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The World’s Most Bionic and Intelligent Panda Cub Robot Spotlight at CES 2025: To Deliver Psychological Support and Robot-Assisted Therapy

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LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Chinese Startup Unveils The Most Advanced Biomimetic Affective AI Pandas 

Imagine a world filled with panda cubs, where you can choose one as your own perfect pet. They tend to you anytime you want, and listen to you all the time. They not only understand what you are saying, but also response to you in a way based on the personality traits you want them to be. The more you hug, cuddle, or stroke them, the happier they become, growing more attached to you even during moments of loneliness or sadness. While owning a real panda cub may be out of reach, a Chinese company is making this dream a reality through advanced robotics.

At CES 2025, a Shenzhen-based company Mind with Heart Robotics Co., Ltd. (known as Wuxin) unveiled its latest product:

AnAn, an adorable bionic panda cub. AnAn reacts to a user’s touch with unique sounds based on where it’s petted, owing to its whole set of realistic and soft fur covering more than 10 tactile sensing suites. Designed with an intelligent “AI Brain”, AnAn is an ideal companion for users. This panda cub equips with core & long-term memory and reminder functions, making it a “personal assistant” for seniors. AnAn also comes with its dedicated app, allowing users to personalize their panda’s name, voice, and personality while sharing stories and experiences with a global community of “panda owners.”

Apart from its cute and attractive appearance, AnAn holds significant potential in healthcare, such as providing companionship for elderly patients with cognitive decline, helping reduce care costs, and improving their independence and quality of life. In addition, the AI panda serves as an engaging and educational companion, fostering emotional growth and improving social skills in children. It also provides stress relief for professionals and young individuals facing loneliness, offering the perfect solution for those who wish to own a pet but lack the time to care for one.

With its blend of advanced AI technology and heartwarming design, AnAn is set to redefine the future of companionship, offering users a unique and emotionally enriching experience.

The Business of Battling Loneliness: A Promising Market for AI-powered Plush Toys

As aging populations and mental health issues become more severe, the demand for loneliness reduction and psychological support has reached unprecedented levels. Groups such as the elderly living alone, single individuals, and socially anxious individuals, seek understanding and empathy. Special groups, such as patients with depression, cognitive disorders, or autism, also have strong needs for psychological support. “In China, over 100 million people fall into these demographics, and globally, the number shall be tragically multiplied by five,” said Dr. Zhang Jiaming, founder and CEO of Wuxin. “We firmly believe that biomimetic AI pets with affective intelligence become indispensable friends and personal assistants for mankind worldwide. And AnAn can be an ideal robot to deliver psychological support and robot-assisted therapy to global customers.”

Unlike human interactions, robots eliminate concerns about social stigma, embarrassment, or prejudice, providing stress-free conversations. They are also increasingly utilized in therapeutic contexts for psychological and cognitive challenges.

Many Chinese manufacturers have also launched AI-powered plush toys, with some companies reporting shipments of 20,000 to 30,000 units. These products primarily target young people and elderly people seeking to alleviate loneliness by owning an AI-powered pet.

According to market research firm Contrive Datum Insights, the global AI toys market is projected to reach $35.11 billion by 2030.

However, Dr. Zhang believes current products fall short of expectations. “Most AI pets on the market are overpriced, often exceeding $1,000, with limited realism and intelligence in interactions. Our products will deliver ‘Three Highs’, i.e., high cost-effectiveness, high bionic fidelity, and high affective intelligence, to attract and benefit more customers,” said Dr. Zhang. Wuxin has partnered with world-leading manufacturers, brand channels, and psychological and healthcare experts to overcome key challenges in bionic craftsmanship, cost, and production capacity, to set new industry standards.

Ambitious Plans for 2025 Mass Production

Industrial robots are no longer enough to satisfy the ambitions of Chinese companies. Robots with enhanced lifelike qualities, better communication, and interactive capabilities—especially those designed for home environments and elder care—are emerging as a new development trend. In the future, service and personal robots are expected to be widely adopted in areas such as customer service, hospitality, entertainment, healthcare, and elder care.

A complete supply chain system and supporting government incentive policies provide convenience for Chinese companies. Located in the innovation hub of China’s Greater Bay Area, Wuxin benefits from a robust industrial ecosystem in cities such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Zhongshan. Government support is also abundant; for example, Shenzhen’s 2022 initiative to develop intelligent robotics clusters included subsidies of up to 3 million RMB (~$410,000).

Dr. Zhang, who earned his Ph.D.at the University of Sheffield under globally renowned AI & robotics experts Prof. Noel Sharkey and Dr. Amanda Sharkey, has over a decade of experience in robotics, AI, affective computing, and human-robot interaction. He has led or participated in the development of more than 20 different forms of interactive robots. From 2015 to 2019, he and his team developed the world’s first biomimetic panda robot. This robot was used in a preliminary study on the feasibility of a panda robot with 20 dementia patients at a day care center (JCCPA in Hong Kong), and it garnered significant media attention in Mainland China. Currently Wuxin has assembled a team of top-tier talent from universities such as the University of Nottingham, CUHK and Peking University, and has filed over 30 patents.

“Our philosophy is rooted in our belief in 3S- ‘Simulation-Stimulus-Social Creatures,’ meaning creating social beings through interactive stimuli based on bionics. As a result, all our products could be labeled as highly biomimetic and emotionally intelligent,” said Dr. Zhang. The Wuxin product line also includes other forms, and all products will be launched in 2025.

As technology advances and demand grows, Biomimetic AI Pets with Affective Intelligence are poised to become a ubiquitous part of daily life, transforming from cinematic fantasies into reality. Ambitious Chinese companies like Wuxin are making quiet yet significant strides toward this future.

About Wuxin

Mind with Heart Robotics Co., Ltd.

Address: 1601A, 8th Building, Qianhai Excellence Financial Center (Phase I), No. 5033 Menghai Avenue, Nanshan Street, Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.

Media Contact

CEO Dr. Zhang: 0086-13530502919

Email: zhangjiaming@wxbionics.com 

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SOURCE Mind With Heart Robotics

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11:11 Systems Announces Strategic Partnership with Cato Networks to Deliver SASE Solution for Distributed Enterprises

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New Managed Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution combines SD-WAN, cloud-native networking and security capabilities with 11:11’s connectivity, cyber resilience and cloud expertise

SYDNEY, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — 11:11 Systems, a leading managed infrastructure solutions provider, today announced the global availability of its 11:11 Managed Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution and a new strategic partnership with Cato Networks.

11:11 Managed SASE is a fully managed secure connectivity solution leveraging Cato Networks AI-native network security platform. This solution brings together intelligent SD-WAN, cloud-delivered security and global connectivity into a single offering. It enables organisations to simplify and secure access across branch offices, data centres, users and cloud environments, reducing complexity without sacrificing performance or control.

Built on the Cato Networks cloud-native SASE platform, 11:11 Managed SASE combines zero trust network access (ZTNA), firewall as a service (FWaaS), secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB), advanced threat protection and centralised visibility into a unified managed experience. 11:11 also delivers 24x7x365 monitoring and support, incident management integration and operational accountability to help customers limit vendor sprawl, increase agility and free internal teams to focus on higher-value priorities.

The offering is backed by 11:11’s broader networking, cloud and cyber resilience capabilities. Through its global backbone, carrier-agnostic connectivity options and integrated portfolio spanning cloud, backup, disaster recovery and security services, 11:11 gives customers a practical path to modernise network and security architecture while strengthening resilience across the business.

“Enterprises are under pressure to support users, applications and locations that are more distributed than ever, while limiting complexity and improving security,” said Justin Giardina, CTO, 11:11 Systems. “Our Managed SASE solution provides customers with a unified approach to modernising networking and security, along with the visibility, support and flexibility they need to thrive in a rapidly changing environment.”

According to Karl Soderlund, global channel chief, Cato Networks, “As enterprises move beyond fragmented legacy networking and security stacks, they need a simpler way to gain visibility, context and control across hybrid work environments and reduce the operational burden on IT. Through our partnership, we can address these challenges head on and deliver end-to-end visibility and protection in a single service built for the reality of modern work.”

The joint offering is well suited for distributed enterprises, multi-site organisations, hybrid workforce initiatives, SD-WAN refreshes, security modernisation efforts and businesses with limited IT resources. 11:11 meets customers where they are by supporting existing environments, simplifying multi-vendor operations and serving as a single provider accountable for network, security, cloud and data integration.

This partnership expands 11:11’s Network as a Service portfolio and follows Forrester’s inclusion of 11:11 Systems in its report, “The Secure Access Service Edge Services Landscape, Q1 2026.”

About 11:11 Systems

11:11 Systems is a managed infrastructure solutions provider that empowers customers to modernise, protect and manage mission-critical applications and data, leveraging 11:11’s resilient cloud platform. Learn more at www.1111Systems.com and follow 11:11 on LinkedIn.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/1111-systems-announces-strategic-partnership-with-cato-networks-to-deliver-sase-solution-for-distributed-enterprises-302830322.html

SOURCE 11:11 Systems

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Crowell & Moring Expands Financial Services Group with Former UBS Bank USA General Counsel Cristina Diaz

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NEW YORK, July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Crowell & Moring has added Cristina Diaz, former executive director and general counsel of UBS Bank USA, and most recently head of legal for UBS’s U.S. Remediation Management Office, to the firm’s Financial Services Group as senior counsel in New York. Diaz brings more than two decades of in-house counsel and law firm experience in bank regulation, compliance, and risk management.

At Crowell, Diaz will counsel banks, fintechs, and digital assets companies on a broad range of bank regulatory matters, including charters and licensing, permissible activities, capital requirements, regulatory enforcement, M&A, and corporate governance. She will also counsel clients navigating the intersection of traditional banking and emerging financial services, including digital assets companies seeking to acquire or establish national banks, and banks exploring partnerships with fintechs and digital assets firms.

At UBS, Diaz advised on the firm’s most pressing regulatory matters, including most recently UBS Bank USA’s charter conversion from a Utah industrial bank to an OCC national bank and key compliance remediations. This work gave Diaz extensive experience navigating relationships with state and federal financial regulators. Earlier in her career, Diaz spent eight years at Davis Polk & Wardwell advising U.S. and foreign banks on bank regulatory matters, M&A, and capital markets transactions.

“Cristina is a highly experienced, solution-oriented attorney who brings deep knowledge in the bank regulatory space. She will be an enormous asset to the firm’s growing regulatory and transactional offerings to banks, digital assets businesses, and fintechs,” said Carlton Greene, Co-Chair of Crowell’s Financial Services Group.

“I am delighted to join Crowell & Moring and integrate my bank regulatory experience with the firm’s nationally-recognized digital assets practice. As traditional banking and emerging financial technologies continue to evolve, clients need actionable and sophisticated legal counsel. Crowell offers the collaborative platform to help institutions successfully execute their growth and compliance strategies,” said Diaz.

Diaz received her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was a member of the New York University Law Review, and received her B.A., summa cum laude, from New York University. She is fluent in Spanish.

About Crowell & Moring LLP
Crowell & Moring is an international law firm with operations in the United States, Europe, and MENA. Drawing on significant government, business, industry, and legal experience, the firm helps clients capitalize on opportunities and provides creative solutions to complex regulatory and policy, litigation, transactional, and intellectual property issues. The firm is consistently recognized for its commitment to pro bono service, as well as its comprehensive programs and initiatives to advance the professional and personal development of all members of the Crowell community.

Media Contact:
Email: prteam@crowell.com

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SOURCE Crowell & Moring LLP

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Quantinuum and SoftBank Corp. Publish Joint White Paper on Scaling Practical Quantum Computing Use Cases Toward the Fault-Tolerant Era

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The companies have published a joint white paper mapping commercially relevant quantum computing use cases in quantum chemistry and graph analytics to Quantinuum’s hardware roadmap.The paper provides a framework for assessing how advances in quantum hardware and algorithms, could affect when practical industrial applications become feasible.SoftBank Corp. and Quantinuum will use the roadmap to inform their exploration of future quantum AI data center services and related business models.

TOKYO and BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Quantinuum (NASDAQ: QNT) and SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”) today announced the publication of “Quantum Computing Frontiers,” a joint white paper that maps two commercially-relevant quantum computing application areas against Quantinuum’s hardware roadmap. The analysis examines how advances in quantum hardware and algorithms could affect when these applications become practical for industrial use.

The paper focuses on two representative application domains that SoftBank is actively using Quantinuum’s systems to research: quantum chemistry for new materials discovery and energy research, and topological data analysis for large-scale graph analytics, including for telecommunications fraud detection. The authors anchor their assessment of the scalability of these two application areas against Quantinuum’s published hardware roadmap, examining how projected advances in hardware capabilities and algorithms may enable the commercial readiness of future industrial applications.

Building on this use-case roadmap, the paper also examines how quantum computing, AI, and high-performance computing could be integrated into future computing infrastructure. It considers how progress across successive hardware generations could inform future quantum AI data center services and related business models, a key focus of the Quantinuum and SoftBank partnership announced last year.

“The key takeaway of this study is that organizations do not need to wait for large-scale, fault-tolerant systems to explore where quantum computing can begin creating value,” said Duncan Jones, General Manager, Applications Group at Quantinuum. “By using today’s systems to develop, benchmark and refine applications in areas such as quantum chemistry and graph analytics, enterprises can build the technical and operational readiness needed for the next era of quantum-enabled computing.”

“The question is no longer whether quantum computing may deliver value, but rather which problem classes become executable at which stage of hardware maturity,” said Ryuji Wakikawa, Senior Vice President & CTO at SoftBank Corp. “However, we believe progress in hardware must be complemented by equally strong developments in quantum algorithms and the integration of quantum systems with AI and high-performance computing.”

The white paper discusses illustrative scenarios describing how representative applications, technology maturity, and potential market opportunities may evolve over time under stated assumptions. The analysis provided in the paper is intended to provide a conceptual framework for understanding potential market evolution and does not represent financial guidance or forecasts. These analyses are intended to support discussion of future technology development and should not be interpreted as commitments regarding commercialization, infrastructure investment, products, services, or financial performance.

The full white paper is available to download on the SoftBank and Quantinuum websites.

About SoftBank Corp.

Guided by the SoftBank Group’s corporate philosophy, “Information Revolution – Happiness for everyone,” SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) operates telecommunications and IT businesses in Japan and globally. Building on its strong business foundation, SoftBank Corp. is aiming to activate the potential of AI across its businesses and drive implementation in line with its “Activate AI for Society” growth strategy. While further growing its telecom business, SoftBank is expanding its AI computing infrastructure and AI and Cloud service businesses with the aim of becoming a provider of Next-generation Social Infrastructure. To learn more, please visit https://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/

About Quantinuum

Quantinuum (NASDAQ: QNT) is a leading quantum computing company offering a full-stack platform designed to make quantum computing deployable in real-world environments. The company has commercially deployed multiple generations of quantum systems built on the well-established QCCD architecture, which it has implemented with novel designs and capabilities to achieve the industry’s highest accuracy levels based on average two-qubit gate fidelity.[1] Quantinuum has active engagements with market leaders across pharmaceuticals, material science, financial services, and government and industrial markets. The company has a global workforce of approximately 700 employees, including top scientists and researchers. Over 70% of its technology team holds PhDs or Master’s degrees. Quantinuum’s headquarters is in Broomfield, Colorado, with additional facilities across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Qatar, and Singapore.

For more information, please visit www.quantinuum.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. The words “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “future,” “will,” “seek,” “foreseeable,” the negative version of these words, or similar terms and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on certain assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. The forward-looking statements included in this release are also subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental, and technological factors affecting our operations, markets, products, services and prices. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Quantinuum to predict all such factors. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as required by law, Quantinuum does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

[1] As of December 31, 2025.

SOURCE Quantinuum

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