Nuro Tests Self-Driving Cars in Tokyo, Marking First International Expansion U.S. self-driving startup Nuro has commenced testing its autonomous vehicles on public roads in Tokyo, representing the company’s first international deployment. The vehicles are currently operating with safety drivers present. This expansion is notable as Nuro claims its system did not require pre-training on local Japanese driving data, a capability it refers to as “zero-shot” autonomy. The company’s technology is designed to learn the fundamental principles of safe driving, allowing it to adapt to new environments like Tokyo’s dense and complex streets, which feature left-side driving and different traffic patterns from the U.S. Backed by investors including Nvidia and Toyota, Nuro has established a local office and deployed a small number of test cars to begin data collection. The company is also partnered with Uber and Lucid Group. Sources: The Japan Times Synopsys Unveils Ansys 2026 R1, Integrating Generative AI for Enhanced Engineering Design Synopsys has launched Ansys 2026 R1, a new version of its engineering simulation software that incorporates generative AI and agentic capabilities. This update aims to accelerate validation, speed up design exploration, and automate complex engineering workflows. A key feature is the Ansys GeomAI platform, which uses generative AI for conceptual design exploration, allowing engineering teams to generate and refine geometry concepts more efficiently. The release also includes updates to the Ansys SimAI platform for simulation, now available in both a SaaS version and a Pro version for desktop use with local data storage. Additionally, Ansys Engineering Copilot is now integrated into Ansys medini analyze and Ansys ModelCenter to further assist engineers. Sources: Synopsys Launches Ansys 2026 R1 to Re-Engineer Engineering with Joint Solutions and AI-Powered Products Cryptocurrency Heist Exposes Kubernetes and Cloud SQL Vulnerabilities A sophisticated cyberattack on a cryptocurrency organization has highlighted significant vulnerabilities within cloud infrastructures, particularly involving Kubernetes and Cloud SQL. The attack, attributed to the threat group UNC4899, reportedly began by compromising a developer’s machine and then moving into the corporate cloud environment. Attackers manipulated the organization’s DevOps infrastructure by altering Kubernetes deployment configurations to establish persistence. They were then able to extract insecurely stored database credentials from within a Kubernetes pod. Using these credentials, the attackers accessed the production database via the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy. Once inside the database, they altered user account settings, which allowed them to withdraw millions of dollars in digital assets. Galileo Releases Open-Source ‘Agent Control’ for AI Governance Galileo has launched Agent Control, an open-source control plane designed for enterprises to govern their AI agents at scale. This new platform allows organizations to define behavioral policies once and have them enforced across all agent deployments. Agent Control is vendor-neutral, supporting various agent frameworks and guardrail evaluators to prevent vendor lock-in. The platform aims to address critical issues of trust, safety, and governance that have been barriers to the production deployment of AI agents. Initial partners for Agent Control include AWS, CrewAI, and Glean. Sources: Galileo AI Tetrate Launches ‘Built on Envoy’ Marketplace to Streamline Adoption Tetrate has introduced ‘Built on Envoy,’ a free, open-source marketplace for extensions of the Envoy proxy. The marketplace is intended to simplify the adoption of Envoy for cloud-native development teams. Envoy is an open-source edge and service proxy used to manage network traffic between services in cloud-native applications. The new marketplace provides ready-to-use modules for common deployment issues, which can reduce duplicated engineering efforts for tasks like authentication and policy control. Tetrate’s initiative is seen as a way to lower adoption barriers and encourage more developers to contribute to the Envoy ecosystem. Sources: IT Brief UK IonQ and University of Cambridge Partner to Launch Quantum Innovation Centre IonQ has announced a significant agreement with the University of Cambridge to establish the IonQ Quantum Innovation Centre. This collaboration is aimed at accelerating the commercialization of quantum research and strengthening IonQ’s presence in the United Kingdom’s quantum ecosystem. As part of the partnership, IonQ plans to deploy its 6th-generation, 256-qubit system on the university’s campus. The new center will also provide access to IonQ’s quantum cloud, fostering advanced research and workforce development in quantum computing, networking, sensing, and security. The initiative is expected to generate substantial innovation and intellectual property, which will be shared under established licensing agreements. Research at the center will focus on quantum hardware, as well as applications in chemistry, materials science, and optimization. Sources: IonQ Gloo Launches AI Development Platform for Faith-Based Organizations Gloo has announced the launch of Gloo AI Studio, a production-grade AI development platform specifically designed for faith-based and mission-driven organizations. The platform aims to provide AI models that align with the values of these organizations, addressing the fact that the guardrails in general-purpose AI models may not be sufficient for their specific needs. Gloo’s platform enables the creation of custom models, workflows, and infrastructure to solve real-world problems for what it calls the “faith ecosystem”. The company’s Flourishing AI initiative evaluates leading large language models on their ability to support users’ spiritual growth and overall well-being. While built for a faith-based audience, the platform is also seeing interest from secular organizations.