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Equipment Theft Is $100 Million Problem

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Law Enforcement and American Rental Association Outline Programs to Combat Theft

MOLINE, Ill., April 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Equipment theft is a staggering $100 million-a-year crisis for the equipment rental industry, with more than 360 pieces of equipment vanishing each month according to the American Rental Association (ARA). This relentless wave of theft not only drains resources but threatens the stability of critical operations nationwide.

The consequences of stolen equipment extend far beyond a single financial loss. Equipment theft drives up insurance rates and rental costs. It also disrupts access to critical machinery, delays vital infrastructure projects and strains entire industries that rely on timely, efficient operations.

Once the equipment leaves the rental yard or job site with a fraudulent renter or thief, it is rarely recovered. Equipment commonly targeted by thieves, such as backhoes, bulldozers and loaders, is often sold on the black market or to unsuspecting buyers on popular resell sites. 

In response to the growing crisis of equipment theft, the ARA and law enforcement are taking urgent action to raise nationwide awareness and drive immediate attention to this critical issue. At a press conference held at Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers’ location in Morris, Illinois, the ARA outlined new theft prevention and recovery programs that will arm equipment rental businesses with resources to identify potential threats and prevent equipment theft.

“Equipment theft is an issue that affects every single one of our equipment rental members, no matter the size of their operation,” says ARA CEO Tony Conant. “We wanted to attack it from every angle with the Equipment Rental Guard program. When used to its fullest potential, our members will be totally prepared to prevent thieves from stealing their equipment.”

Law enforcement issued critical guidance on how to quickly and effectively report equipment theft, emphasizing the need for swift action. Rental businesses shared firsthand accounts of theft incidents, underscoring the growing threat and the urgent need for stronger preventative measures.

“I think it’s incredibly important for all of us to band together [to prevent equipment theft],” says David Skala, manager, B.I. Rental, Homer Glen, Ill. “This problem is so huge that unless every individual who is involved takes action, there’s not going to be any movement forward. I think all the tools that ARA is introducing are absolutely fantastic, and I’m looking forward to implementing them in our store.”

In addition to raising awareness, the ARA also unveiled Equipment Rental Guard (ERG), a comprehensive security suite designed to arm the rental community with the knowledge, tools and resources to verify renters, prevent theft and protect assets.

The ERG program includes tools such as training courses, red flag renter text alerts, a national database of problematic renters and stolen equipment, and ID verification. Theft reporting guidance, financial security tools and free legal assistance are also available through the ERG program.

For more information on protecting against rental equipment theft, visit ararental.org.

About ARA: The American Rental Association is an international trade association for owners of equipment and event rental businesses and the manufacturers and suppliers of construction/industrial, general tool, and event rental equipment. ARA members, which include more than 14,000 rental businesses and more than 1,000 manufacturers and suppliers, are located in every U.S. state, every Canadian province, and more than 40 countries worldwide. Founded in 1955, ARA is the source for information, advocacy, education, networking, and marketplace opportunities for the equipment and event rental industry throughout the world.

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SOURCE American Rental Association

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Context Labs AI Distillery™ Lets Enterprises Run Sovereign AI on Data They Own

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Company launches the Context Engine for trusted sovereign AI, which packages an enterprise’s own data with verified lineage for use with the frontier or open-weight model the enterprise chooses.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Context Labs B.V. (“Context Labs”), the AI Data Infrastructure company, today launched the Context Labs AI Distillery™, the Context Engine for trusted sovereign AI. The AI Distillery converts an enterprise’s operational and business data into a governed Context Package that the enterprise owns, creating their own protected competitive moat. Every answer an AI model draws from the package is traced to its source records, and the package works with the frontier or open weight model the customer chooses, inside the customer’s own environment.

Analysts have quantified the obstacle to scaling enterprise AI. Gartner predicts that through 2026 organizations will abandon 60% of AI projects unsupported by AI-ready data, and that over 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027. McKinsey reports that eight in ten companies name data limitations as the barrier to scaling AI agents. Gartner has also described what enterprises now need: software that lets teams construct, govern and deliver semantically organized knowledge to AI agents, built on ontologies and knowledge graphs.

 The Context Labs AI Distillery™ is designed around six outcomes:

Own your IP. An enterprise’s knowledge, know-how and operating context stay inside a Context Package that only it controls and are not used to train third-party AI models.

Own your AI. The intelligence employees create in everyday use accrues to the enterprise, not to a model provider, and grows with every interaction.

Trusted, provable answers. Every output carries its data lineage and decision provenance, so answers can be verified, audited, and defended.

Build, protect and scale a proprietary competitive asset. The Context Package captures how the enterprise describes and runs its operations, starting with one facility and extending to others without rebuilding.

Sovereign by design. The AI Distillery runs inside the customer’s own data center or chosen cloud, so data stays where the customer decides.

Freedom of model choice, at lower cost. Customers can use any frontier or open-weight model and switch models without rebuilding the Context Package. Precise, verified context reduces the tokens each query uses.

The AI Distillery works in three steps: distill, package, and prove. It maps an enterprise’s structured and unstructured data to industry-specific ontologies, stores the result in a Context Package with cryptographic provenance, and checks answers against the company’s own records before any model goes into production. Work that has typically required teams of specialist engineers becomes a guided, governed workflow.

Context Agents and the Semantic Context Tunnel. Context Agents answer operational, commercial and compliance questions from the enterprise’s Context Package, with every figure traced to its source. The Semantic Context Tunnel brings the same context into the AI assistant employees already use. Both work within the access controls the enterprise sets.

“Models come and go. An enterprise’s context should not,” said Dan Harple, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Context Labs. “Frontier models will keep improving, but they do not supply governance, provenance or trust, and they should not absorb the knowledge that makes a company competitive. The AI Distillery gives enterprises a moat they own: their own context, proven and protected, working with whichever model they choose. That is how our customers own their IP and own their AI.”

At ADIPEC 2026, Context Labs is demonstrating the AI Distillery on energy-sector use cases, in which a Context Agent answers operational questions with every figure traced to the underlying plant records. Context Labs is located Arab Development Group stand, Stand #5240, Hall 5 and in the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, AI Zone, Hall 13.

Availability. The Context Labs AI Distillery™ is available now through the Microsoft Marketplace. Each enterprise license includes an industry starter kit to accelerate time to value. Companies can request a briefing or technical working session at contextlabs.com/distillery.

About Context Labs B.V.

Context Labs is an AI Data Infrastructure company delivering the Context Engine for Trusted and Secure Sovereign AI. Its platform turns complex, fragmented operational, engineering and enterprise data into continuously verified, auditable information that AI systems, people and markets can trust. Built on an extensible library of industry-specific ontologies that map to established standards published by ISO and other standards bodies, the platform is deployable across sectors, with use-case applications delivering decision-ready intelligence on a common foundation. The Context Labs AI Distillery™ lets enterprises run sovereign AI inside their own data centers, so they own their IP and own their AI. Formed out of MIT research and led by a team that helped drive the at-scale growth of the Internet, Context Labs has offices in Amsterdam, Cambridge (Mass.), Houston and Abu Dhabi. Learn more at www.contextlabs.com.

Media contact
press@contextlabs.com | 1-617-902-0932 | contextlabs.com/resources

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From IFA Berlin to CES 2027: OlloBot Continues Its Journey in Emotional Companionship

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HONG KONG, Oct. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — AI companion robot brand OlloBot made its European debut at IFA Berlin 2026, where its AI companion robot OlloNi SS1 was named an Honoree in the Best in Home & Entertainment category of the IFA Innovation Awards. The recognition, alongside feedback from visitors at the show, offered further encouragement for OlloBot’s belief that the future of home robotics lies not only in what robots can do, but also in the connections they can build with people.

In the Top 10 Trends in China’s Robotics and Embodied Intelligence Market for 2026, IDC identifies the evolution of educational and companion robots into all-age home intelligent terminals as a key trend. The report highlights a growing emphasis on long-term companionship, contextual understanding and ongoing content services, with value extending beyond specific functions to lasting relationships and services.

OlloBot is building its identity around this shift. Rather than developing humanoid robots or devices primarily centered on task execution, the brand is exploring a different path through what it calls “Cyber Pet,” an emerging category of home companions designed around emotional relationships. Its approach starts with a simple question: how can a robot become a familiar and meaningful presence in someone’s life?

For OlloBot, the answer lies in restraint. A companion robot should not replace human relationships or compete for a user’s constant attention. It should learn when to engage and when to step back. The goal is not about delivering a moment of novelty or amusement. It is about creating a unique relationship that can expand with each interaction and gradually become personally meaningful.

“We believe home robots need to enter the household through emotional connection,” said Lyn Fang, founder of OlloBot. “Technology can create the conditions for interaction, but meaningful companionship comes from how those interactions make people feel over time.”

At IFA, the enthusiasm from visitors offered a tangible reflection of this approach. Under the theme “Touch. Feel. Bond.,” OlloBot created an open, home-inspired setting where visitors could interact with OlloNi SS1 directly. Powered by OlloBot’s proprietary EmpathCore emotional engine and Affinilog interaction system, OlloNi SS1 engages dynamically through touch, sound and facial expressions. OlloNi SS1 also appeared in IFA’s “Robots on the Runway” showcase, where its emotional engine enabled it to react to its surroundings in real time. Visitors were not simply examining a device or comparing functions. They were exploring how it responded to them. The experience reinforced the brand’s conviction that, in the home, emotional connection can matter as much as technical capability.

Next stop: Las Vegas

The recognition and feedback at IFA mark an encouraging step as OlloBot continues to advance its product development and commercialization. Looking ahead to CES 2027, OlloBot is set to take the next step in its journey by introducing two all-new robot family members: a desktop lamp-form robot and OlloBot Gen 2. Visitors will also get a first look at a rich lineup of IP merchandise and ecosystem peripherals built around the flagship OlloVerse universe. Please stay tuned—OlloBot looks forward to welcoming everyone in Las Vegas and sharing how its expanding ecosystem continues to redefine emotional companionship in the home.

About OlloBot

OlloBot is an AI companion robot brand developed by Ollobot Robotics Limited, a Hong Kong-based company and part of BizConf Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE: 300578).

The company focuses on embodied intelligence and family-oriented AI companion robots designed to support more natural interaction, emotional presence and connection in modern homes. Through its Cyber Pet concept, OlloBot aims to explore how AI and robotics can become a more meaningful and approachable part of everyday family life.

For more information, please visit ollobot.com.

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@ollo_botFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/ollobotofficialInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/ollo_botThreads:https://www.threads.com/@ollo_botTikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@ollo_botX:https://x.com/OLLOBOT_Real

 

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SOURCE OlloBot

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A new way to explore Japan with AI: Naviu AR Travel Companion for Japan Launches November 1 2026

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Patent pending geospatial technology brings 29 language guidance and city scale AR navigation to travelers

TOKYO, Oct. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Naviu, a business under TANGLE Inc., offering an AI-powered augmented-reality travel companion for Japan, launches on iOS and Android on November 1. Built on patent-pending geospatial technology, Naviu places AR content and navigation accurately in the real world across entire cities, without requiring a visual positioning system.

Travelers can ask Naviu about anything around them and receive answers in any of 29 languages, grounded in their exact location. A semi-transparent AR path provides turn-by-turn guidance, an AI companion walks with the traveler, and the app reveals side-street cafes, local landmarks, and other places that conventional maps and guidebooks may overlook.

About Naviu

Naviu combines an ask-anything AI guide, city-scale AR navigation, photo recognition, bespoke trip planning, and an optional cultural storytelling companion. Its spatial content network also allows brands, cities, and creators to place interactive 3D and AR content in the real world. AR experiences are already live at landmarks including Senso-ji, Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower, Meiji Jingu, and Tokyo Station.

Naviu is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Official site: naviu.app

Key Features

Ask-anything AI guide: Conversational answers about any place in 29 languages, grounded in precise location dataCultural storytelling and guidance: An optional companion mode that guides travelers street by street and narrates local history and storiesAR navigation: A semi-transparent augmented-reality path overlaid on real streets across entire citiesPhoto recognition: Travelers can point the camera at a temple, sign, or storefront and ask what it isBespoke trip planning: Itineraries built around dietary needs, interests, accessibility, and available timeSpatial content network: Brands, cities, and creators can place interactive 3D and AR content in the real world

Statement from the Head of Naviu

“The hard part of traveling in Japan isn’t getting lost. It’s standing in front of something remarkable with no idea what it is. Naviu answers that question in your own language, right where you’re standing, so the city opens up instead of staying a backdrop.”
Jack Mead
CEO of Ashita Co. and Head of Naviu

About TANGLE Inc

TANGLE Inc. is the Tokyo-based company behind the tour operators TOMOGO! and Untold Japan. Its mission, Make the City Yours, reflects a decade of helping travelers discover Japan beyond the guidebook and now extends that experience into software through Naviu.

Company

TANGLE Inc.

Headquarters

Tokyo, Japan

Representative Director

Kengo Goto

Business

TOMOGO!, Untold Japan, and development and operation of Naviu

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SOURCE TANGLE Inc.

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