• Led by AI Pioneer Yann LeCun, AMI Brings Together Top Talent from Meta and Google to Build Next-Generation “World Models”
• Advancing “Practical Intelligence” That Operates in Real-World Industrial Environments, Accelerating Transformation Across Manufacturing and Robotics
• SBVA to Serve as Strategic Bridge Between Global AI Leadership and Asia’s Industrial Ecosystem

SEOUL, South Korea, March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SBVA (CEO: JP Lee) announced today that it has committed a total of €30 million in the seed round of AMI (Advanced Machine Intelligence), a global frontier AI lab founded by Professor Yann LeCun, one of the world’s foremost pioneers in artificial intelligence.

The round includes participation from leading global institutional investors such as Greycroft Partners, Cathay Innovation, and Hiro Capital, as well as NVIDIA. In addition, prominent figures in the global technology industry, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, have also contributed capital to the round.

SBVA’s investment was made through its existing 2023 Alpha Korea Fund and Alpha Intelligence Fund, alongside its newly established Alpha AI Architecture Fund. Notably, the new fund includes prominent domestic and global corporations and institutions, including Coupang and Doosan, as limited partners (LPs), establishing a collaborative foundation to accelerate the adoption of next-generation AI architectures.

Yann LeCun, who leads AMI, was the founding director of Meta’s Facebook AI Research (FAIR) and a recipient of some of the world’s most prestigious honors in science and engineering, including the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and the ACM Turing Award. Widely recognized as a foundational figure in modern deep learning, LeCun is joined at AMI by leading researchers and engineers from Meta, Google DeepMind, and other globally renowned technology organizations. Together, they are building a global frontier AI research lab.

AMI is developing a next-generation World Model architecture centered on self-supervised learning and Joint Embedding Predictive Architectures (JEPA). Its goal is to enable AI systems to understand and reason about the world more like humans, realizing what the team describes as “practical intelligence” capable of operating in real-world environments.

SBVA will serve as a strategic partner connecting AMI with Asia’s industrial ecosystem. Through proof-of-concept (PoC) initiatives with major corporations, SBVA aims to support real-world industrial innovation. At the same time, it plans to foster technological collaboration across its portfolio companies in robotics, manufacturing, and AI, enabling Korean startups to adopt next-generation World Model architectures early and expand jointly into global markets.

“We are grateful for SBVA’s support and for its commitment to long-term scientific work,” said an AMI official. “It reflects our global vision and ambition and underscores our commitment to building deep partnerships in Korea and across Asia.”

“AMI is a leading pioneer of ‘world model’ AI designed to understand the physical world,” said JP Lee, CEO of SBVA. “As the AI paradigm shifts toward physical AI, we believe this investment represents a pivotal moment to strategically connect the industrial ecosystems of Korea and Asia with next-generation AI technologies.”

• Successfully develops SiC Planar MOSFET process platform for 450V–2300V, securing high reliability and yield competitiveness
• Accelerates SiC-based compound semiconductor foundry business by initiating 1200V SiC MOSFET development for a new customer

SEOUL, South Korea, March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SK keyfoundry, an 8-inch pure-play foundry in Korea, announced that it has recently completed the development of its SiC (Silicon Carbide) Planar MOSFET process platform, which is gaining traction in the next-generation compound power semiconductor market. The company also revealed that it has secured an order for the development of a 1200V SiC MOSFET product from a new customer, marking its full-scale entry into the SiC compound semiconductor foundry business.

The new SiC Planar MOSFET process platform introduced by SK keyfoundry supports a wide voltage range of 450V to 2300V. It has proven its exceptional performance by securing high reliability and stability data particularly in high-voltage operating environments. In addition, through overall process optimization and precise control of core processes, the company has improved its yield to over 90% and enhanced productivity. Furthermore, SK keyfoundry stated that it offers a differentiated “customized process support service” that enables fine-tuning of electrical characteristics and specifications to meet specific customer requirements.

Alongside the completion of this process platform development, SK keyfoundry has secured an order for a 1200V high-voltage product from a customer specializing in SiC design and has initiated its development. This process will be applied to the customer’s industrial equipment, playing a critical role in thermal efficiency management. Following prototype evaluation and reliability verification, the company plans to begin full-scale mass production in the first half of 2027.

The development of this SiC Planar MOSFET process platform represents the first fruit of integrating the core capabilities of both companies following SK keyfoundry’s acquisition of SK powertech, a company specializing in SiC. Securing an actual customer order following the completion of technological development demonstrates that the platform has secured the level of maturity and competitiveness for immediate commercialization, moving beyond the technical verification stage.

“The development of this SiC Planar MOSFET process platform is an achievement that demonstrates SK keyfoundry has secured independent technological leadership in the global compound semiconductor market,” said Derek D. Lee, CEO of SK keyfoundry. “Based on our differentiated processes with high yield and reliability, we will continuously expand our high-voltage power semiconductor solutions to meet the needs of domestic and global customers.”

About SK keyfoundry

Headquartered in Korea, SK keyfoundry provides specialty Analog and Mixed-Signal foundry services for semiconductor companies to serve a wide range of applications in the consumer, communications, computing, automotive and industrial industries. With a broad range of technology portfolios and process nodes, SK keyfoundry has the flexibility and capability to meet the ever-evolving needs of semiconductor companies across the globe. Please visit https://www.skkeyfoundry.com for more information.

Quantifying LLM Reliability Across Risk Scenarios for Trustworthy Enterprise AI

SINGAPORE, March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Appier today announced new research advancing the reliability of Agentic AI systems. To expand the impact of its research and development efforts, Appier’s AI research team continues to focus on frontier topics in Agentic AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), exploring forward-looking technical challenges that push the boundaries of marketing technology innovation.

In its latest paper, “Answer, Refuse, or Guess? Investigating Risk-Aware Decision Making in Language Models,” the team introduces a systematic evaluation framework to measure how language models make decisions under different risk conditions. The approach significantly improves model reliability in high-risk scenarios through a novel methodological design.

The research addresses a key challenge in deploying Agentic AI in enterprise environments: ensuring that autonomous AI decisions are trustworthy. The findings further strengthen Appier’s technological leadership in AI while contributing practical insights for the broader Agentic AI ecosystem.

As enterprises move from AI copilots toward autonomous AI agents, reliability has become a critical barrier to adoption. According to a 2025 McKinsey survey, 62% of organizations have already begun experimenting with AI agents, yet inaccuracy remains the most commonly cited risk in enterprise AI adoption.

As an AI-native Agentic AI-as-a-Service (AaaS) company, Appier continues to translate cutting-edge research into enterprise-ready methodologies and product capabilities. This study specifically addresses two major enterprise concerns: AI hallucinations and decision reliability. To tackle this challenge, the research introduces a Risk-Aware Decision-Making framework that converts LLM decisions across varying risk conditions into quantifiable metrics, providing a stronger governance foundation for enterprise AI deployment.

Turning Risk-Aware Strategies into Quantifiable Metrics
Traditional LLM evaluations focus primarily on whether an answer is correct. In enterprise environments, however, the cost of being wrong and the value of refusing to answer differ significantly. The study introduces structured risk parameters—including rewards for correct answers, penalties for incorrect responses, and costs for refusal—to simulate different risk scenarios. Under this framework, models must evaluate their capability, confidence level, and risk conditions before deciding whether to answer, refuse, or guess. Decision quality is then measured by whether the model maximizes expected reward, providing a more realistic assessment of strategic decision-making.

Key Finding: Strategic Imbalance in Existing Models
Using the Risk-Aware Decision-Making framework, the research finds that many leading LLMs display strategic imbalance across risk scenarios. In high-risk settings, models often over-guess despite potential negative consequences. In low-risk scenarios, they may become overly conservative and refuse to answer too frequently. This inconsistency limits both the autonomy and safety of AI systems in enterprise environments. The study suggests the issue is not purely knowledge-related but stems from the model’s difficulty in integrating multiple capabilities into a stable decision strategy.

Skill Decomposition Enables More Optimal Decisions
To address this challenge, the research proposes a Skill Decomposition approach, breaking decision-making into three steps:

1. Task Execution — solving the task to generate an initial answer
2. Confidence Estimation — evaluating confidence in that answer
3. Expected-Value Reasoning — reasoning about outcomes under risk conditions

This structured reasoning process enables models to determine whether answering or refusing yields the best outcome. The approach allows models to better integrate multiple capabilities and produce more rational and stable decisions in high-risk environments, offering a practical path toward more reliable enterprise AI systems.

“For Agentic AI to operate in critical enterprise workflows, the key is not only making AI smarter, but making its autonomous decisions more reliable,” said Chih-Han Yu, CEO and Co-founder of Appier. “Appier has built its products around AI and continuously invested in world-class research. By turning LLM risk awareness into a quantifiable methodology, this research strengthens the foundation for trustworthy enterprise AI and helps accelerate the real-world adoption of Agentic AI and translate it into scalable business value and ROI.”

The research findings have been further integrated into Appier’s Agentic AI-powered platforms, including Ad Cloud, Personalization Cloud, and Data Cloud, helping enterprises advance autonomous workflows in a more reliable and trustworthy way.

Looking ahead, Appier will continue leveraging its strong AI research capabilities, proprietary data assets, and deep industry expertise to advance Agentic AI innovation and support enterprises in building more efficient and trustworthy AI-driven operations.

About Appier
Appier (TSE: 4180) is an AI-native Agentic AI as a Service (AaaS) company that empowers business decision-making with cutting-edge AdTech and MarTech solutions. Founded in 2012 with the vision of “Making AI Easy by making software intelligent,” Appier endeavors to help businesses turn AI into ROI with its Ad Cloud, Personalization Cloud, and Data Cloud solutions. Now Appier has 17 offices across APAC, the US and EMEA, and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Visit www.appier.com for more company information, and visit ir.appier.com/en/ for more IR information.

For media queries, please email pr@appier.com

REIMS, France and HOLLYWOOD, Calif., March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Piper-Heidsieck, the Most Awarded Champagne House of the Century*, returns to Hollywood’s most storied night, pouring at the Oscars®, Governors Ball, and Academy Museum Gala on March 15, 2026. From 2015 to 2021, Piper-Heidsieck served as the official champagne of the Oscars®, cementing its place on cinema’s most prestigious stage — reflecting a natural alliance between craftsmanship, artistic excellence and glamour.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:
https://www.multivu.com/piper-heidsieck/9387251-en-champagne-returns-oscars-celebrating-historic-legacy-cinema

For more than two centuries, Piper-Heidsieck has been associated with the brightest personalities and the most vibrant stages, a succession of unforgettable moments worth celebrating. In 2026, Piper-Heidsieck continues this legacy by uniting cinema, art, and glamour, being the champagne served at the Oscars®, Governors Ball, and Academy Museum Gala, with its presence extending through all Academy events through 2026 & 2027. At the heart of this year’s festivities will be the House’s signature Cuvée Brut, an emblematic and vibrant expression of excellence and joy, raised in tribute to the storytellers and visionaries who define their era.

“Attending the Oscars®  is more than a moment — it is an embrace of Hollywood’s timeless glamour, where every sip of champagne on the red carpet becomes part of cinema’s golden legacy.” said Stéphane Decaux, CEO of Piper-Heidsieck.  “Since 1785, Piper-Heidsieck has been driven by a bold vision: to turn every celebration into a spark of joy, every toast into a legacy.”

A Legacy Intertwined with Cinema

Piper-Heidsieck’s relationship with the silver screen spans nearly a century. The House was the first Champagne ever to appear on film in 1933 – “Sons of the Desert” with Laurel and Hardy — establishing its place in cinematic history long before red carpets became global spectacles.

Over the decades, Piper-Heidsieck has appeared in more than 300 films and television series worldwide. From classic Hollywood to contemporary cinema, the House has remained a symbol of celebration where stories shine brightest.

Honoring a Timeless Icon

This year’s return also coincides with the 100th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s birth. The House shares a historic connection with Monroe, who famously declared, “To Piper, my favorite.” As part of this celebration, Piper-Heidsieck will honor Monroe through a series of global tributes.

From the Oscars® to the centennial year of Marilyn Monroe, Piper-Heidsieck will be at the heart of the most unforgettable moments, blending French craftsmanship with Hollywood glamour and continuing its storied relationship with cinema.

ENJOY RESPONSIBLY

Media Contact: laure.peybernes@piper-heidsieck.com  

98th Oscars Nominee Luncheon Mike Baker The Academy. ©Mike Baker_The Academy

SYDNEY, March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Running from Friday 22 May to Saturday 13 June, the 23‑day program brings together the full breadth of the city’s creative identity across Vivid Light, Vivid Music, Vivid Minds and Vivid Food. More than 80 per cent of the festival remains free, including the entire Vivid Light Walk, an unbroken 6.5‑kilometre journey featuring over 43 installations and projections created by acclaimed local and international artists.

Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper said Vivid Sydney will be bigger and better than ever before.  

“No other city in the world can host Vivid, because no other city in the world has what Sydney has to offer. Vivid Sydney 2026 will redefine how we experience our city, delivering a bigger and bolder event program that will come to life both day and night.

“With more than 80 per cent of the program free to attend, Vivid Sydney is focused on making world-leading cultural experiences accessible to everyone. Whether it’s the entire 6.5km Vivid Light Walk, free live music at Tumbalong Nights or dynamic daytime programming, this year’s festival will bring colour and creativity to the city while delivering a significant boost to local businesses.”  

Vivid Sydney 2026 marks Brett Sheehy AO’s first year as Festival Director; a creative homecoming after two decades leading major festivals and arts companies across Australia.

Vivid Sydney Festival Director Brett Sheehy AO said this year’s program represents a bold new horizon for the event.

“For 2026 we are expanding our program into new artforms including aerial performance, daytime public art, theatre and dance. These join our vast Vivid Minds, Light, Music and Food offerings to now make your Vivid Sydney one of the great comprehensive arts festivals of the world. 

“This year we invite you to go beyond your previous expectations of Vivid Sydney into a bold new festival designed to surprise, delight, challenge, entertain, and fill you with joy.

“Whether you encounter Vivid Sydney as a happy observer, an eager participant, or someone keen to engage with one of our dozens of interactive opportunities, we can promise you a festival of a lifetime,” said Mr Sheehy.

Vivid Sydney Partners

Kia returns as a Major Partner for the fifth consecutive year in 2026, with a new installation set to feature along the Vivid Sydney Light Walk. Vivid Sydney’s Supporting Partners include City of Sydney, Event Engineering, Kennards Hire, Mandylights, The P.A. People, Technical Direction Company and Transdev.

Vivid Sydney’s Program Partners include Carriageworks, Sydney Opera House and Museum of Contemporary Art. Vivid Sydney’s Location Partners include Australian Maritime Museum, Cockle Bay Wharf, Placemaking NSW, Port Authority of New South Wales, and State Library of New South Wales.

Tickets for Vivid Sydney are on sale now. For more information and for a full list of events, go to vividsydney.com

SAN FRANCISCO and HANGZHOU, China, March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As AI reshapes the digital world through cognitive and generative capabilities, a new frontier emerges: Physical AI — an intelligent system that perceives, reasons through, and acts in the physical world.

Today, Bota launches SAION AI, the first Physical AI platform for biomanufacturing.

SAION AI is not limited to in silico design. Instead, it is a full-stack Physical AI platform integrating cognition, orchestration, and closed-loop execution through end-to-end experimentation, and continuously optimizing biological discovery and biomanufacturing.

SAION AI is built on a three-layer architecture: Cognition, Orchestration, Execution.

Powered by large language models , the platform unifies scientific reasoning with real-world experimental execution. This architecture enables seamless orchestration from biological system understanding to laboratory experiments, forming a self-optimizing closed loop for biomanufacturing.

Cognition: Multi-Scale Biological Understanding

The Cognition Layer is built on data from Bota’s Cell2Cloud Biofoundry, integrating tens of millions of experimental data points, millions of scientific publications and patents, and public biological databases. Combined with leading AI4Science models, SAION AI develops multi-scale understanding across the gene–protein–cell–fermentation continuum, enabling systematic design and data-driven scientific decisions.

Orchestration: Intelligent Research Coordination

The Orchestration Layer centers on the Agent harness orchestration engine, powered by the LLM reasoning to coordinate multi-agent collaboration, tool invocation, and end-to-end scientific workflows.

The Layer decomposes complex objectives into structured tasks and integrates 316 specialized scientific tools, enabling dynamic routing and automated research workflows with fault tolerance.

Execution: Autonomous Experimental Operation

Through Bota’s proprietary Biological Protocol Language, SAION AI converts experimental designs into standardized instructions that directly drive laboratory hardware, feeding real-world data back into the Cognition Layer, enabling continuous model improvement and R&D acceleration.

Real-world Performance

SAION AI has demonstrated SOTA performance across multiple life science AI benchmarks, validating its capabilities as an AI Scientist system.

Key Results

• Literature Comprehension: 70.7% on LitQA+SuppQA — surpassing leading general-purpose models
• Sequence Reasoning: 88.2% on SeqQA across DNA, RNA and protein tasks.
• Genetic Engineering: 84.9% on gene editing and cloning benchmarks.
• Scientific Discovery: 89.6% on BAIS-SD benchmark.

Real-world validation confirms SAION AI can autonomously complete full research — from literature review to wet-lab assembly — with >90% accuracy.

Toward Autonomous Biomanufacturing

SAION AI’s launch moves biomanufacturing beyond traditional trial-and-error experimentation toward an intelligent engineering discipline, where AI and physical laboratories interact to accelerate discovery and industrial scale-up.

SAION AI DEMO

Contact us: bota.pr@bota.bio