San Francisco stories

Pearson will roll out Redrock’s palm-print ID across 20,000 global test centres and remote exams to tighten security and curb fraud.

NIIT Learning Systems snaps up US learning designer SweetRush for up to USD $26m to boost AI-driven custom training and near-shore reach.

Horizon3.ai names veteran marketer Andres Botero CMO to spearhead global expansion after a USD $100 million funding boost.

Tetrate has unveiled Agent Router Enterprise, a platform to certify AI agents as production ready with shared standards, guardrails and metrics.

AI-powered cyber attacks are outpacing thinly staffed security teams, as firms prioritise defence but starve programmes of people and budget.

Google has invested in Emergent, giving the AI start-up early access to Gemini 3 to help millions of non-coders build production software.

Airwallex secures USD $330m at a USD $8b valuation and names San Francisco a dual global HQ as it ramps US expansion and AI investment.

AWS, CrowdStrike and NVIDIA have picked 35 startups for their 2026 AI-focused cybersecurity accelerator, offering mentoring and tech support.

Ignition platform fuels more than USD $3.1bn in 2025 client revenue as 8,500 firms automate billing, payments and pricing decisions.

OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a software platform, opening a built‑in app directory where users can discover and install third‑party tools.

World rolls out an updated World App in Malaysia, merging encrypted chat with proof-of-humanness checks to tackle bots and deepfakes online.

AI-written code introduces 1.7 times more bugs than human work, a CodeRabbit study warns, with security and performance flaws surging.

Databricks secures over USD $4bn in fresh funding, lifting its valuation to USD $134bn as demand for AI data infrastructure surges.

HackerOne hires new revenue and marketing chiefs to target soaring enterprise demand for AI-driven security and threat exposure tools.

AppDirect has closed the acquisition of vCom in a $100m-plus deal to fold network and mobility lifecycle tools into its “everything store” tech platform.

A global hackathon unites developers in London, Boston, and San Francisco to create private, offline personal AI apps running directly on devices, no cloud needed.

Onton secures USD $7.5 million seed funding to grow its AI-powered shopping platform, aiming to simplify online product search and expand globally.

ANYbotics appoints Marc Villard as VP Operations and Alessandro Norscia as Chief Product Officer to boost growth in industrial robotics.

CrowdStrike, AWS and NVIDIA expand a global accelerator to support early-stage AI-driven cybersecurity startups with mentorship, funding and market access.

Check Point and Lakera launch the open-source b3 benchmark to boost AI agents' LLM security against real-world cyber threats with threat snapshots.