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Momenta Leads Investment in AICA to Advance AI-Driven Industrial Automation

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LUCERNE and LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Momenta, the leading Industrial Impact® venture capital firm, has invested in AICA, a Swiss deep-tech pioneer redefining robotic automation with AI-driven force control. This funding will accelerate AICA’s global expansion and reinforce its leadership in adaptive automation.

The investment comes from Momenta’s Industry 5.0 Fund, its fourth Industrial Impact® fund, anchored by Rockwell Automation and backed by NS Solutions. Existing investors Spicehaus, HTGF, and Schaeffler also participated, reaffirming their confidence in AICA’s vision and market potential.

Solving a Key Challenge in Industrial Automation

AICA removes a critical bottleneck in robotic automation, enabling robots to handle force-sensitive tasks such as assembly, surface finishing, and deburring with unmatched precision and flexibility. By reducing programming complexity and manual intervention, AICA makes advanced automation more accessible across industries.

Bringing AI-Driven Intelligence to Robotics

AICA’s AI-powered force control technology allows robots to perform intricate tasks that were previously too complex to automate. From polishing components to high-precision EV battery disassembly, AICA is reshaping industrial processes. The company has established strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as Schaeffler and Universal Robots, demonstrating the transformative impact of its technology across multiple sectors.

Proven Performance and Real-world Impact

AICA’s force control solutions are already delivering measurable efficiency gains:

98% success rate in gearbox assembly75% reduction in downtime40% lower operational costs

These results demonstrate AICA’s ability to improve automation precision, efficiency, and scalability, addressing long-standing challenges in industrial robotics.

Advancing Sustainability Through Smarter Automation

Beyond traditional industrial applications, AICA is advancing sustainability through automation. As part of the Eurostars-backed LAMBDA Project, AICA is developing robotic systems for automated EV battery disassembly, enhancing recyclability and supporting circular economy initiatives in the EV supply chain.

Visionary Leadership Driving Innovation

AICA’s rapid growth is led by CEO and Co-Founder Baptiste Busch, PhD (Robotics & Machine Learning), and CTO and Co-Founder Enrico Eberhard, PhD (Control Systems). With deep expertise in AI-driven automation and advanced control systems, they have successfully transformed cutting-edge research into scalable industrial solutions. Their leadership has attracted major industry players, positioning AICA at the forefront of adaptive robotics.

“We are grateful to welcome Momenta, as new investors and to have the continued support of our existing backers,” said Baptiste Busch, CEO and Co-Founder of AICA. “The future of automation isn’t just about AI—it’s about making AI-powered robotics practical, adaptable, and easy to deploy. At AICA, we’re transforming cutting-edge innovation into real industrial impact®. Strong partnerships are key to accelerating this transformation.”

“Momenta invests in disruptive technologies that deliver tangible industrial benefits,” stated Miroslav Kriz, Principal Partner at Momenta. “AICA’s advanced software in autonomous adaptation and force control simplifies what has long been one of the most challenging aspects of robotic automation. We’re proud to support AICA as they help manufacturers build more capable and flexible systems across diverse hardware platforms.”

Strategic Investment to Drive Expansion and Innovation

AICA is the eighth company to receive funding from Momenta’s Industry 5.0 Fund, anchored by Rockwell Automation and supported by NS Solutions. This funding will fuel AICA’s expansion into the U.S. market and drive continued advancements in AI-driven robotic control systems.

To explore partnership opportunities or see AICA’s technology in action, visit www.aica.tech or contact contact@aica.tech.

Explore Momenta’s Industrial Innovation Portfolio: www.momenta.one

About AICA:

AICA, an EPFL spinout, is transforming industrial automation by integrating AI-driven software with real-time force control. The company simplifies robotic deployment and programming, enabling scalable and intelligent automation across industries. (www.aica.tech).

About Momenta:

Momenta is the leading Industrial Impact® venture capital firm, accelerating industrial innovators across energy, manufacturing, smart spaces, and the supply chain. For over a decade, our team of deep industry operators has helped scale industry leaders and innovators to improve critical industries, the environment, and people’s quality of life. (www.momenta.one).

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/momenta-leads-investment-in-aica-to-advance-ai-driven-industrial-automation-302404205.html

SOURCE Momenta Ventures

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Trip.com Group Sincerely Accepts Administrative Penalty Decision Issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China

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SINGAPORE, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Trip.com Group Limited (Nasdaq: TCOM; HKEX: 9961) today announced that it has received the administrative penalty decision issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China.

Trip.com Group sincerely accepts the decision and will adopt rectification measures in accordance with applicable laws and regulations to implement the decision’s requirements. The Company will strengthen its long-term governance mechanisms and strive to contribute to the sustainable development of the travel industry.

Trip.com Group’s management team will host a conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on July 27, 2026 (or 8:00 PM Hong Kong Time on July 27, 2026).

The conference call will be available on Webcast live at: http://investors.trip.com.

All participants must pre-register to join this conference call using the participant registration link below:
https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIb78e08d8f18340c4882a7e4ab961906b.

Upon registration, each participant will receive details for this conference call, including dial-in numbers and a unique access PIN. To join the conference, please dial the number provided, enter your PIN, and you will join the conference instantly.

For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Trip.com Group Limited
Email: iremail@trip.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tripcom-group-sincerely-accepts-administrative-penalty-decision-issued-by-the-state-administration-for-market-regulation-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-302834599.html

SOURCE Trip.com Group Limited

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NAVER Partners with Brookfield and NVIDIA to Expand Korea’s National AI Factory Infrastructure Buildout

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NAVER, Brookfield and NVIDIA announced an expansion of Korea’s sovereign AI factory infrastructure. New investments will increase the initial NVIDIA DSX™ AI factory deployment from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts.

Announced during Korea President Jae Myung Lee’s AI Summit visit to San Francisco, the planned 200-megawatt expansion will be built with the NVIDIA DSX platform at NAVER’s GAK Sejong hyperscale data center in Sejong, South Korea. The expanded infrastructure will provide Korea- and U.S.- based AI innovators with access to production-scale AI compute for building next-generation models, agents and AI-powered services.

Under the terms of the agreements, Brookfield will fund up to $9 billion as the exclusive capital partner, NVIDIA will invest $1 billion and NAVER will fund the remaining amount to finance the $10 billion project.

This builds on NAVER’s June announcement to extend its GAK Sejong data center with NVIDIA DSX, with a long-term path to gigawatt-scale sovereign AI infrastructure serving Korea’s enterprises, industries, government organizations and global AI cloud customers. Combining Brookfield’s capital with NVIDIA’s computing platform, the investment supports NAVER’s AI factory deployment.

“NVIDIA’s strategic investment and our infrastructure supply agreement with Brookfield have propelled NAVER’s vision for the AI Factory business into a robust execution phase,” said Haejin Lee, Founder and Chairman of NAVER. “Leveraging the solid partnerships with our global partners, we will drive technological innovation, foster a sovereign AI ecosystem, and spearhead efforts to strengthen South Korea’s AI competitiveness.” 

AI Factory Expansion and Open Model Collaboration to Fuel AI Innovators

NAVER, as an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, provides deep expertise in operating hyperscale infrastructure powered by the full-stack NVIDIA AI platform. The 200-megawatt AI factory, featuring NVIDIA Vera Rubin and Blackwell platforms, will establish a dedicated resource pool for emerging AI companies, providing the compute, software and support needed to develop and deploy competitive AI models and applications at scale.

This expanded infrastructure also builds on NAVER and NVIDIA’s collaboration on open model development for agentic and physical AI. NAVER is advancing its HyperCLOVA X models to be based on NVIDIA Nemotron™ 3 Ultra open models with its proprietary data and training expertise. NAVER is also the first Korean company to join the NVIDIA Nemotron Coalition, contributing to open model development across pretraining, post-training and reinforcement learning.

NAVER plans to launch an AI agent platform in Korea in the second half of the year, powered by NVIDIA Agent Toolkit software including NVIDIA NemoClaw™ blueprints. NAVER is also developing a Seoul World Model using proprietary urban street-view and spatial modeling data, built on NVIDIA Cosmos™ world foundation models.

About NAVER

Founded in 1999, NAVER is Korea’s largest Internet company and one of the world’s top tech companies. Leading cutting-edge technologies, NAVER operates the No.1 search engine in Korea and holds various business portfolios encompassing commerce, fintech, cloud, AI and robotics.

NAVER recorded sales of KRW 12.04 trillion (USD 8.18 billion) in 2025. TEAM NAVER continues to enhance its business portfolio and expand its global presence across Japan, North America, and Europe, while pursuing innovation through continuous research and development in future technologies.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/naver-partners-with-brookfield-and-nvidia-to-expand-koreas-national-ai-factory-infrastructure-buildout-302834577.html

SOURCE NAVER

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Beijing Review: Walking Through Time: China and U.S. Youths Explore Dali’s Past and Future

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BEIJING, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On July 17, a China-U.S. youth delegation came to Dali of Yunnan Province. By examining how Dali’s rich history intersects with modern development, the delegates explored new pathways for rural development.

They visited Dali Old Town, tried their hand at making the Bai people’s Three-Course Tea and also explored the ancient town of Xizhou, where they learned how modern tourism and indigenous life coexist.

In Yunnanyi Village, they explored its history as a stop along the Tea Horse Road and learned about the role it played during the Second World War (WWII).

Tyler James Smith

“I think it’s a very underappreciated part of World War II history. Hearing these stories of different countries working together despite cultural differences is incredibly inspiring.

I also think there are many stories like these that haven’t been widely told, simply because World War II is such a complex period in history. That’s why I think it’s so meaningful to visit museums like this and experience these stories firsthand.”

At Xiangyun Economic and Technological Development Zone, they visited a local new energy company to see how green, low-carbon development is driving regional growth.

Valerie Marie

“I recently started studying energy transitions. I know China has been really big in the renewable energy sector. So actually getting to hear more about [China’s] 2060 [pledge], learning more about carbon neutrality [goals], as well as other zero-carbon goals, was cool.”

During their stay in Dali, they also strolled along the Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor.

Bai Yiwen

“I’d describe this journey as “to be continued,” because my own connection with Yunnan is far from over. For the U.S. delegates, this was only their first visit, so they’ve only had a glimpse of what Yunnan has to offer. I hope they will have more opportunities to come back to China, explore other cities in Yunnan, and discover even more of its people, culture and traditions.”

After Dali, the delegates will visit Beijing for more tours and exchanges. The event was co-hosted by China International Communications Group (CICG) Center for the Americas and the U.S.-based International Student Conferences.

https://x.com/beijingreview/status/2080104404552663067?s=46&t=yfVMVdMyE2zKAFrYaLoV-g

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EtGCCKzy4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.tiktok.com/@cachinachic/video/7665536913532587294?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7227134149436605995

https://youtu.be/jGONWTqwduc?is=KfL-Zn3HyVYE-KEm

Contact: Jiaweibellapeng@163.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beijing-review-walking-through-time-china-and-us-youths-explore-dalis-past-and-future-302834587.html

SOURCE Beijing Review

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