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Toku delivers on its Makimoto roadmap as Kawa goes live, marking its first public release of sovereign conversational AI infrastructure

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Delivering on commitments made at its April 2026 launch, the Singapore-hosted transcription API marks the first production release of Toku’s open-source conversational AI initiative, with additional capabilities planned through 2026.

SINGAPORE, July 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Toku, Asia Pacific’s leading AI-powered 360° customer experience platform, today made Makimoto Kawa (“Kawa”) available to developers, the first open-source conversational AI infrastructure built and hosted in Singapore, designed for teams operating under APAC’s regulatory and data residency requirements. Kawa’s post-conversation transcription API, together with an interactive playground, is live now at makimoto.ai.

The release is Toku’s first publicly available sovereign conversational AI infrastructure, and a milestone in the Group’s wider push to deepen these capabilities. By pairing open-source development with enterprise-grade deployment, Makimoto complements Toku’s existing customer experience platform and supports long-term innovation opportunities across the Group’s AI roadmap.

At launch, Kawa is available as a post-conversation transcription API, built for recorded calls, voicemail, and large-scale analysis of archived customer interactions. Developers submit an audio recording to the API and then retrieve the completed transcript, with speaker separation and segment-level timestamps. Each account includes a free monthly allowance of 1,000 minutes and an open-source interactive playground for testing before integration. A real-time transcription API, designed for live voice agents, captioning, and in-conversation analytics, will follow as a subsequent release.

The Kawa API runs on a composable orchestration layer, allowing developers to swap individual components in the pipeline, such as audio pre-processing or the speech-to-text model, without redesigning the surrounding system.

Hosted in Singapore, Kawa keeps customer audio and transcripts in-country, supporting organisations operating under Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and sector-specific frameworks, including guidelines issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). It is designed to meet growing demand among enterprises and regulated industries for AI infrastructure that gives them greater control over how data is processed, where workloads run, and how regulatory obligations are met. The architecture established for Singapore provides a foundation for future deployments in markets with similar data-residency and compliance requirements.

“We committed in April to putting Kawa in developers’ hands by 1 July, and today we have. Models are becoming a commodity, and the cycles are getting shorter, so today’s best choice is next year’s legacy. The advantage that endures is a composable orchestration layer that lets you replace and upgrade components without rebuilding the system each time, and that work, in the open, is what Makimoto is for,” said Thomas Laboulle, Founder and CEO at Toku.

Developer interest has continued to build since Makimoto was first announced in April. The managed API available from launch provides developers and enterprises with immediate access to a production-ready transcription pipeline, while Kawa’s open orchestration layer enables inspection, configuration, and future extensibility. Through subsequent releases in 2026, Toku intends to progressively open additional layers of the pipeline, moving towards greater community participation and modifiability.

The launch also marks early progress on Makimoto’s Singapore-based AI ecosystem Toku announced in April. The ten graduate roles, spanning engineering, developer relations and community, drew more than 400 applicants from universities and polytechnics across the region, with the inaugural cohort now being finalised for hire. The response reflects strong regional appetite to build production-grade open-source infrastructure rooted in Asia-Pacific.

Makimoto is operated through Makimoto Technology Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Toku Group, maintaining a clear distinction between community and enterprise editions of its software. Through the remainder of 2026, Toku plans to add the real-time transcription API and open-source more of its technology stack. Developers can start building with Kawa today at makimoto.ai.

About Toku

Headquartered in Singapore, Toku Ltd. (SGX Catalist: TKU) is a cloud-native, AI-powered customer experience platform purpose-built for enterprises operating in complex, multi-market environments. With deep roots in the APAC region and an expanding global footprint, Toku’s modular 360° CX Platform orchestrates customer interactions across voice, chat, email and digital channels while managing regulatory, linguistic and infrastructure complexity at scale.

Built on end-to-end ownership of its technology stack, from carrier-grade connectivity to AI applications, Toku delivers enterprise-grade security, reliability and deployment flexibility in commercial cloud, private data centres and hybrid environments. Its AI capabilities include transcription, summarisation, sentiment analysis, conversation analytics and governed virtual agents, designed to integrate seamlessly with enterprise systems and customer data.

Trusted by leading enterprises and public-sector organisations, Toku helps organisations streamline operations, scale customer engagement and deliver consistent experiences in fragmented markets worldwide.

For more information about Toku, visit toku.co

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Toku’s expansion plans and business strategy. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Toku undertakes no obligation to update these statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Sponsor’s Statement

Toku Ltd. (the “Company”) was listed on Catalist of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (the “Exchange”) on 22 January 2026. The initial public offering of the Company was sponsored by PrimePartners Corporate Finance Pte. Ltd. (the “Sponsor”).

This press release has been reviewed by the Sponsor. It has not been examined or approved by the Exchange and the Exchange assumes no responsibility for the contents of this press release, including the correctness of any of the statements or opinions made or reports contained in this press release.

The contact person for the Sponsor is Ms. Ng Shi Qing, 16 Collyer Quay, #10-00 Collyer Quay Centre, Singapore 049318, sponsorship@ppcf.com.sg.

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SOURCE Toku Ltd.

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Verkada Accelerates Physical AI with NVIDIA

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Verkada is scaling its physical AI platform across more than 2.4 million devices globally with a new technical collaboration and investment from NVIDIA

SAN MATEO, Calif., July 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Verkada, a leader in AI-powered physical security and operations, today announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to accelerate the development and deployment of physical AI across the built environment. NVIDIA also joins as a new investor in Verkada, following a strategic investment from Alphabet’s CapitalG at the end of last year.

Verkada is applying AI to transform how schools, hospitals, retailers, manufacturers, and other organizations turn real-world operational data into actionable intelligence — helping keep people and places safe.

“Verkada has been building and deploying Physical AI before the term existed. With our footprint of more than 2.4 million devices across 170 countries and 30,000 organizations, we’ve proven that the built environment is one of the largest beneficiaries of AI,” said Filip Kaliszan, co-founder and CEO of Verkada. “Working with NVIDIA supercharges what we’ve spent nearly a decade building: AI that keeps students safe in schools, protects workers on factory floors, helps retailers prevent theft, and enables organizations to operate more efficiently.”

Verkada is strengthening the models and data flywheel underpinning its intelligent video analytics through its collaboration with NVIDIA, advancing AI-powered video search, multimodal embeddings and vector retrieval for next-generation semantic search, and synthetic data generation to augment training datasets and improve accuracy.

By leveraging NVIDIA Cosmos world foundation models and NVIDIA Physical AI Data Factory, Verkada has accelerated model training and inference across its rapidly expanding global footprint on NVIDIA accelerated computing. Since the collaboration began, Verkada has improved the mean average precision (mAP) of its AI-powered search by 68% for spatial-temporal understanding, delivering faster, more accurate, and more robust search capabilities.

Verkada is also developing a multi-model search agent architecture and exploring reasoning models to address complex, unstructured real-world scenarios — from identifying health and safety incidents on a manufacturing floor to detecting shrinkage in retail environments. The collaborative effort reflects Verkada’s broader focus on bringing more capable, context-aware AI to make built environments resilient and safe.

About Verkada

Designed with simplicity in mind, Verkada’s six product lines — video security cameras, access control, environmental sensors, alarms, workplace, and intercoms — provide unparalleled building security through an integrated, cloud-based software platform. Over 30,000 organizations across 170 countries worldwide, including over 100 of the Fortune 500, trust Verkada as their physical security layer for easier management, intelligent control, and scalable deployments. For more information, please visit www.verkada.com.

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SOURCE Verkada

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The 1965 Ford Mustang America Fell in Love with Inducted into National Historic Vehicle Register

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Hagerty Drivers Foundation Welcomes 1965 Ford Mustang Magic Skyway Car into the National Historic Vehicle Register as Nation Marks 250th Celebration

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., July 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Hagerty Drivers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to preserving automotive culture and history, today announced the induction of a 1965 Ford Mustang convertible as the 38th vehicle added to the National Historic Vehicle Register (NHVR). The announcement coincides with the opening of Ford Motor Company’s “Driving America Forward” exhibit at Union Station in Washington, D.C., where the car is on public display through July 14.

The vehicle, a Wimbledon White convertible, is one of 23 Mustangs that carried visitors through the Ford Pavilion’s legendary Magic Skyway attraction at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. Fitted with special undercarriage rigging and pulled along a cable track, this Mustang traveled an estimated 5,000 miles over six months, transporting approximately 40,000 passengers through a Disney-designed journey from prehistoric times into the space age – all without burning a drop of fuel. It is one of only a handful of Magic Skyway Mustangs known to survive, and among the finest restored examples.

“The 1965 Mustang display at the World’s Fair wasn’t just a car launch, in many ways it was the launch of an entire generation,” said McKeel Hagerty, Chairman of Hagerty and the President of the Board of Directors of the Hagerty Drivers Foundation. “This particular car carried tens of thousands of enthusiasts into the future at the most celebrated exhibition of its era. Its story belongs to all Americans, and there is no better moment to make that official than America’s 250th birthday.”

This 1965 Ford Mustang, VIN 5F08T383386, is owned by Sam Pack of Texas and was treated to a careful restoration in 2015 that preserved its original components, including its factory 200 cubic inch inline-six engine and three-speed, Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission. The Hagerty Drivers Foundation is currently completing the full NHVR documentation package – including laser scanning, professional photography, and a written historic report – in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). The documentation will be permanently archived in the Library of Congress as HAER No. TX-3410. The documentation is underwritten by Ford Motor Company.

“Ford is honored to document this historic milestone in our heritage as part of the America 250 celebration. Ford put America on wheels, and the Mustang is the soul of that legacy,” said Ted Ryan, Heritage Brand Manager and Archivist at Ford. “Its induction into our nation’s library ensures that the Mustang’s rich cultural impact will inspire generations to come.”

“The Mustang is one of America’s most beloved automobiles, and this car represents its very birth – unveiled not in a showroom, but on the grandest stage imaginable, carrying tens of thousands of people through a vision of the future at the New York World’s Fair,” said Casey Maxon, Director of Heritage, Hagerty Drivers Foundation. “It was an immediate, undeniable hit. The public didn’t just notice the Mustang, they fell in love with it on the spot. As we mark 250 years of American history, it’s worth remembering that for nearly half of that history, the automobile has been woven into the fabric of this country’s identity. What better way to honor that legacy than with this Mustang convertible, one of the most iconic enthusiast cars ever produced.”

The Magic Skyway Mustang is featured in the “Shaping Pop Culture” chapter of Ford’s Driving America Forward exhibit, displayed in an illuminated glass case among artifacts from Ford’s Heritage Archive. The exhibit spans seven themed chapters and is free to the public at Union Station through July 14, 2026.

The National Historic Vehicle Register documents and records vehicles of significant importance in American history and culture. Documentation of each vehicle is a partnership between the Hagerty Drivers Foundation and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Historic American Engineering Record, and is permanently archived in the Library of Congress.

For more information:
Home page – Hagerty Drivers Foundation NHVR Vehicle No. 38
Photos – NHVR Vehicle No. 38: Photos of the World’s Fair Mustang
Instagram – Hagerty Drivers Foundation

About Hagerty Drivers Foundation
The Hagerty Drivers Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit launched in 2021 by Hagerty. With the purpose of shaping the future of car culture while celebrating our automotive past, the Hagerty Drivers Foundation provides scholarships for students in the automotive field of education, as well as students seeking formal driver education training. In addition, the Foundation continues to build a federally recognized program — the National Historic Vehicle Register — that documents and records the important history of our shared automotive past. For more information, visit https://driversfoundation.org.

About Driving America Forward
Driving America Forward is a free public exhibit at Union Station in Washington, D.C., running July 1–14, 2026, presented by Ford Motor Company in partnership with Hagerty as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebration. The exhibit showcases Ford’s most culturally significant vehicles and artifacts across seven themed chapters, inspired by the Hagerty Drivers Foundation’s Cars at the Capital program.

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SOURCE Hagerty

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Check Point Software’s Cloud Firewall Offering Now Available on AWS European Sovereign Cloud

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PARIS, July 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) a pioneer and global leader in cyber security solutions, today announced it is a partner for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, a new independent cloud for Europe.

Check Point’s Cloud Firewall offering is now available on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, further supporting customers in Europe. Check Point solutions deliver prevention-first security across network, workload, and application layers, while providing customers with the same availability and performance they expect from Amazon Web Services (AWS). Availability on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud enables European organisations to meet stringent operational autonomy and data residency requirements within the European Union.

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is a fully featured, independently operated sovereign cloud backed by strong technical controls, sovereign assurances, and legal protections designed to meet the needs of European governments and enterprises. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud infrastructure is entirely located within the EU and operates independently from existing AWS Regions. Customers using the AWS European Sovereign Cloud benefit from the full power of AWS including the same service portfolio, security, availability, performance, familiar architecture, APIs, and innovations such as the AWS Nitro System.

“The AWS European Sovereign Cloud represents a significant step forward for organisations operating under EU regulatory frameworks. Check Point’s Cloud Firewall solution on this independent cloud infrastructure enables our customers to run their most sensitive workloads with operational autonomy and data residency entirely within the EU. With Check Point’s prevention-first security and AI-powered threat intelligence, plus the sovereignty controls and technical assurances of AWS, we’re delivering the compliance support and innovation our customers need to accelerate their digital transformation while meeting stringent regulatory requirements.”

— Joaquin Reixa, Vice President, Western Europe, Check Point Software Technologies

Customers can begin planning their transition to the AWS European Sovereign Cloud today. To learn more about Check Point’s Cloud Firewall and WAF offerings available on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, visit Public Cloud AWS Security – Check Point Software.

Follow Check Point on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, YouTube and our blog.

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.  
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a global cyber security leader protecting more than 100,000 organizations worldwide. Its mission is to secure enterprises’ AI transformation. With a prevention-first approach and an open ecosystem architecture, Check Point helps organizations block advanced threats, prioritize exposures, and automate security operations across complex digital environments. The unified architecture simplifies protection across hybrid networks, multi-cloud environments, digital workspaces, and AI systems. Structured around four strategic pillars, Hybrid Mesh Network Security, Workspace Security, Exposure Management, and AI Security, Check Point delivers consistent protection and visibility across multivendor environments, enabling organizations to reduce risk, improve efficiency, and accelerate innovation without increasing complexity.

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements related to the expected availability and rollout of Check Point solutions on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, customers’ ability to deploy and operate workloads on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud as it becomes available, and our expectations regarding the benefits of these offerings. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results or events in the future are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 17, 2025. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Check Point as of the date hereof, and Check Point disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

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SOURCE Check Point Software Technologies

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