Transaction strengthens Acuity’s financial services data and AI consulting expertise, adds Snowflake Premier status, and deepens Acuity Microsoft tier 1 expertise to meet ever increasing demand for modern data and AI platforms like Microsoft Fabric and Databricks.

LONDON, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Acuity Analytics has acquired Continuus, a US-based data consultancy specializing in financial services. The acquisition adds 37 specialists and expands Acuity Analytics’ capabilities across data strategy, governance, engineering and cloud data platforms.

Continuus works primarily with asset managers and other financial institutions, helping clients develop enterprise data strategies, establish governance frameworks and deliver large scale cloud data transformation and engineering programs.

The acquisition strengthens Acuity Analytics’ presence in the United States, its largest market, and adds an experienced onshore team to complement the company’s global delivery network.

The deal comes at a time when financial institutions are increasing investment in modern data infrastructure to support regulatory requirements, improve decision making and enable the wider deployment of AI. As organizations move beyond experimentation and scale AI across the enterprise, the quality, governance and accessibility of data have become increasingly important.

By combining Continuus’s specialist expertise with Acuity Analytics’ broader technology capabilities, the group will provide an end-to-end offering spanning data strategy, governance, analytics, operations and AI enabled business workflows.

Rob King, Chief Executive Officer of Acuity Analytics, said:

“What attracted us to Continuus was its deep understanding of financial services and its ability to turn data strategy into practical business outcomes for clients.

“As organizations modernize their data environments and scale AI initiatives, they need partners who can combine technical expertise with strong governance and delivery capabilities. Continuus brings exactly that.

“The acquisition strengthens our presence in the US and further enhances our ability to help clients unlock value from their data while adopting new technologies with confidence.”

In addition to its technical capabilities, Continuus brings expertise in program delivery and data governance, both of which are becoming increasingly important as financial institutions move complex data and AI programs into production environments.

Stewart Smythe, Chief Delivery Officer, AI, Data & Digital said:

“Clients are making significant investments in cloud data platforms, but technology alone is not enough. Success depends on having the right operating model, governance framework and delivery expertise in place.

“Continuus has built an excellent reputation helping financial institutions address those challenges. Together, we can offer clients a broader range of capabilities, from strategic advisory services through to implementation, analytics and AI-enabled transformation.”

The acquisition forms part of Acuity Analytics’ continued investment in AI, digital and data, supporting its evolution from a financial services research and analytics business into a technology led organization that combines industry expertise with advanced digital capabilities.

In 2024, Acuity Analytics acquired PPA Group, adding technology enabled data capabilities and machine learning expertise within commercial lending. In 2025, the company acquired Ascent, an AI led digital transformation specialist, significantly expanding its Data and Technology Services division across Europe. The addition of Continuus further strengthens these capabilities and broadens the group’s ability to support financial institutions globally.

Today, Acuity Analytics’ proposition centers on applying technology and people to real business challenges, combining trusted data, specialist AI expertise and digital delivery to create measurable outcomes for its clients.

Matt Moeser, Chief Executive Officer of Continuus, said:

“Since Continuus was founded, our focus has been helping financial institutions get more value from their data and technology investments.

Joining Acuity gives our team access to broader capabilities, deeper sector expertise and a global platform from which to grow. We are excited about what this means for our people and our clients, and we look forward to the opportunities we can create together.”

Notes for Editors

Continuus employees joining Acuity: 37Snowflake partner status: Premier Services PartnerPrimary sectors served: Asset management and financial servicesTransaction completion date: 1st OctoberTerms of the transaction were not disclosed.Envoy Capital Advisors served as the exclusive sell-side advisor to Continuus.

About Acuity Analytics

Acuity Analytics is the trading name of Acuity Knowledge Partners, a global, data-driven technology and analytics company serving financial institutions and corporates.

With more than 7,800 analysts, data specialists and technologists across 28 locations, Acuity combines deep financial-services expertise with engineering, digital, data and AI capabilities. The company supports more than 850 organizations in improving efficiency, gaining better insight and making better decisions.

Acuity was established as a separate business from Moody’s Corporation in 2019 following its acquisition by Equistone Partners Europe. In January 2023, funds advised by global private equity firm Permira acquired a majority stake, with Equistone remaining invested as a minority shareholder.

For more information, visit acuityanalytics.com. 

Media enquiries

Gill Galassi
Director of Brand and Communications
Gill.Galassi@acuityanalytics.com
+44 (0)7961 244215

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/acuity-analytics-expands-us-data-and-technology-capabilities-with-acquisition-of-continuus-302901687.html

IBM moves to third phase of DARPA’s rigorous evaluation of approaches to building a fault-tolerant quantum computer

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has been selected for Stage C, the third phase of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) led by DARPA, the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This phase will advance IBM through DARPA’s verification process, in which independent experts extensively test and measure quantum hardware, technology, systems engineering, and architectures to determine if a company can build a fault-tolerant quantum computer.

“Advancing to the third stage of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative validates the strength of IBM’s path to building a fault-tolerant quantum computer,” said Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow. “IBM expects to deliver the first fault-tolerant system in 2029, and we plan to scale the value of quantum computing well beyond that timeline. We look forward to working with DARPA’s team of experts as they advance their review of approaches to fault-tolerant quantum computing into the testing phase.”

As an independent research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, DARPA launched the QBI in 2024 to determine whether an industrially useful fault-tolerant quantum computer can be built by 2033. The program defines such a system as one whose computational value will exceed its cost. IBM has successfully progressed through the QBI’s assessment process, including the first two stages that analyzed comprehensive R&D plans and risk mitigation approaches.

IBM has built the strongest quantum foundation in the industry, anchored by the largest fleet of quantum computers across the globe and Qiskit, the world’s most popular quantum software. IBM’s quantum computers are already being used today as scientific tools by a network of more than 340 organizations across financial services, healthcare, materials science, academia, and government as they build industrial applications and pursue algorithms to unlock the full potential of fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Last year, IBM laid out its plans to deliver the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer, IBM Quantum Starling. Starling will combine advances in error correction, processor design, systems engineering, and more. Since then, IBM’s progression has remained on course, including the demonstration of core hardware components for fault tolerance and breakthroughs in efficient error correction decoding.

Advancing to Stage C

Each successful QBI performer has progressed through three stages of the program thus far:

Stage A required organizations to submit an initial technical concept of a cost-effective, fault-tolerant quantum computer that has a plausible path to realization in the near term. Several Stage A performers were announced in April 2025.Stage B called for a comprehensive research and development plan from each company detailing how to realize such a quantum computer, as well as the risks associated with this plan and mitigation approaches.Announced today, those selected for Stage C will move beyond conceptual plans and progress to evaluation by DARPA’s QBI independent verification and validation (IV&V) team as they test the companies’ hardware.

Alongside its participation in QBI, IBM continues to collaborate with partners across industry, government, and academia to accelerate the timeline toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.

For more information about the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, visit the DARPA website.

About IBM

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

For more information, visit https://research.ibm.com.

Media contacts:

Erin Angelini
IBM
edlehr@us.ibm.com

Chris Nay
IBM
cnay@us.ibm.com
 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ibm-advances-to-stage-c-of-darpa-quantum-benchmarking-initiative-302901665.html

SOURCE IBM

Longtime partners in independent ad-quality measurement add an AI agent that automatically recovers wasted Google Ads spend for brand advertisers, globally.

NEW YORK and MUNICH, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — FouAnalytics, the independent analytics platform for digital ads, websites and mobile apps, today announced a deeper partnership with fraud0 to bring their world-first AI agent for automated ad refunds to the world’s largest advertisers.

FouAnalytics and fraud0 have been providing independent traffic and ad quality analytics to advertisers for their websites and programmatic ads, respectively. But Google Ads remained a black box, because Google’s policies prohibited all third party measurement instrumentation on their platforms – e.g. search ads, YouTube ads, PMax, etc. Other legacy verification vendors, that claimed to do measurement on these platforms, were just given data on invalid traffic, viewability, and brand safety by Google, without actually having javascript tags instrumented on the platforms to collect data themselves.

“This partnership marks a milestone in advancing greater transparency and accountability in Google Ads, enabling advertisers to recover losses from invalid traffic, false clicks, out-of-compliance ads, billing errors and platform overcharges,” said Dr. Augustine Fou. “fraud0’s AI for Google Ads Refunds makes this easy for advertisers to activate, and is the first to recover advertisers’ refunds at scale.”

“Pharmaceutical company Uriach used fraud0 AI for Google Ads Refunds to recover $28,000 in Google Ads spend in just three months.”

Large advertisers spend billions of dollars every year on Google Ads. A portion of that investment is known to be lost to invalid clicks. Identifying these losses is one challenge. Recovering them is another. fraud0’s AI for Google Ads Refunds has already audited more than $2 billion in digital advertising spend and is trusted by businesses across every industry, including leading advertisers such as HelloFresh, Condor, ABOUT YOU and the Otto Group. As a Google-certified Click Tracker, fraud0 works closely with Google’s Click Quality team to investigate suspicious activity and resolve refund claims, while its AI agent builds the required evidence and manages the process from start to finish.

To activate, advertisers simply add a JavaScript tag to their website and connect their Google Ads account. The fraud0 AI for Google Ads Refunds runs continuously in the background, monitoring traffic and handling the refund workflow automatically. Beyond recovery, fraud0 helps advertisers prevent future waste through placement blocking, audience exclusions and the continuous identification of recurring invalid traffic sources.

“Such a pleasure to be working with Dr. Augustine Fou, who has been on the frontlines of fraud detection for decades. We’re excited to roll out this new capability to even more customers globally.” said Tilman Pfeiffer, CEO of fraud0.

Advertisers interested in activating Google Ads refunds can contact FouAnalytics or fraud0 at the address below.

About FouAnalytics
Created by Dr. Augustine Fou, FouAnalytics is the most trusted, and the only truly independent analytics platform for digital ads, websites, and mobile apps. The platform provides detailed analytical data so practitioners can “see Fou themselves”™ why something is “high humanness,” and troubleshoot what is not good quality. Today FouAnalytics is used globally by advertisers like Microsoft, Inuvo, Viant, Beiersdorf and Georgia Pacific, independent agencies and every agency holding company on behalf of clients, as well as more than 10,000 SMBs and site owners. More details at www.fouanalytics.com.

About fraud0
fraud0 is a leading bot detection and invalid traffic (IVT) prevention platform, trusted by some of Europe’s largest banks, insurance companies, e-commerce businesses, and leading brands. Its privacy-friendly technology helps companies eliminate fraudulent traffic, protect ad spend, and improve marketing performance. More details at www.fraud0.com.

Media Contacts
Dr. Augustine Fou, CEO, FouAnalytics
augustine.fou@fouanalytics.com

Tilman Pfeiffer, CEO, fraud0
tp@fraud0.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fouanalytics-and-fraud0-partner-to-bring-automated-google-ads-refunds-to-the-worlds-largest-advertisers-302901699.html

SOURCE FouAnalytics

Transaction strengthens Acuity’s financial services data and AI consulting expertise, adds Snowflake Premier status, and deepens Acuity Microsoft tier 1 expertise to meet ever increasing demand for modern data and AI platforms like Microsoft Fabric and Databricks.

LONDON, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Acuity Analytics has acquired Continuus, a US-based data consultancy specializing in financial services. The acquisition adds 37 specialists and expands Acuity Analytics’ capabilities across data strategy, governance, engineering and cloud data platforms.

Continuus works primarily with asset managers and other financial institutions, helping clients develop enterprise data strategies, establish governance frameworks and deliver large scale cloud data transformation and engineering programs.

The acquisition strengthens Acuity Analytics’ presence in the United States, its largest market, and adds an experienced onshore team to complement the company’s global delivery network.

The deal comes at a time when financial institutions are increasing investment in modern data infrastructure to support regulatory requirements, improve decision making and enable the wider deployment of AI. As organizations move beyond experimentation and scale AI across the enterprise, the quality, governance and accessibility of data have become increasingly important.

By combining Continuus’s specialist expertise with Acuity Analytics’ broader technology capabilities, the group will provide an end-to-end offering spanning data strategy, governance, analytics, operations and AI enabled business workflows.

Rob King, Chief Executive Officer of Acuity Analytics, said:

“What attracted us to Continuus was its deep understanding of financial services and its ability to turn data strategy into practical business outcomes for clients.

“As organizations modernize their data environments and scale AI initiatives, they need partners who can combine technical expertise with strong governance and delivery capabilities. Continuus brings exactly that.

“The acquisition strengthens our presence in the US and further enhances our ability to help clients unlock value from their data while adopting new technologies with confidence.”

In addition to its technical capabilities, Continuus brings expertise in program delivery and data governance, both of which are becoming increasingly important as financial institutions move complex data and AI programs into production environments.

Stewart Smythe, Chief Delivery Officer, AI, Data & Digital said:

“Clients are making significant investments in cloud data platforms, but technology alone is not enough. Success depends on having the right operating model, governance framework and delivery expertise in place.

“Continuus has built an excellent reputation helping financial institutions address those challenges. Together, we can offer clients a broader range of capabilities, from strategic advisory services through to implementation, analytics and AI-enabled transformation.”

The acquisition forms part of Acuity Analytics’ continued investment in AI, digital and data, supporting its evolution from a financial services research and analytics business into a technology led organization that combines industry expertise with advanced digital capabilities.

In 2024, Acuity Analytics acquired PPA Group, adding technology enabled data capabilities and machine learning expertise within commercial lending. In 2025, the company acquired Ascent, an AI led digital transformation specialist, significantly expanding its Data and Technology Services division across Europe. The addition of Continuus further strengthens these capabilities and broadens the group’s ability to support financial institutions globally.

Today, Acuity Analytics’ proposition centers on applying technology and people to real business challenges, combining trusted data, specialist AI expertise and digital delivery to create measurable outcomes for its clients.

Matt Moeser, Chief Executive Officer of Continuus, said:

“Since Continuus was founded, our focus has been helping financial institutions get more value from their data and technology investments.

Joining Acuity gives our team access to broader capabilities, deeper sector expertise and a global platform from which to grow. We are excited about what this means for our people and our clients, and we look forward to the opportunities we can create together.”

Notes for Editors

Continuus employees joining Acuity: 37Snowflake partner status: Premier Services PartnerPrimary sectors served: Asset management and financial servicesTransaction completion date: 1st OctoberTerms of the transaction were not disclosed.Envoy Capital Advisors served as the exclusive sell-side advisor to Continuus.

About Acuity Analytics

Acuity Analytics is the trading name of Acuity Knowledge Partners, a global, data-driven technology and analytics company serving financial institutions and corporates.

With more than 7,800 analysts, data specialists and technologists across 28 locations, Acuity combines deep financial-services expertise with engineering, digital, data and AI capabilities. The company supports more than 850 organizations in improving efficiency, gaining better insight and making better decisions.

Acuity was established as a separate business from Moody’s Corporation in 2019 following its acquisition by Equistone Partners Europe. In January 2023, funds advised by global private equity firm Permira acquired a majority stake, with Equistone remaining invested as a minority shareholder.

For more information, visit acuityanalytics.com. 

Media enquiries

Gill Galassi
Director of Brand and Communications
Gill.Galassi@acuityanalytics.com
+44 (0)7961 244215

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/acuity-analytics-expands-us-data-and-technology-capabilities-with-acquisition-of-continuus-302901687.html

IBM moves to third phase of DARPA’s rigorous evaluation of approaches to building a fault-tolerant quantum computer

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has been selected for Stage C, the third phase of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) led by DARPA, the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This phase will advance IBM through DARPA’s verification process, in which independent experts extensively test and measure quantum hardware, technology, systems engineering, and architectures to determine if a company can build a fault-tolerant quantum computer.

“Advancing to the third stage of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative validates the strength of IBM’s path to building a fault-tolerant quantum computer,” said Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow. “IBM expects to deliver the first fault-tolerant system in 2029, and we plan to scale the value of quantum computing well beyond that timeline. We look forward to working with DARPA’s team of experts as they advance their review of approaches to fault-tolerant quantum computing into the testing phase.”

As an independent research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, DARPA launched the QBI in 2024 to determine whether an industrially useful fault-tolerant quantum computer can be built by 2033. The program defines such a system as one whose computational value will exceed its cost. IBM has successfully progressed through the QBI’s assessment process, including the first two stages that analyzed comprehensive R&D plans and risk mitigation approaches.

IBM has built the strongest quantum foundation in the industry, anchored by the largest fleet of quantum computers across the globe and Qiskit, the world’s most popular quantum software. IBM’s quantum computers are already being used today as scientific tools by a network of more than 340 organizations across financial services, healthcare, materials science, academia, and government as they build industrial applications and pursue algorithms to unlock the full potential of fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Last year, IBM laid out its plans to deliver the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer, IBM Quantum Starling. Starling will combine advances in error correction, processor design, systems engineering, and more. Since then, IBM’s progression has remained on course, including the demonstration of core hardware components for fault tolerance and breakthroughs in efficient error correction decoding.

Advancing to Stage C

Each successful QBI performer has progressed through three stages of the program thus far:

Stage A required organizations to submit an initial technical concept of a cost-effective, fault-tolerant quantum computer that has a plausible path to realization in the near term. Several Stage A performers were announced in April 2025.Stage B called for a comprehensive research and development plan from each company detailing how to realize such a quantum computer, as well as the risks associated with this plan and mitigation approaches.Announced today, those selected for Stage C will move beyond conceptual plans and progress to evaluation by DARPA’s QBI independent verification and validation (IV&V) team as they test the companies’ hardware.

Alongside its participation in QBI, IBM continues to collaborate with partners across industry, government, and academia to accelerate the timeline toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.

For more information about the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, visit the DARPA website.

About IBM

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

For more information, visit https://research.ibm.com.

Media contacts:

Erin Angelini
IBM
edlehr@us.ibm.com

Chris Nay
IBM
cnay@us.ibm.com
 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ibm-advances-to-stage-c-of-darpa-quantum-benchmarking-initiative-302901665.html

SOURCE IBM

Longtime partners in independent ad-quality measurement add an AI agent that automatically recovers wasted Google Ads spend for brand advertisers, globally.

NEW YORK and MUNICH, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — FouAnalytics, the independent analytics platform for digital ads, websites and mobile apps, today announced a deeper partnership with fraud0 to bring their world-first AI agent for automated ad refunds to the world’s largest advertisers.

FouAnalytics and fraud0 have been providing independent traffic and ad quality analytics to advertisers for their websites and programmatic ads, respectively. But Google Ads remained a black box, because Google’s policies prohibited all third party measurement instrumentation on their platforms – e.g. search ads, YouTube ads, PMax, etc. Other legacy verification vendors, that claimed to do measurement on these platforms, were just given data on invalid traffic, viewability, and brand safety by Google, without actually having javascript tags instrumented on the platforms to collect data themselves.

“This partnership marks a milestone in advancing greater transparency and accountability in Google Ads, enabling advertisers to recover losses from invalid traffic, false clicks, out-of-compliance ads, billing errors and platform overcharges,” said Dr. Augustine Fou. “fraud0’s AI for Google Ads Refunds makes this easy for advertisers to activate, and is the first to recover advertisers’ refunds at scale.”

“Pharmaceutical company Uriach used fraud0 AI for Google Ads Refunds to recover $28,000 in Google Ads spend in just three months.”

Large advertisers spend billions of dollars every year on Google Ads. A portion of that investment is known to be lost to invalid clicks. Identifying these losses is one challenge. Recovering them is another. fraud0’s AI for Google Ads Refunds has already audited more than $2 billion in digital advertising spend and is trusted by businesses across every industry, including leading advertisers such as HelloFresh, Condor, ABOUT YOU and the Otto Group. As a Google-certified Click Tracker, fraud0 works closely with Google’s Click Quality team to investigate suspicious activity and resolve refund claims, while its AI agent builds the required evidence and manages the process from start to finish.

To activate, advertisers simply add a JavaScript tag to their website and connect their Google Ads account. The fraud0 AI for Google Ads Refunds runs continuously in the background, monitoring traffic and handling the refund workflow automatically. Beyond recovery, fraud0 helps advertisers prevent future waste through placement blocking, audience exclusions and the continuous identification of recurring invalid traffic sources.

“Such a pleasure to be working with Dr. Augustine Fou, who has been on the frontlines of fraud detection for decades. We’re excited to roll out this new capability to even more customers globally.” said Tilman Pfeiffer, CEO of fraud0.

Advertisers interested in activating Google Ads refunds can contact FouAnalytics or fraud0 at the address below.

About FouAnalytics
Created by Dr. Augustine Fou, FouAnalytics is the most trusted, and the only truly independent analytics platform for digital ads, websites, and mobile apps. The platform provides detailed analytical data so practitioners can “see Fou themselves”™ why something is “high humanness,” and troubleshoot what is not good quality. Today FouAnalytics is used globally by advertisers like Microsoft, Inuvo, Viant, Beiersdorf and Georgia Pacific, independent agencies and every agency holding company on behalf of clients, as well as more than 10,000 SMBs and site owners. More details at www.fouanalytics.com.

About fraud0
fraud0 is a leading bot detection and invalid traffic (IVT) prevention platform, trusted by some of Europe’s largest banks, insurance companies, e-commerce businesses, and leading brands. Its privacy-friendly technology helps companies eliminate fraudulent traffic, protect ad spend, and improve marketing performance. More details at www.fraud0.com.

Media Contacts
Dr. Augustine Fou, CEO, FouAnalytics
augustine.fou@fouanalytics.com

Tilman Pfeiffer, CEO, fraud0
tp@fraud0.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fouanalytics-and-fraud0-partner-to-bring-automated-google-ads-refunds-to-the-worlds-largest-advertisers-302901699.html

SOURCE FouAnalytics