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POLLSTAR UNVEILS REFRESHED BRAND, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION & ENHANCED DATA CAPABILITIES STRENGTHENING POSITION AS THE LEADING VOICE IN LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

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World’s Premiere Concert Platform To Rollout New Brand, New Website, Premium Digital Edition
& Greater Data Proficiencies

VenuesNow To Merge Under The Pollstar Brand

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Pollstar, the trusted voice and leading resource for the live entertainment industry, is proud to announce a bold new chapter in its storied history. The new Pollstar will feature a refreshed brand reinvention, digital platform and data resources, while remaining the premier publication for the global live industry.

Pollstar, the world’s premiere concert platform, to rollout new brand and website, premium digital edition, and more.

As part of this transformation, and aligning with its sustainability commitment, beginning mid-February 2025 Pollstar will shift to a monthly print schedule and introduce a new weekly digital edition exclusively for subscribers to deliver timely reporting and personalized features. These leading-edge services will include predictive analytics and query-based global insights derived from Pollstar’s industry-leading database spanning the last 43 years of live entertainment. Rounding out the new offerings is a redesigned and streamlined website that will deliver faster access to breaking news, data, and analytics while also creating a seamless user journey for subscribers and casual visitors alike. These updates reflect Pollstar’s unwavering commitment to delivering unparalleled insights, analysis, and industry-leading reporting.

“Pollstar has been the most trusted resource for the live entertainment industry for decades, and this evolution marks an exciting new chapter,” said Andy Gensler, Editor-in-Chief, Pollstar. “Digital adoption has soared over the past decade fundamentally changing the way our subscribers and the larger consumer market engage with our content and data. With this new digital overhaul, we’re adapting to these shifts by leaning heavily into digital technology, data-driven personalization and a new enhanced website. These new features will allow us to deliver first-class editorial, reporting, and experiences that meet the needs of today’s industry professionals and live entertainment enthusiasts ensuring that Pollstar remains the Voice of Live for decades to come.”

As part of this transition, VenuesNow will merge into Pollstar, further strengthening Pollstar’s editorial excellence and expanding the VenuesNow brand reach through cutting-edge digital platforms. Pollstar subscribers will now enjoy VenuesNow content enabling readers to stay current on the ever-evolving venue side of the live industry ecosystem as venues continue to look to ways to enhance the artist and fan experience. Pollstar is upgrading its leading-edge live industry data with more streamlined reporting, integration of AI and in-depth industry analysis that will also include greater global market coverage. Additionally, Pollstar will remain committed to publish its special issues, including Impact 50, Women of Live, VN All-Stars and NextGen, as well as our industry-leading directories. 

Pollstar will continue to host its highly anticipated annual panels and conferences, which have long been a cornerstone of thought leadership and innovation in the live entertainment industry, including the upcoming Production Live!, Pollstar Live!, and VenuesNow Conference. As part of the rebrand, these events will be enhanced to deliver even greater value, including expanded opportunities for networking and collaboration, with upgraded programming and experiences. These enhancements reinforce Pollstar’s commitment to being the trusted industry leader and innovator in creating spaces where live professionals can come together to share insights, address challenges and shape the future of live entertainment.

Pollstar’s rebrand recognizes the rapidly evolving motivations and expectations of its subscribers and the increasing interest of live event enthusiasts to continue delivering exceptional reporting and multidimensional data insights. Pollstar remains committed to its pillars of data and innovation, leveraging enhanced capabilities to foster deeper connections with its audiences and stronger industry partnerships. These efforts will ensure Pollstar remains the go-to source for live entertainment while expanding its reach through digital channels and ensure it continues to lead the conversation in live entertainment for years to come.

For more information visit pollstar.com.

About Oak View Group
Oak View Group (OVG) is the global leader in live experience venue development, management, premium hospitality services, and 360-degree solutions for a collection of world-class-owned venues and a client roster of arenas, stadiums, convention centers, music festivals, performing arts centers, and cultural institutions. Founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015, OVG is the leading developer of major new venues either open or under development across four continents. Visit OakViewGroup.com, and follow OVG on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

Pollstar Live!, the world’s premier gathering of live entertainment professionals, returns to the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on February 18-20, 2025. With over 30 years of history, this three-day event offers compelling discussions led by industry visionaries, beginning with Production Live! a full day dedicated to those “in the trenches” in live events. Starting Wednesday, Pollstar Live! takes center stage, delving into the most relevant and informative topics for live entertainment professionals. The conference will focus on artist development, data, research, and the visionary strategies driving the global live entertainment industry to unprecedented heights. A perennial highlight of the conference, the annual Pollstar Awards celebration will commemorate the year’s top achievements. Go to Pollstar.live to register and for the latest announcements about keynote speakers, panelists, session topics, and more.

About Pollstar
Since its founding in 1981, Pollstar, “The Voice of Live,” has been the premier publication dedicated to covering the worldwide concert industry. Pollstar data is the leading resource for the touring industry encompassing box office numbers, routing, and directories and produces the world’s largest gathering of live music industry professionals – Pollstar Live! and VenuesNow Conference. Follow Pollstar on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn

Media Contacts:
Scoop Marketing for Oak View Group
Erik Stein / estein@solters.com
Larry Solters / solters@solters.com
Sam Threadgill / sthreadgill@solters.com

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SOURCE Oak View Group

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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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on

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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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