expected iPhone 18 Pro unveiling next week, leakers agree on two colors—Dark Cherry/Burgundy and Sky Blue—but disagree on the third option. Fixed Focus Digital claims it will be black with no silver variant, while Sonny Dickson has posted images of SIM tray covers suggesting silver is the third color instead.
Razer has introduced the Prio, a new mobile gaming controller that collapses down to roughly the size of a credit card and weighs just 101 grams for easy portability. Despite its compact folded form, it offers a full controller layout with recessed joysticks, a D-pad, face buttons and shoulder buttons, and connects via USB-C so it draws power directly from the phone. It works across Android and iOS devices and supports cloud gaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, Steam Link, and PS Remote Play.
Google has fixed a bug in its Home app that was preventing owners of older Chromecast and Chromecast Audio devices from setting them up. The company confirmed the fix in a Reddit thread and advised affected users to update to Google Home app version 4.26 or later and retry setup. Those still experiencing issues are encouraged to contact Google support.
A technical review examines the ferrocyanide/ferricyanide redox couple, prized in flow batteries for its stability, kinetics and solubility, and asks why no one has built a symmetric flow battery using it on both electrodes. The piece explains that ferrocyanide reacts with heavy metal cations like zinc or iron to form insoluble Prussian blue compounds, blocking the metal-plating side of such a design, and notes that even chelation workarounds using pyrophosphates lead to poor long-term cycling stability, as shown by degradation data after 100 cycles.
Students, teachers, and the school's principal have filed 30 lawsuits in a California federal court alleging OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman gave 'substantial assistance' to Jesse Van Rootselaar, the suspect in the Tumbler Ridge school shooting. The suits claim OpenAI's safety team flagged the suspect's violent conversations with ChatGPT and recommended alerting Canadian authorities, but executives chose silence to protect the company's reputation and finances, then merely deactivated the account rather than banning the user outright.
With the Google Pixel 11 series now available in bold colors and featuring a new HiLight LED on Pro models, reviewers have rounded up recommended protective cases for the phones. Options highlighted include the slim, protective Spigen Liquid Air and the grip-focused dBrand Grip Case, among several others covering different price points and styles.
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