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Mina Protocol Completes Major Upgrade Bringing Enhanced ZK Programmability to Mainnet

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The upgrade establishes Mina as the first zero knowledge (ZK) blockchain with native ZK programmability, enabling developers to build with a powerful framework for leveraging ZK features for scalability, privacy, and verification in their applications

GENEVA, June 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Mina Protocol, the zero knowledge (ZK) blockchain for proving anything, has completed a major network upgrade process bringing enhanced ZK programmability to its mainnet. The upgrade enables zkApps to be built and deployed on the Mina mainnet, setting the stage for the development of new zero knowledge-powered use cases and equipping builders with a powerful and easy-to-use ZK developer toolkit.

In development since 2021, the long-anticipated upgrade moves smart contract execution off-chain, and leaves verification on-chain, solving many of the most common blockchain infrastructure challenges, such as data constraints, scalability issues, and high gas costs. This paradigm shift makes it easier for developers to build with zero knowledge and create zkApps, granting new levels of control and ownership for users over their data.

zkApps can enable and scale new use cases for voting, healthcare, digital identity, gaming, and much more. Examples of projects already building in the Mina ecosystem include PunkPoll, a censorship-resistant survey and voting platform, bioSNARKs, a stack for biotech data, Hakata, a solution offering “compliant privacy” for Web2 and Web3 companies, and Paima Studios, an engine for on-chain gaming. Unlike many other dApp platforms that use new programming languages, zkApps use o1js, a TypeScript-based library already understood by a wide pool of TypeScript developers who are now empowered to build with ZK.

Kurt Hemecker, CEO of Mina Foundation, an organization serving the Mina Protocol and its ecosystem, said, “This upgrade not only marks a major milestone for the Mina community but is a significant breakthrough for the industry as a whole. The killer use cases for blockchain – DeFi, on-chain gaming, digital identity, blockchain interoperability, voting, secure supply chains, and compliance – all require zero knowledge proofs as a foundation to innovate and scale. Unlocking ZK programmability will give developers the building blocks to plug and play with ZK. By enabling the creation of more powerful applications built on top of Mina’s optimized proof layer, this upgrade pushes us closer to a truly verifiable, trustless internet.”

Designed to be the most succinct blockchain that gets more decentralized as it scales, Mina’s entire state history is represented by a recursive zero knowledge proof (ZKP), making it accessible and verifiable by anyone from any device. This single ‘proof of everything’ acts as an open database of true statements, where developers have access to all previous computation to extend or reuse, setting a strong foundation for tomorrow’s innovators to build the ‘Internet of (True) Things.’

Brandon Kase, CEO of o1Labs, the software development company that incubated Mina Protocol, elaborated, “The real magic happens when you look beyond just privacy or scalability. Attesting to individual statements of facts is useful within specific applications, but the true potential of Mina will be realized by those who harness the power of massive collaborative computation. Mina is on the precipice of opening up a vast new design space, and today, we take another step forward together with the community. This upgrade would not have been possible without the active participation of 400+ node operators, who played a key role in ensuring the smooth transition of the network, and hundreds of developers in the community who have been experimenting and sharing valuable feedback with early versions of o1js and other Mina platform tooling.” 

For developers seeking more information about this upgrade, please visit https://minaprotocol.com/.

About Mina Protocol

Mina Protocol is a next-gen zero knowledge (ZK) blockchain for proving anything. Rather than apply brute computing force, Mina uses advanced cryptography and recursive zk-SNARKs to design an entire blockchain that is fixed at 22KB, the size of a couple tweets. Lightweight and accessible, Mina enables efficient implementation and easy programmability of zero knowledge applications (zkApps). With Mina’s enhanced privacy features and off-chain execution model, developers can build novel applications that bridge the real world and crypto— bringing us closer to the secure, democratic future we all deserve.

About Mina Foundation

Mina Foundation aims to advance the goal of creating a secure web3 with zero knowledge proofs powered by Mina Protocol — ushering in a new era of private and scalable applications — by issuing grants, fostering community growth, and championing Mina Protocol in the wider world. Mina Foundation is domiciled in Geneva, Switzerland.

About o1Labs

o1Labs is a blockchain technology company building tooling and software that leverages zero knowledge cryptography. Their global team of engineers successfully incubated the Mina Protocol, the first succinct ZK blockchain, as well as o1js, the simple yet powerful framework for zk-based applications. Learn more: o1labs.org.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mina-protocol-completes-major-upgrade-bringing-enhanced-zk-programmability-to-mainnet-302166963.html

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Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

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Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

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Air Products to Expand Industrial Gas Supply for Samsung Electronics’ Next-Generation Semiconductor Fab in South Korea

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New investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to Korea and its leading role in the global semiconductor industry 

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Air Products (NYSE:APD), a world-leading industrial gases company and serving Samsung globally, today announced it has been selected by Samsung to supply industrial gases for its new advanced semiconductor fab in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

Under the agreement, Air Products will build, own and operate multiple state-of-the-art production facilities and a bulk specialty gas supply system to supply nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and hydrogen for Samsung’s new semiconductor fab. The new facilities are expected to come onstream in multiple phases from 2028 through 2030.

Air Products has a long track record of executing multiple phase expansions in Pyeongtaek to support Samsung’s growing manufacturing needs. This latest project represents Air Products’ largest investment to date in the semiconductor industry and will establish Pyeongtaek as the company’s single largest operations site globally supporting the electronics industry. 

“Air Products is honored to be selected once again by Samsung and to have their continued confidence as a trusted partner supporting their strategic growth plans,” said SR Kim, President, Air Products Korea. “This significant investment reinforces Air Products’ role as a leading global supplier to the semiconductor industry and underscores our long-standing commitment to supporting our strategic customers with safety, reliability, efficiency and excellent service.”

Air Products has served the global electronics industry for more than 40 years, supplying industrial gases safely and reliably to many of the world’s leading technology companies. The company has operated in Korea for more than 50 years and has established a strong position in electronics and manufacturing sectors.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE: APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 85 years focused on serving energy, environmental, and emerging markets and generating a cleaner future. The Company supplies essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, medical and food. As the leading global supplier of hydrogen, Air Products also develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest clean hydrogen projects, supporting the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy in the industrial and heavy-duty transportation sectors. Through its sale of equipment businesses, the Company also provides turbomachinery, membrane systems and cryogenic containers globally.

Air Products had fiscal 2025 sales of $12 billion from operations in approximately 50 countries. For more information, visit airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedInXFacebook or Instagram.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. While forward-looking statements are made in good faith and based on assumptions, expectations and projections that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors, including the risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025 and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-products-to-expand-industrial-gas-supply-for-samsung-electronics-next-generation-semiconductor-fab-in-south-korea-302757497.html

SOURCE Air Products

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