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America’s Cutting Edge Celebrates 10,000 Online Registrations

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America’s Cutting Edge, managed by the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, focuses on the power of every participant as it celebrates the landmark milestone

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., June 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — It all started with one.

After America’s Cutting Edge launched in December 2020, the program got its start with its first online registrant.

That was the snowball that began an avalanche towards a milestone 10,000 strong.

Not long thereafter, in-person CNC machining training began in 2021. Several other online courses have been added. And almost three dozen partners from twelve states are now a part of the ACE network.

One by one, people have turned to ACE to get the training they need to explore a machining career or upskill to advance their career path.

“Knowing these machines better will help me with my designs and help me work more directly with machinists,” said Hunter Kelley, Beehive Industries engineer in a 2023 interview.

“The in-person training was the perfect way to give hands-on experience for even a novice like me,” said Neeki Meshkat, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, biomedical engineering student in a 2022 interview. “They weren’t just machining something in front of you but letting you do it yourself. That makes a huge difference in learning something.”

Now, America’s Cutting Edge is celebrating a landmark milestone: 10,000 people from all 50 states have registered for an ACE online course.

The 10,000th person to register, Jenifer Lawrie, a FIRST Robotics mentor and coach at Webb School of Knoxville, says the content will help her elevate her skillset and expand her students’ boundaries.

“As a high school science teacher and a FIRST Robotics competition coach, I push my students to develop new technical and machining skills,” she said.

“Registering for ACE courses online allows me to work through course content with my students, offering encouragement for them as they develop knowledge for career and college engineering, and as they go on to complete in-person training. This opportunity helps me to become a better mentor for my high school students, as I build my understanding of machining and mechanical design.”

For the past three and a half years, most registrants have picked the flagship CNC machining course; nearly 8,000 individuals have taken that step to improve their resume.

While many have gained the training they needed through the classic Fusion 360 pathway, some have elected the recently-debuted Mastercam pathway as their preferred training software.

Metrology has been a popular second choice, with over 1,200 people taking the two-hour course. Soon, it will have its own bootcamp after a handful of participants took part in the first in-person training in April.

“There is value to this content and how it links to industry needs,” said metrology bootcamp participant Andy Polnicki with Pellissippi State Community College.

Hundreds more have either elected to learn more about composites or cybersecurity.

For ACE curriculum developer Dr. Tony Schmitz, it’s a thrilling accomplishment to see so many lives touched in such a short time.

“During the pandemic, I sat at my kitchen counter for hours on end preparing a CNC machining curriculum that I hoped would be beneficial to the manufacturing community,” said Schmitz. “That content became the first offering of the ACE program. I could not have imagined the impact we’ve had so far and am grateful for those who have joined the online and in-person training. I look forward to the next 10,000 participants!”

The makeup of the first 10,000 – as well as the next 10,000 and beyond – is focused on every single person. It’s not just numbers – it’s lives being shaped.

“Every participant matters, and ACE is for everyone,” said Joannie Harmon, IACMI vice president of workforce development. “Each person that goes through ACE training unlocks the potential to create massive change for their life while helping to increase domestic machining.”

Case in point: Mama Salla, an ACE alumna who had no prior experience before starting the program.

Yet, through her tenacity and drive to achieve, she landed an internship with MSC Industrial Supply Co. after ACE training.

The impact she made became national after working on a toolkit new ACE partners can take advantage of – a one-stop-shop for all the components needed for ACE bootcamps.

“The toolkit contains a variety of tools necessary for machining and assembling components to build the ACE air engine,” said Michael Gomez, principal research and development engineer for MSC. “Thanks to Mama’s efforts, the toolkit is a cost-effective option that will ensure machining and assembly of the air engine components during the ACE training program is more efficient.”

Stories like Salla’s, Lawrie’s, Meshkat’s and Kelley’s are what make America’s Cutting Edge what it is.

Each one of them has been transformed by the training they received – and each one transforms the world around them by their story.

Will you be the next one?

Get started by registering for an America’s Cutting Edge course now.

About ACE

America’s Cutting Edge, supported by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, is a national computer numerical control machine training program designed to reestablish American leadership in the machine tool industry through transformative thinking, technological innovation, and workforce development. The curriculum combines advanced training tools and techniques from the University of Tennessee, the scientific expertise of the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the proven workforce development capabilities of IACMI.

www.americascuttingedge.org

ACE has expanded beyond the initial testbed of the University of Tennessee to include seven training hubs at North Carolina A&T State University, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Marshall University Advanced Manufacturing Center, University of Florida, St. Cloud State University (Minn.) and University of St. Thomas (Minn). There’s a growing network of nearly three dozen machine tool training partners in 12 states, including high schools, trade schools and community colleges.

About IACMI

IACMI – The Composites Institute is a 150-plus member community of industry, universities, national laboratories, and federal, state, and local government agencies working together to benefit the nation’s energy, manufacturing, and economic security. IACMI is managed by the Collaborative Composite Solutions Corporation (CCS), a not-for-profit organization established by The University of Tennessee Research Foundation. A Manufacturing USA institute, IACMI is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Materials Manufacturing Technologies Office, as well as key state and industry partners.

www.iacmi.org

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SOURCE IACMI – The Composites Institute

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PAVS Announces Pricing of a $10 Million Registered Direct Offering of Class A Ordinary Shares and Pre-Funded Warrants

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NEW YORK, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — PAVS (NASDAQ:PAVS) (the “Company”), a consumer products and digital commerce solutions company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with certain institutional investors for a registered direct offering of an aggregate of 50,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (or pre-funded warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares in lieu thereof) at a purchase price of $0.20 per share. The gross proceeds to the Company from the offering are expected to be approximately $10 million, before deducting offering expenses.

The offering is expected to close on or about June 16, 2026, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for evaluating and pursuing strategic acquisition opportunities in the consumer products, wellness, fitness, lifestyle, and digital commerce sectors, and working capital and general corporate purposes.

A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners is acting as the exclusive financial advisor to the Company.

The Class A ordinary shares (or pre-funded warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares in lieu thereof) are being offered and sold pursuant to a prospectus supplement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in connection with a takedown from the Company’s shelf registration statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-291788), which was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on December 3, 2025. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus which are a part of the effective registration statement. A prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the registered direct offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additionally, when available, electronic copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained from A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners, 590 Madison Avenue, 28th Floor, New York, NY 10022, or by telephone at (212) 624-2060, or by email at prospectus@allianceg.com.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Paranovus Entertainment Technology Limited

Paranovus Entertainment Technology Ltd. (Nasdaq: PAVS) is a consumer products and digital commerce solutions company. In March 2025, the Company completed the acquisition of the controlling equity interests of Bomie Wookoo Inc., a New York company that offers e-commerce solutions. As part of its strategic transformation, Paranovus has exited its legacy businesses, including the e-commerce, internet information, and advertising businesses in September 2023 and ceased its automobile sales business in July 2024.

For more information on our latest innovations and developments, visit https://www.pavs.ai/.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. When the Company uses words such as “may,” “will,” “intend,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate” or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the following: the Company’s goals and strategies; the Company’s future business development; the Company’s future acquisition opportunities; the Company’s ability to identify any acquisition opportunities that fit with our business strategies; the Company’s ability to consummate an attractive acquisition and realize the benefits of such transaction; product and service demand and acceptance; changes in technology; economic conditions; reputation and brand; the impact of competition and pricing; government regulations; fluctuations in general economic; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing and other risks contained in reports filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

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SOURCE Paranovus Entertainment Technology Ltd

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New Cognizant Research Reveals $4.7 Trillion in Untapped AI Value Across G2000

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Organizations that pair mature technology infrastructure with a fundamentals-first AI investment strategy outperform laggards by 31% on composite outcomes—and could unlock trillions in unrealized value across the G2000

TEANECK, N.J., June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) today released new research showing that AI’s real-world results depend less on the technology itself than on the maturity of a company’s tech infrastructure and where it directs its investment. The companies getting this right are generating financial returns measurable in the billions.

The study, “Closing the AI Execution Gap: A $2 Billion Business Boost,” surveyed 1,100 senior business leaders at Global 2000 companies and 100 startups across 10 industries. Its central finding is stark: two-thirds of leaders have yet to demonstrate measurable business productivity gains from AI, and one in four have already paused or abandoned AI deployments—with an estimated average of $2 billion in unrealized cost savings and revenue opportunity.

The research identifies a clear set of behaviors that separates the top performers from the rest.

31% — The performance gap between the highest- and lowest-performing AI segments on composite outcomes.

$1B–$2B — Estimated annual returns available to a typical G2000 company that moves from the weakest to the strongest performing segment.

$4.7T — Total unrealized annual value across the G2000 when worker productivity, business productivity, revenue and cost reduction are included.

60% — How much more likely organizations with immature infrastructure and broad AI investment are to abandon a deployment versus those with the same infrastructure who invest in AI fundamentals first.

27% — Productivity advantage held by organizations with strong data foundations versus those still working to improve theirs.

“The evidence in this research could not be more direct: companies that build on a mature technology foundation and invest in AI fundamentals first are already generating billions in returns that their competitors are leaving on the table,” said Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S. “This is the AI Builder dividend and it is real, it is quantifiable, and it is widening. Two-thirds of organizations have yet to move the needle on business productivity from AI. That is not a capability gap in technology. That is an execution gap. Cognizant exists precisely to close it. We help companies do the work that unlocks AI value: strengthening compute infrastructure, building data foundations that AI can trust, and deploying the focused investment strategies that turn AI’s potential into verifiable, compounding returns.”

The research shows organizations can continue to improve their AI outcomes through building technical and data foundations, focusing investment strategies, and leveraging strong external partnerships where needed:

Organizations with focused AI investment strategies outperform their peers regardless of maturity level—even lower-maturity companies with a focused approach achieve an 11.4% composite outcome score, versus 9.7% for same-maturity peers investing broadlyCompute and data foundations are the most consequential infrastructure factors; just 19.9% of organizations rate their on-premises compute as excellent—and companies with excellent cloud compute outperform those with adequate ratings by 4.8 percentage points in worker productivity gainsData gaps are pervasive: 64.5% of organizations have at least one of five key data dimensions rated adequate or below; organizations with strong data foundations report nearly 27% higher productivity gains and are 20%+ less likely to abandon AI initiativesInfrastructure quality has a compounding effect on outcomes—organizations with all 10 infrastructure dimensions rated good or excellent achieve 15.6% average productivity gains; that drops to 14.1% with just one adequate dimension, and to 12.5% when any dimension needs improvementHigh-performing organizations are significantly more likely to work with external partners: 72–76% of focused-strategy companies engage outside expertise, compared to 54–60% of broad-investment peers

ABOUT COGNIZANT
Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) is an AI Builder and technology services provider, bridging the gap between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization’s unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, drive tangible outcomes and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at cognizant.ai or @cognizant. 

MEDIA CONTACT

Global Corporate Communications

Cognizant Technology Solutions

media@cognizant.com

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SOURCE Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation

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Responsible AI Institute Launches TrustX for Finance to Bring Verifiable Trust to Autonomous AI in Financial Services

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New Autonomous Finance Initiative will help financial institutions classify, control, and verify autonomous AI systems before production deployment.

AUSTIN, Texas and NEW YORK and LONDON, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Responsible AI Institute, the world’s largest responsible AI non-profit and an independent organization with a decade of experience advancing trusted AI governance, today announced the launch of TrustX for Finance, a sector-specific assurance initiative designed to define how autonomous AI systems are evaluated, controlled, and approved for production in financial services.

RAI Institute launches TrustX Finance Working Group. Founding members: U.S. Bank · NatWest Group

As banks and financial institutions prepare to deploy AI systems that can initiate payments, execute workflows, and act with delegated authority, traditional AI governance is no longer sufficient. These systems do not simply generate recommendations; they can take action. Institutions need a consistent way to classify their risk, define their authority, enforce operating boundaries, and generate evidence that those controls hold in practice.

Across industries, AI is moving from advisory systems to agentic systems: software that does not simply generate outputs, but can plan, decide, and execute actions across enterprise environments. This shift is accelerating risk in two areas in particular. First, organizations are increasingly deploying AI through vendors and SaaS platforms, often without clear visibility into agent behavior, authority, tool access, or system reach. Second, frontier models with advanced coding, tool-use, and agentic capabilities are increasingly able to interact with internal tools and data through legitimate integration pathways. That access expands the potential blast radius when systems are misused, compromised, or misaligned.

TrustX for Finance provides a structured path to production by classifying AI systems based on autonomy, authority, reach, and persistence; applying controls proportional to risk; and producing audit-ready evidence for internal approval, external assurance, and regulatory review.

The initiative builds on the TrustX Health program launched in the United Kingdom in December 2025 with Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, the University of Cambridge’s Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Lab, and The King’s Fund. TrustX Health established a sector-specific pathway for safely verifying, testing, and monitoring agentic AI in health and care. TrustX for Finance extends that assurance model to financial services, where autonomous systems may initiate payments, execute transactions, and operate with delegated authority.

To address the full agentic AI surface, RAI Institute is expanding TrustX across three domains: Build, for internally developed and deployed agentic systems governed through Agent Risk Classification; Buy, for third-party and SaaS-based AI systems assessed through an AI Risk Procurement Framework; and Protect, for enterprise systems exposed to agentic AI through tool access, data access, and workflow integrations. Together, these domains reflect a core TrustX principle: governance must follow what AI systems are allowed to do, not just how they are built.

The Autonomous Finance Initiative will operate as a bank-led working group and hands-on program under TrustX for Finance. At the center of the initiative is a proving ground where participating institutions can test and validate autonomous AI systems in a controlled sandbox environment before production deployment, including systems that initiate payments, execute financial transactions, manage workflows, and operate within delegated authority limits.

Within this environment, institutions can:

Classify systems into defensible risk tiers based on autonomy, decision authority, execution scope, persistence, and enterprise reachApply controls proportional to risk, aligned to regulatory expectationsValidate system behavior against enforceable policies, constraints, and approval thresholdsAssess third-party and SaaS-based agentic AI systems beyond traditional vendor questionnairesIdentify enterprise systems exposed through AI tool access, data access, and workflow integrationsGenerate audit-ready evidence required for internal approval, external assurance, and regulatory reviewDemonstrate that systems operate within approved boundaries under real-world conditions

“Financial institutions cannot approve autonomous AI for production using governance models built for static systems,” said Manoj Saxena, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Responsible AI Institute. “As AI begins to initiate payments, execute workflows, and act with delegated authority, the industry needs a shared way to classify risk, enforce boundaries, and prove systems are operating as approved. TrustX for Finance establishes that foundation.”

“As consumers and businesses begin using AI systems that can act on their behalf, financial institutions need a common assurance framework,” said Dr Samuel Assefa, Senior Vice President and Head of AI Innovation & Solutions, AI Center of Excellence at U.S. Bank. “While we have strict controls in place to govern AI, preparing for new trends and the inevitable expansion of Agentic AI use cases is critical. Classification, controls, and independent verification will be essential to deploying these systems safely and responsibly.”

“”TrustX for Finance comes at a critical moment for our industry.”, said Dr. Paul Dongha, Head of Responsible AI & AI Strategy at NatWest Group “As financial services organizations begin deploying agentic AI, we must move quickly but responsibly — assessing the risks of this powerful new technology, embedding robust controls before deployment, and proving those controls hold in production.”

Initial workstreams will focus on autonomous commerce and payments, where AI systems are already beginning to take action on behalf of users, institutions, and ecosystem partners. Participating organizations will collaborate on real-world use cases while testing systems against shared assurance criteria for risk classification, delegated authority, tool access, runtime behavior, auditability, and control effectiveness.

Central to TrustX for Finance is the TrustX Open AI Registry — an openly licensed governance core that makes working group outputs inspectable and reusable across the sector. The registry provides a shared schema, risk classification logic, agent blueprints, and policy and controls. The Public Edition will be free and openly available. Working group members receive early access to new blueprints, peer benchmarking data, and finance-specific implementations as they are developed.

For more information on TrustX for Finance and the Autonomous Finance Initiative, visit https://www.responsible.ai/trustx-finance/

About the Responsible AI Institute

The Responsible AI Institute is the world’s largest responsible AI non-profit and an independent organization with a decade of experience advancing practical governance and assurance systems for AI deployment across regulated industries. RAI Institute is vendor-neutral, standards-aligned, and supported by a global community of enterprises, researchers, policymakers, and responsible AI practitioners.

Through TrustX, RAI Institute enables organizations to define, control, and prove how AI systems operate before they impact real-world outcomes.

Media Contact:
news@responsible.ai

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SOURCE Responsible AI Institute

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