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The VinFast VF 8 and the New Priorities of EV Ownership


DUBAI, UAE – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 July 2026 – Today’s EV buyers are looking beyond range and horsepower. They want an ownership experience that is just as reassuring as the vehicle itself, and that is where the VinFast VF 8 makes a strong case.

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Just a few years ago, conversations surrounding EV buying were dominated by battery size, driving range and acceleration. Those things still matter today, but they are no longer the whole story. As EVs move into the mainstream, buyer priorities are shifting toward practical, long-term considerations, including the post-purchase experience, charging convenience, straightforward servicing, and the enduring reliability of the brand. These factors increasingly shape purchasing decisions, and they also provide a useful lens through which to look at the VinFast VF 8, an all-electric mid-size SUV.

Designed by the legendary Italian design house Pininfarina, the all-electric D-segment SUV combines clean, modern styling with the practicality expected of a family vehicle. It delivers up to 493 km of NEDC driving range, produces up to 402 horsepower through a dual-motor AWD system, and comes equipped with Level 2 driver assistance technologies, a 15.6-inch infotainment display, and a spacious cabin designed for everyday comfort. In the UAE, buyers also benefit from a 10-year vehicle warranty, a 10-year unlimited-mileage battery warranty, alongside 24/7 roadside assistance and five years of free maintenance up to 100,000 km.

While the VF 8 already has plenty to offer on paper, the real challenge is making ownership feel effortless once the excitement of the purchase has passed. Recognizing that, VinFast has invested heavily in the ecosystem that supports its vehicles.

Earlier this year, the company signed agreements with 29 international aftersales partners as part of a broader plan to expand its global service network to more than 1,100 workshops across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia during 2026. The company is also rolling out customer support initiatives such as software updates, battery inspections, and technical support throughout the ownership journey.

In the UAE specifically, VinFast works with Al Tayer Motors to provide local aftersales support while continuing to strengthen its regional service network through experienced local partners. In March, the company signed an MoU with PlusX Electric, a DEWA-approved charging provider, to extend support beyond the dealership network. The plan includes portable charging pods, on-demand mobile charging, and emergency roadside charging services. The goal is to reduce downtime and eliminate the awkward scenario of running low on charge far from a plug.

“VinFast is committed to building a long-term and comprehensive EV ecosystem in the UAE, one that gives customers confidence not only in the quality and performance of our electric vehicles, but also in the reliability and accessibility of the supporting infrastructure,” one executive of VinFast Middle East said in a press release.

The Middle East is entering an important stage of its EV journey, with governments investing in cleaner mobility and consumers enjoying more choices than ever before. As the market evolves, delivering a competitive vehicle is only part of the equation, while making ownership straightforward is becoming just as important. The VinFast VF 8 reflects that shift, pairing the features of a modern electric SUV with growing investments in charging, aftersales support, and customer service.

Hashtag: #VinFast #EV

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

GROWNSY’s Baby Food Maker Named “Baby Food Maker Product of the Year” in the 2026 Baby Innovation Awards

Recognition honors GROWNSY’s all-in-one baby food maker for helping parents simplify fresh meal preparation at home

NEW YORK, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — GROWNSY, a baby care brand trusted by more than 3 million households worldwide, today announced that its Baby Food Maker has been named “Baby Food Maker Product of the Year” in the 2026 Baby Innovation Awards.

The annual Baby Innovation Awards recognize products, companies, and solutions that are helping shape the future of baby and parenting care through thoughtful design, meaningful functionality, and real-world impact for families.

For many parents, the transition to solid foods can feel exciting but overwhelming. Questions around ingredients, textures, cook times, nutrition, and daily preparation can make homemade baby food feel complicated before families even begin. The GROWNSY Baby Food Maker was designed to reduce that guesswork with a clearer, step-by-step approach to steaming, blending, and adjusting textures as babies grow.


GROWNSY Baby Food Maker

Unlike baby food makers that combine the entire process into one less visible workflow, the GROWNSY Baby Food Maker features a dedicated steaming basket and separated steaming-and-blending operation. This design helps ingredients cook more evenly, allows parents to better control each step, and makes the process easier to understand, especially for first-time parents.

The product also includes preset steaming programs for common ingredients and adjustable blending modes to support different texture needs as babies grow: from smooth purees to thicker meals. Together, these features reflect GROWNSY’s focus on making daily feeding routines simpler, clearer, and easier to manage.

“The GROWNSY Baby Food Maker takes the guesswork out of homemade baby food. Between busy schedules and uncertainty around cook times, textures, and nutrition, many parents give up before they even start,” said Travis Grant, Managing Director of Baby Innovation Awards. “By combining steaming and blending into one compact appliance with preset programs and flexible blending modes that grow with your baby, GROWNSY makes healthy home cooking genuinely manageable. We’re proud to award them with ‘Baby Food Maker Product of the Year.'”

The recognition reflects GROWNSY’s continued focus on creating practical baby care solutions that fit naturally into modern family routines. From bottle care to first-food preparation, GROWNSY designs feeding tools that help parents follow clearer steps, reduce everyday guesswork, and feel more confident as their baby grows into each new feeding stage.

For more information about GROWNSY and the Baby Food Maker, visit www.GROWNSY.com

About GROWNSY

GROWNSY designs thoughtful baby care solutions that fit naturally into modern family life. We believe parenting does not need more noise; it needs clarity, trust, and smart-designed support. Guided by evidence and shaped by real family routines, our products simplify everyday essentials across feeding, hygiene, and early childhood care. From smart feeding tools to intuitive hygiene systems, every detail is created with one purpose: to reduce friction and create space for families to grow. At GROWNSY, growth is not about doing more. It is about growing smart and making it easier along the way.

Grow smart, made easy.

Learn more at www.GROWNSY.com

Insta360 Luna Ultra Costco-Exclusive Bundle Featuring Three Bonus Accessories

LOS ANGELES, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A Costco-exclusive Luna Ultra Bundle is now available on Costco.com, giving customers more ways to create with Luna Ultra from day one. The bundle includes the Luna Ultra Standard Bundle, featuring the Protective Cover, 1/4″ Thread Handle, and Wrist Strap, plus three additional accessories worth over US$169: the Mic Air Transmitter, Black Mist Filter, and Carry Bag, all at no extra cost.

Designed for everyday creators, travelers, families, and first-time filmmakers alike, the Costco-exclusive bundle helps users get more out of Luna Ultra right out of the box.

“Luna Ultra is all about making powerful, flexible content creation more accessible,” said Max Richter, co-founder and VP of Marketing at Insta360. “This Costco-exclusive bundle is a great example of how the Luna ecosystem can support different kinds of creators. By pairing Luna Ultra with accessories that enhance audio, image quality, and portability, we’re giving users a simple, accessible way to expand what they can create.”

More flexibility for everyday creators

The Luna Ultra Costco Exclusive Bundle offers a more approachable and versatile setup for everyday users who want more creative freedom without stepping up to a more professional package.

Compared with the standard offering, the Costco bundle gives users more tools to improve both sound and image quality, while also making the system easier to carry and store. It also offers a more affordable alternative to the Creator Bundle, which includes the updated Mic Pro accessory.

The result is a package that strikes a practical balance: more capability than a standard setup, with a simpler and more accessible accessory mix for casual and aspiring creators.

Included accessories

Each accessory in the Costco-exclusive bundle was selected to support a different part of the creative process:

Mic Air Transmitter: An easy way to upgrade audio quality for vlogs, interviews, travel clips, and everyday storytelling. Better sound helps users create more immersive, polished content with minimal setup.
Black Mist Filter: Adds a softer, more cinematic image texture by gently diffusing highlights. It can also create a more flattering portrait look, giving footage a beauty filter-like softness that works especially well for lifestyle, portrait, and atmospheric scenes.
Carry Bag: Keeps your Luna Ultra and accessories organized, protected, and ready to go, making it easier to shoot on the move and store everything in one place.

Together, these accessories make Luna Ultra an ideal choice for a wide audience—from casual social content and travel videos to portraits, day-in-the-life footage, and cinematic experiments.

A closer look at the Luna ecosystem

The Costco-exclusive bundle also reflects Insta360’s broader vision for the Luna ecosystem: using accessories to help more people build a setup that fits the way they create.

Whether users want cleaner audio, a new visual style, or better portability, accessories play an important role in helping Luna Ultra adapt to different shooting scenarios and styles of storytelling. The Costco bundle shows how a few practical additions can unlock more flexibility and help users create better footage with less friction.

Pricing and Availability

The Luna Ultra Costco Exclusive Bundle is available now and includes:

  • Insta360 Luna Ultra Standard Bundle
    • Protective Cover
    • 1/4″ Thread Handle
    • Wrist Strap
  • Mic Air Transmitter
  • Black Mist Filter
  • Carry Bag

To learn more or shop this exclusive bundle, visit Costco.com.

Insta360

With a “Think bold” mindset, Insta360 empowers people to capture and share their lives in extraordinary ways. Recognized as a market leader and innovator, Insta360’s vast lineup includes the world’s best-selling 360 cameras in the X Series, the pocket-sized GO Series for everyday capture, as well as an extensive range of action cameras, gimbals, webcams, and professional photography solutions. With intuitive, AI-powered software, Insta360 simplifies the creative process, allowing users to focus on storytelling without technical barriers. Insta360 is dedicated to helping a new generation of athletes, creatives, travelers and professionals bring their ideas to life.

For more details visit: http://www.insta360.com
About the Think Bold Fund: https://www.insta360.com/ThinkBoldFund
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ShengShu Technology Unveils Vidu S1, Bringing Real-Time Interactive Generation to AI Video

SINGAPORE, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — At the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference, ShengShu Technology today unveiled Vidu S1, its next-generation video foundation model, delivering real-time interactive video generation that transforms AI video from creating single clips to enabling continuous, live interaction.


Vidu S1 supports real-time video conversations with voice-guided character control, allowing users to control AI avatars naturally through voice input while engaging in unlimited, continuous interactions. The model delivers 540P (960×540) resolution at 25 FPS (up to 42 FPS) and enables users to instantly create personalized interactive characters from a single image—whether a real person, an anime character, or even a pet—paired with a customizable voice. Together, these capabilities create a more natural, fluid, and immersive real-time interactive experience. Notably, the entire system runs on consumer-grade GPUs, significantly reducing the hardware requirements for real-time interactive video generation.

From Offline Video Generation to Real-Time Interaction

Most existing video generation models operate in an offline workflow: users submit a prompt, wait for the video to be generated, and then view the completed result. Once generated, the content remains fixed. Making changes to an AI avatar’s actions or the storyline typically requires generating a new video, limiting interaction to a one-way creation-and-viewing experience.

Vidu S1 introduces a real-time interactive video generation framework that enables users to provide voice input continuously throughout a real-time video conversation. The model processes voice input alongside conversational context and the current visual context, allowing subsequent video content to be generated and updated in real time.

Beyond real-time generation, Vidu S1 also advances voice interaction from simple lip synchronization to full AI avatar control. Rather than relying on audio-driven lip movements and predefined animation libraries, the model interprets the semantic meaning, intent, and emotional context of spoken input to generate synchronized lip movements, facial expressions, eye movements, gestures, body posture, and full-body actions in real time.

Together, these capabilities enable AI avatars to understand user instructions, respond naturally during conversations, and support continuous, real-time interaction.

Unlimited Real-Time Video Generation

Most video generation models today produce clips with a fixed duration, typically ranging from a few seconds to several tens of seconds. Once generation begins, users have limited ability to influence how the video evolves.

Vidu S1 adopts an autoregressive diffusion (AR + Diffusion) architecture. Rather than generating an entire video upfront, it continuously predicts and generates subsequent video content based on previously generated frames, current voice instructions, and conversational context. As users provide new instructions, the model updates the character’s expressions, movements, and subsequent actions in real time, enabling the interaction to evolve continuously throughout the conversation.

In addition to real-time interaction, Vidu S1 is a leading model for unlimited-duration real-time video generation. This requires more than continuous generation alone. The model must simultaneously preserve character identity, maintain natural and coherent motion, continuously process user input, and respond in real time throughout extended conversations.

By combining these capabilities, Vidu S1 enables persistent generative video interaction, allowing characters to remain responsive, visually consistent, and continuously interactive over extended periods.

540P at 25 FPS for Video-Call-Quality Interaction

Delivering real-time interactive video requires not only streaming generation, but also the resolution and frame rate needed to support natural, responsive conversations.

To meet these requirements, ShengShu Technology optimized Vidu S1 across model acceleration, inference, and system deployment, enabling real-time interactive video generation at 540P (960×540) resolution and 25 FPS, with support for up to 42 FPS.

At the model level, Vidu S1 is powered by ShengShu Technology’s inference acceleration techniques, including TurboDiffusion [1], low-bit SageAttention [2], and sparse attention methods such as SLA [3] and SpargeAttention [4]. Through few-step generation, model quantization, and optimized inference kernels, Vidu S1 significantly reduces the computational cost of generating each frame while supporting high-frame-rate output. This efficiency allows Vidu S1 to run real-time interactive generation on consumer-grade GPUs, rather than the large server clusters such workloads typically require.

At the system level, TurboServe [5], ShengShu Technology’s inference serving engine, efficiently schedules inference workloads while maintaining user inputs, character states, and visual context throughout an interaction. Compute resources are dynamically allocated based on the interaction state to support stable, low-latency real-time interactive video generation.

Together, these model- and system-level optimizations enable Vidu S1 to deliver continuous, stable, and responsive real-time interactive video generation throughout extended interactions.

These capabilities provide the technical foundation for applications such as real-time video conversations, interactive livestreaming, AI companionship, interactive gaming, and XR experiences.

Create Interactive Characters from a Single Image

Creating traditional AI avatars typically requires multiple images or video assets, followed by character modeling, rigging, lip-sync configuration, and dedicated training before the character can be used for interaction.

Vidu S1 introduces a fully generative workflow that eliminates the need for character-specific modeling and training. Users simply upload a single image, and the model captures the character’s identity, appearance, and visual style to generate synchronized lip movements, facial expressions, gestures, and full-body motion in real time.

Whether based on a real person, an anime character, or a pet, a single image can be turned into a real-time interactive character. Vidu S1 also supports customizable voices, enabling a consistent visual and vocal identity for each character.

By reducing character creation from a multi-step production pipeline to a single-image workflow, Vidu S1 makes personalized real-time interactive characters significantly easier to create.

A New Chapter for Interactive AI Video

As video foundation models continue to evolve, industry competition is expanding beyond image quality, generation speed, and video duration toward broader capabilities in real-time responsiveness, continuity, controllability, and interaction.

With Vidu S1, real-time interactive video generation enables AI video to move beyond pre-generated content toward dynamic, responsive experiences in which AI can understand user input, respond in real time, and evolve continuously throughout an interaction.

Looking ahead, Vidu S1 has the potential to support a wide range of applications, including AI companions, AI virtual influencers, interactive livestreaming, game NPCs, branded AI avatars, intelligent customer service, online education, and XR experiences. These capabilities enable AI avatars to evolve from one-time content assets into persistent, always-on interactive agents.

From generating individual video clips to enabling continuous interaction, and from one-way content creation to real-time two-way engagement, Vidu S1 expands the capabilities of video foundation models and lays the foundation for the next generation of interactive AI experiences.

Availability

Vidu S1 is now publicly available, enabling users to create and interact with AI avatars from their own custom images in real time. An API platform is also available for developers and enterprise partners to build real-time interactive applications.

Global Experience: https://www.vidu.com/vidu-stream

APIhttps://platform.vidu.com/live/landing

References
[1] TurboDiffusion: Accelerating Video Diffusion Models by 100–200 Times.
[2] SageAttention: Accurate 8-bit Attention for Plug-and-Play Inference Acceleration.
[3] SLA: Beyond Sparsity in Diffusion Transformers via Fine-Tunable Sparse-Linear Attention.
[4] SpargeAttention: Accurate and Training-Free Sparse Attention Accelerating Any Model Inference.
[5] TurboServe: Serving Streaming Video Generation Efficiently and Economically.

ISCA Accountants Move Beyond the Numbers to Help Singaporeans Navigate Life’s Financial Decisions

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 July 2026 – The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) launched Life & Money Matters, a nationwide community initiative that aims to help Singaporeans make informed financial decisions with confidence throughout every stage of life.

The initiative will be administered by ISCA Cares, ISCA’s charitable arm, which has spent more than a decade supporting the community through bursaries, mentorship and outreach programmes. Building on this strong foundation, Life & Money Matters expands ISCA Cares’ community impact by mobilising the knowledge and expertise of the accountancy profession to help Singaporeans build practical financial capability and long-term resilience. This reflects ISCA Cares’ strategic shift from “giving” to “enabling”, expanding its community impact through the knowledge and expertise of the accountancy profession.

Every major life decision carries a financial dimension, whether it is pursuing further education, entering the workforce, starting a family, purchasing a home, caring for ageing parents or planning for retirement. As financial decisions become increasingly complex, Life & Money Matters seeks to equip Singaporeans with practical knowledge and decision-making skills to navigate these milestones with greater confidence.
The initiative will bring together ISCA members and accounting and finance professionals to volunteer their expertise in communities across Singapore. Through a combination of digital learning resources and community workshops, participants will gain practical guidance on everyday financial topics such as budgeting, managing financial trade-offs, planning ahead, recognising financial scams and building long term financial resilience.
Unlike traditional financial literacy programmes, Life & Money Matters focuses on helping individuals make better financial decisions throughout their life, rather than by promoting financial products or investment strategies. The programme is designed to be practical, impartial and accessible, supporting Singaporeans from different age groups and backgrounds, including students, young adults, families, seniors and vulnerable households.
Mr Lee Boon Teck, President of ISCA, said: “Every life decision has a financial dimension. As trusted finance professionals, accountants have a responsibility not only to support businesses but also to contribute to society. Through Life & Money Matters, we hope to empower Singaporeans with the confidence to make better financial decisions while giving our members a meaningful platform to use their expertise in service of the community. By strengthening financial capability, we can also strengthen households and build more resilient communities.”
Life & Money Matters will be rolled out progressively in the second half of 2026 through partnerships with community organisations, schools, grassroots organisations and other stakeholders.

ISCA recognises distinguished contributions to the profession

At the ISCA Annual Dinner, ISCA also recognised distinguished individuals whose leadership and contributions have made a lasting impact on Singapore’s accountancy profession, business community and public service.
ISCA Honorary Membership, was conferred on Mrs Tan Ching Yee in recognition of her outstanding contributions to Singapore’s accountancy profession, public administration, corporate regulatory ecosystem and national development.
Mrs Tan said: “I am deeply honoured to receive the ISCA Honorary Membership. I am grateful for the recognition. I share this honour with the many colleagues and partners I have had the privilege to work with over the years in support of Singapore’s accountancy profession and broader public interest. I hope to continue contributing to the profession’s development.”
The ISCA Distinguished Lifetime Membership was conferred on Mr Phillip Tan in recognition of his longstanding contributions to the accountancy profession, business community and public service.
Mr Tan said: “I am honoured to receive the Distinguished Lifetime Membership from ISCA. I am humbled by this recognition and I am grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to the profession along with my fellow colleagues and partners over the years. I recognise and commend ISCA’s work in ensuring that professional judgement, ethics and trust remain at the core of professional accountants in Singapore and I hope to continue sharing my expertise with the profession for many more years to come.”
ISCA also presented the Special Appreciation Award to the ISCA Strengthening Small and Medium Practices Taskforce for its leadership in developing a strategic roadmap to strengthen Singapore’s small and medium sized accounting practices through extensive stakeholder engagement and industry collaboration.

Hashtag: #ISCA #CharteredAccountants #AnnualDinner #DifferenceMakers #Accounting #Accountancy

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA)

The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) is the national accountancy body of Singapore. Established in 1963, ISCA administers the Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification programme and is the designated entity by the Singapore Ministry of Finance to confer the Chartered Accountant of Singapore [CA (Singapore)] designation.

ISCA supports over 45,000 members across industries in Singapore and globally, with members in more than 40 countries. With a growing international presence, ISCA has 12 overseas chapters, 7 offices across 10 countries and a network of over 150 strategic partners, strengthening professional connections and opportunities across borders. ISCA is also a member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, a global network representing more than 1.8 million Chartered Accountants and students across over 190 countries.
ISCA advances professional development and lifelong learning through ISCA Academy, its training arm and drives community impact through ISCA Cares, its charity arm.
For more information, visit .

60,000 Accountancy and Corporate Finance Professionals to Be AI-Ready Over Three Years

ISCA and IMDA launch AIxAccountancy, the first AI fluency programme for non-tech professionals under the National AI Impact Programme


SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 July 2026 – The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) officially launched the AI Fluency Programme, AIxAccountancy, today. The programme will empower accountancy and corporate finance professionals with the skills, confidence and know-how to use artificial intelligence (AI) effectively and responsibly at work. It supports ISCA’s broader commitment to strengthening AI capabilities across the profession, in line with its ambition to upskill 60,000 accountancy and corporate finance professionals [1] over a three-year period.

2. AIxAccountancy is the first training programme developed through IMDA’s partnership with professional bodies under the National AI Impact Programme (NAIIP) [2], which aims to train 100,000 non-tech professionals to become AI bilingual over the next three years. Prior to its launch, more than 20,000 individuals [3] across the public and private sectors, including tertiary students, had already expressed interest in AIxAccountancy, reflecting strong demand to build AI capabilities. The Accountant-General’s Department is also planning to incorporate the programme as part of the learning and development of all 4,000 public sector finance and internal audit officers. To make the programme widely accessible, AIxAccountancy will be offered free to ISCA members who are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents, including tertiary students.

Flexible AI training programme with industry-recognised credentials

3. AIxAccountancy is designed to offer flexible and structured online learning tailored for working professionals to learn at their own pace, fitting in their busy schedules so that their professional and personal commitments are not disrupted. The programme will be delivered in two progressive phases, enabling learners to develop core AI capabilities before advancing to specialised applications. Learners will gain hands-on experience with widely used AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini, with the curriculum regularly refreshed to stay industry-relevant.

  • Phase 1 will focus on AI foundations for common workplace tasks, such as creating AI-enabled workflows for financial statement analysis. Learners will gain essential AI knowledge, hands-on experience with a range of AI tools, and the confidence to use AI effectively in their day-to-day work.
  • Phase 2 will focus on applying AI to role-specific workflows across accounting, finance, auditing, taxation and related disciplines.

4. Upon completing both phases, ISCA will award participants a Certificate of Completion, a digital badge and Continuing Professional Development Education (CPE) hours. The digital badge serves as a verifiable, tamper-proof record of achievement that recognises AI proficiency, signalling credibility to employers. It can be easily shared across professional platforms including LinkedIn.

5. Accounting professionals in, or aspiring to, management roles can also enrol in modules focused on AI implementation after completing the two phases. These modules are designed to equip them to lead the responsible adoption of AI and drive AI transformation within their organisations.

An AI sandbox to experiment and learn from peers and industry leaders

6. As part of AIxAccountancy, participants will also have access to AI Nexus, a dedicated hub for accountancy and corporate finance professionals to learn and share insights, resources and best practices on AI adoption. Through AI Nexus, participants can experiment, prototype and build their own AI-assisted workflows in a sandbox environment, applying their learning directly to real industry needs. Participants can also connect with peers, technology providers and educators to share and work on new use cases. Regular sharing sessions by leading accountancy companies and AI tool providers will further enrich the learning experience with best practices and real-world applications. Together, these channels ensure participants receive both expert guidance and meaningful peer-to-peer learning throughout the programme. Participants can access AI Nexus at: https://ainexus.isca.org.sg/.

7. Mr Lee Boon Teck, President of ISCA, said: “AI is reshaping the future of the accountancy profession. The professionals who will thrive are those who become AI bilingual, combining deep accounting expertise with the ability to use AI confidently, responsibly, and with sound professional judgement. AIxAccountancy is more than a training programme. It is a national profession transformation initiative that equips accountants and finance professionals with the skills and confidence to create greater value for businesses and society.”

8. Mr Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive Officer of IMDA, said: “AI delivers the most impact when it is grounded in domain expertise and applied to the work professionals know best. Our partnership with ISCA on AIxAccountancy reflects this approach by equipping accounting and corporate finance professionals not just with AI skills, but also with the ability to apply them meaningfully and responsibly in their day-to-day work. We look forward to seeing more professionals harness AI with confidence and purpose, becoming not only fluent, but truly AI bilingual in their field.”

9. Mrs Chia-Tern Huey Min, Chief Executive Officer of Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, said: “ISCA’s AI Fluency Programme, AIxAccountancy, comes at an opportune time, as AI continues to reshape industries and redefine the way we work. It complements the refreshed Skills Framework for Accountancy, which embeds AI fluency across all 44 job roles – spanning data analytics, visualisation and strategic decision-making. Through this programme, accounting and finance professionals will gain the practical AI skills they need to thrive in this rapidly evolving landscape.”

10. The launch of the AIxAccountancy underscores ISCA and IMDA’s commitment to help the accountancy profession navigate the AI era. By equipping professionals with accessible learning, practical AI experimentation and community collaboration, ISCA aims to accelerate AI adoption across the profession while ensuring professional judgement, ethics and trust remain at the core of professional accountants in an increasingly AI-driven business environment.


[1] The AI Fluency Programme ambitions announced by ISCA on 12 November 2025: https://isca.org.sg/content-item?id=372ef303-e135-4a4a-94e0-e1e157b9aed4.

[2] NAIIP announcement at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information’s (MDDI) Committee of Supply (COS) 2026: https://www.imda.gov.sg/resources/press-releases-factsheets-and-speeches/national-ai-impact-programme.

[3] These include professionals from accounting and professional services firms, corporates, individuals who registered their interest through the AIxAccountancy sign-up form, and other industry professionals, as well as tertiary students.

Hashtag: #ISCA #CharteredAccountants #AIxAccountancy #AIFluency #AIBilingualism #DifferenceMakers #Accounting #Accountancy

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA)

The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) is the national accountancy body of Singapore. Established in 1963, ISCA administers the Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification programme and is the designated entity by the Singapore Ministry of Finance to confer the Chartered Accountant of Singapore [CA (Singapore)] designation.

ISCA supports over 45,000 members across industries in Singapore and globally, with members in more than 40 countries. With a growing international presence, ISCA has 12 overseas chapters, 7 offices across 10 countries and a network of over 150 strategic partners, strengthening professional connections and opportunities across borders. ISCA is also a member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, a global network representing more than 1.8 million Chartered Accountants and students across over 190 countries.
ISCA advances professional development and lifelong learning through ISCA Academy, its training arm and drives community impact through ISCA Cares, its charity arm.
For more information, visit .

Infocomm Media Development Authority

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore’s digital transformation by developing a vibrant digital economy and an inclusive digital society. As Architects of Singapore’s Digital Future, we foster growth in Infocomm Technology and Media sectors in concert with progressive regulations, harnessing frontier technologies, and developing local talent and digital infrastructure ecosystems to establish Singapore as a digital metropolis.

For more news and information, visit or follow IMDA on LinkedIn (IMDAsg), Facebook (IMDAsg) and Instagram (@imdasg).

Pudu Robotics Brings Physical AI into Everyday Life at Davos Tech Summit’s Robot City

Deployed across retail, hospitality and public spaces, Pudu Robotics demonstrates how commercial service robots are already creating value in real-world environments.

DAVOS, Switzerland, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Pudu Robotics, a global leader in commercial service robotics, is showcasing how autonomous robots create real operational value at Davos Tech Summit 2026, one of Europe’s premier events exploring the future of Physical AI.

Held under the theme “Touching Intelligence,” this year’s summit focuses on how embodied intelligence is moving beyond technological breakthroughs into real-world deployment. As part of the event’s Robot City initiative, robots are deployed across everyday commercial environments throughout Davos, giving industry leaders, customers, and the public the opportunity to observe autonomous systems performing practical tasks in live operating environments.

As one of the featured robotics companies participating in Robot City, Pudu Robotics has deployed four robots across three operational locations in Davos, demonstrating how embodied intelligence is already delivering measurable value in everyday business scenarios.

Four Robots Across Three Real-World Scenarios

Throughout the Robot City program, visitors can follow guided tours to observe Pudu robots performing daily tasks across retail, hospitality, and public infrastructure.

  • Retail Cleaning at SPAR Supermarket

At a SPAR supermarket, PUDU CC1 Pro carried out autonomous floor cleaning during normal business operations. Navigating customer traffic, shelving layouts and changing aisle conditions, the robot combined vision, LiDAR and AI perception to plan routes dynamically while continuously evaluating cleaning results. Equipped with a rear AI camera, CC1 Pro can detect residual stains after cleaning and automatically perform targeted re-cleaning, allowing it to verify task completion rather than simply execute a predefined route.

  • Hotel Services at Hilton

At Hilton Davos, FlashBot Max and BellaBot Pro work together to support both back-of-house delivery and guest-facing services. FlashBot Max autonomously delivered supplies between floors by integrating with the building’s elevator system, while BellaBot Pro welcomed guests and delivered food and beverages through autonomous navigation and multimodal interaction. Hotel service requires robots to coordinate multiple interconnected processes—from order pickup and elevator access to guest interaction—while adapting to unexpected changes throughout the workflow.

  • Public Space Cleaning at Davos Train Station Plaza

At the Davos train station plaza, PUDU MT1 Max demonstrated autonomous cleaning in outdoor and semi-outdoor public spaces. Leveraging 3D perception, LiDAR and multi-sensor fusion, the robot safely navigated crowded environments while adapting to moving pedestrians and changing surroundings. Its IP54 protection rating and active rain avoidance further enhanced operational reliability in outdoor conditions.

Pudu Robotics' robots at Davos Tech Summit
Pudu Robotics’ robots at Davos Tech Summit

Although each robot addressed different operational needs, together they demonstrated a common capability: embodied AI that can perceive, understand, adapt and complete real-world tasks autonomously.

The Technology Behind the Scale: One Brain, Multiple Embodiments

Delivering reliable robotic operations across multiple industries and city-scale environments requires more than advanced hardware—it depends on years of real-world deployment experience and an AI architecture designed for scalability.

Rather than developing isolated intelligence stacks for individual product lines, Pudu has built a unified embodied AI architecture centered on its proprietary PuduFM foundation model and PuduAgent general-purpose agent platform. This shared intelligence enables robots with different categories—including service delivery, commercial cleaning, industrial delivery, and general embodied AI—to share a common cognitive framework for environmental perception, task execution, and multi-agent collaboration.

The architecture significantly reduces deployment complexity, improves fleet coordination and accelerates localization across international markets, providing customers with scalable automation solutions rather than standalone robotic devices.

Real-World Deployment Accelerates Embodied AI

This technology strategy has supported Pudu’s rapid global expansion. As of 2026, the company has delivered more than 130,000 robots worldwide, serving customers across 85 countries and regions, with overseas markets contributing more than 80% of total revenue.

These long-term deployments expose robots to diverse real-world challenges—from changing pedestrian flows and temporary obstacles to varying building infrastructures, weather conditions and local operational requirements. After compliant data collection, evaluation and model optimization, these experiences become reusable capabilities that can be deployed across additional products and customer scenarios.

This continuous feedback loop is already translating into commercial scale. In June 2026, Pudu Robotics and regional partner Robobee announced a partnership with Swiss retailer Denner to deploy 200 PUDU CC1 cleaning robots across its store network, helping improve operational efficiency through human-robot collaboration. Together with Robot City, these deployments demonstrate how embodied AI is being validated through both commercial operations and public urban environments.

From Demonstrations to Real-World Deployment

At Robot City, Pudu Robotics demonstrated that the future of embodied AI is not defined by isolated demonstrations, but by reliable deployment in real-world environments. With a shared intelligence foundation powering multiple robot forms, the company continues to bring embodied AI into everyday operations across industries worldwide.

About Pudu Robotics

Pudu Robotics, a global leader in the commercial service robotics sector, is dedicated to empowering easier work and better lives through AI and robotics, with a vision of building a global intelligent robotics infrastructure that serves 10 billion people worldwide.

Pudu Robotics has developed key core technologies and components, including robotic joint modules and motion controllers, and has filed more than 1,800 patent applications worldwide. Built on three core technologies—Embodied Navigation, Embodied Manipulation, and Embodied Interaction—Pudu Robotics has pioneered an “One Brain, Multiple Embodiments” architecture, establishing a comprehensive product portfolio that includes specialized, semi-humanoid, and humanoid robots.

Currently, Pudu offers four major product lines: service delivery, commercial cleaning, industrial delivery and general embodied AI. Its solutions are widely deployed across industries such as retail, hospitality, manufacturing, real estate and property services, healthcare, entertainment and sport, education, and public services.

To date, Pudu Robotics has shipped over 130,000 units globally, with a presence in more than 85 countries and regions.

 

Hong Kong Unveils Large-Scale Toy Story 5-Themed Carnival “FOREVER TOYS @ Harbour City”

HONG KONG, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Harbour City, Hong Kong’s most iconic shopping mall and tourist destination, has been transformed into a grand Toy Story 5 celebration with “FOREVER TOYS @Harbour City”. Since its launch on 19 June 2026, the event has brought together immersive installations, interactive gaming experiences, exclusive exhibitions and limited-edition retail concepts — creating one of the city’s most comprehensive Toy Story experiences to date.

Hong Kong Disneyland has presented vibrant “Pixar Summer Rally”-themed installations and brought a burst of summer energy to the Victoria Harbour!
Hong Kong Disneyland has presented vibrant “Pixar Summer Rally”-themed installations and brought a burst of summer energy to the Victoria Harbour!

Various themed experience zones, including the “Toy Meets Tech” Playroom, Hong Kong’s only official “The Forever Toy House” Toy Story 5–themed Pop-Up Store, and city’s exclusive “Buzz Lightyear” Project Car Landing, have successfully attracted large crowds of fans eager to explore, take photos, and immerse themselves in the excitement. From 1 July, the second wave of “FOREVER TOYS @ Harbour City” has rolled out an upgraded and dynamic line-up of highlights. Exclusive stamp rally activities and limited-edition merchandise collections have debuted, alongside an impressive 4.5-metre-tall “Buzz Lightyear! To Infinity and Beyond!” installation, themed around Hong Kong Disneyland’s “Pixar Summer Rally”. Additionally, “The Art of Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5” exhibition has officially opened, offering fans an immersive artistic journey into the world of the film.

Located along the world-renowned Victoria Harbour, the “Toy Meets Tech” Playroom at the Ocean Terminal Forecourt offers an immersive interactive experience. Upon entering, guests are greeted by giant sculptures of Woody, Jessie and Bullseye—each standing over two metres tall — posed in eye-catching scenes ideal for photos. Visitors then pass through a whimsical tunnel inspired by the Lilypad tablet from the movie, featuring twin LED screens designed as blinking eyes for a lively effect.

Beyond the tunnel are four interactive game zones. In “JESSIE & BULLSEYE: COWGIRL IN CHARGE”, participants take on a Western-themed ring toss challenge. “FORKY & KAREN: ALWAYS CONNECTED” features a block-building challenge inspired by their dream wedding. At “BUZZ LIGHTYEAR & ALIENS: SPACE RANGERS,” guests test their skills in a ball-scoring game, while “LILYPAD & TECH TRIO: ALWAYS IN SYNC” presents an electronic memory challenge.

Fans can also explore immersive installations at Ocean Terminal Deck. The 4.5-metre-tall “Buzz Lightyear — To Infinity and Beyond!” installation stands prominently against the Victoria Harbour skyline. Striking his iconic heroic pose, Buzz gazes over the harbour as if embarking on his next space mission.

Hong Kong Disneyland has also presented vibrant “Pixar Summer Rally”-themed installations, including a splash-filled “Pixar Water Play Street Party!” parade float–inspired display, a 4-metre-tall Pixar pals–themed block castle, and a dynamic installation inspired by the beloved “RC Racer” attraction. Together, these displays create a playful summer atmosphere for visitors of all ages, extending the energy of “Pixar Summer Fest” beyond the park to Ocean Terminal Deck.

#HarbourCity #ForeverToys #Disney #Pixar #ToyStory5 #HKDisneyland @harbourcity @disney @disney.hk @pixar @hkdisneyland

Event Details: https://www.harbourcity.com.hk/en/article/forever-toys-harbour-city/

To download the press release and photoshttps://bit.ly/4g3aiNn

“FOREVER TOYS @ Harbour City” has received an overwhelmingly positive response since its grand opening on 19 June.
“FOREVER TOYS @ Harbour City” has received an overwhelmingly positive response since its grand opening on 19 June.

Fans can explore immersive installations at Ocean Terminal Deck. The 4.5-metre-tall “Buzz Lightyear — To Infinity and Beyond!” installation stands prominently against the Victoria Harbour skyline.
Fans can explore immersive installations at Ocean Terminal Deck. The 4.5-metre-tall “Buzz Lightyear — To Infinity and Beyond!” installation stands prominently against the Victoria Harbour skyline.