NewzBits — AI News Aggregator | Summarized & Cited

• The Retail Technology Innovation Hub has highlighted 20 retail tech ventures that recently secured significant investments across sectors like AI shopping, live commerce, and warehouse robotics. • Among these, EAIGLE, a specialist in AI-powered gate and yard automation, secured an undisclosed funding round led by Noro-Moseley Partners with support from In Revenue Capital and Boreal Ventures. • EAIGLE intends to use the new capital to accelerate its go-to-market expansion and further develop its proprietary automated logistics technology.

• South Korea's Financial Services Commission has officially launched an ₩880 billion (approximately $630.9 million) Ultra-Long-Term Technology Investment Fund. • The fund is specifically designed to provide capital for up to 16 years to companies developing foundational and advanced technologies that require extended timelines for commercialization. • This initiative matters as it addresses the funding gap for high-risk, long-term research and development that traditional short-term investment cycles often overlook.

• Tech funding in South Korea nearly tripled year-on-year during the first half of 2026, according to data released on Wednesday. • The recovery is characterized as uneven, as a small number of "mega-rounds" specifically targeting artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors drove the majority of the growth. • This trend suggests that while overall capital is increasing, funding is heavily concentrated in a few high-growth sectors rather than being distributed across the broader tech ecosystem.

• OpenAI has slowed the training of its latest models, including a two-week pause in reinforcement learning (RL) for models intended for deployment. • The company officially attributes this pacing to cybersecurity risks, opting to run smaller, contained evaluation rounds before proceeding with its largest planned frontier RL run. • Analysts suggest the slowdown may actually be driven by mounting financial losses and increasing pressure from Chinese AI rivals rather than safety concerns alone.

• OpenAI is expanding its ChatGPT advertising footprint to 31 European countries starting next week. • The rollout includes major markets such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Austria. • This expansion provides advertisers with a new high-intent channel to reach users within the AI interface.

• New startup funding statistics for 2026 compare venture funding, deal counts, and mega-round concentrations against 2025 data. • Israel has emerged as one of the world's most capital-dense markets, securing an estimated $16.7 billion across 801 funding rounds. • The country's global relevance is driven by strong performance in AI, cybersecurity, business software, and strategic M&A activity.

• Israeli airstrikes killed at least seven Palestinians in Gaza, while a Palestinian American traveled to the West Bank to protect their home from settlers. • Tensions escalated between the U.S. and Iran after Donald Trump posted a map labeling the Strait of Hormuz as "New U.S. Territory," despite Iranian claims that the U.S. is seeking talks. • The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the ICC President and Senior Prosecutor, while a federal judge revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 5,000 Ethiopian immigrants.

Israeli military orders criminal investigation into deaths of Hind and six family members. Plus, FCC chair Brendan Carr’s close coordination with White House revealedGood morning.The Israeli military admitted on Wednesday its troops had opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab and six family members in Gaza in 2024, saying it had ordered a criminal investigation into the killing.What prompted the investigation? The Israel Defense Forces repeatedly denied its troops had been in the area, but investigations by the media and others found evidence that strongly suggested nearby Israeli tanks were responsible.How significant is it? The IDF published reviews on Wednesday into five high-profile incidents in Gaza. But criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions. A UN report published in February described “a pervasive climate of impunity” by Israel in occupied Palestine.What is the wider context? In September last year, a UN commission found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, citing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and massive destruction.What did Béjar say in his testimony? That his job often included him briefing Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, on product issues. He estimated that he spoke to Zuckerberg at least 100 times. One email Béjar sent to Zuckerberg in 2021 showed the engineer warning of constant reports of harmful content and damage to teenage wellbeing on Facebook and Instagram. Béjar said he emailed Zuckerberg after the chief exrecutive publicly said the company did not prioritize profit over safety. Meta denies all allegations in the case. Continue reading...

The 18-year-old’s body was found in Nattai national park on Thursday – but initial police messages indicated she had been found alivePolice have blamed dense bushland and radio confusion for wrongly reporting to 18-year-old Lily Hooper’s parents, the New South Wales premier and the media that the missing bushwalker had been found alive.Hooper had last been seen on 12 August after leaving home for a hike in the rugged bushland of Nattai national park, 90km south-west of Sydney. She was reported missing that night, triggering a multi-agency search involving nearly 1,000 people, including hundreds of volunteers. Continue reading...

Prolonged detention of children, insufficient staffing and hazardous damage to buildings are among the ombudsman’s concernsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDrugs are being openly dealt inside Villawood detention centre; makeshift weapons are being manufactured amid intimidation, standover tactics and a “culture of fear”; people are sleeping outside under CCTV cameras for their own safety; and children are being kept from going to school, a scathing report from the independent monitor has found.The commonwealth’s National Preventive Mechanism issued the report based on a three-day visit in March this year. A total of 428 people were held in Villawood at the time, including children. Some 78 beds were offline because of damage still not repaired from a fire three years ago. Continue reading...

Improvements in fire management however could mitigate increases by more than 70%, study showsWildfires are projected to burn 39% more of Europe by the end of the century even in the best-case scenario for stopping the planet from heating, a study has found, unless action is taken to manage them better.The increase in hot, dry and windy weather that leads to small fires turning into raging infernos is to engulf more of Europe as carbon pollution pushes temperatures higher. In the worst-case scenario the researchers modelled, which would see global heating reach 3.6C above preindustrial levels, the burnt area would almost triple. Continue reading...

• The U.S. Department of the Treasury is increasing the size of its liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities starting September 9. • The operations will target the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors, raising the maximum size per operation from $2 billion to at least $4 billion. • This move is designed to enhance market liquidity and stability for long-term government debt by doubling the available support.

• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has initiated a new round of debt buybacks to combat rising long-term borrowing costs. • The move comes as Treasury yields hit multi-year highs, prompting the administration to intervene to stabilize the market. • This strategy aims to lower yields and weaken the dollar, reducing the overall cost of servicing US government debt.