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Royal Bank of Canada extends Vector Institute sponsorship, advancing responsible AI innovation and talent development through 2032

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RBC’s longstanding partnership will continue to drive Canada’s AI leadership in research and innovation

TORONTO, July 30, 2026 /CNW/ — Royal Bank of Canada today announced the renewal of its platinum sponsorship of the Vector Institute for an additional five years through 2032. As a founding sponsor, RBC has worked with Vector since 2017 to advance AI research, innovation and talent development across Canada – applying cutting-edge techniques in areas like agentic AI, retrieval-augmented generation, computer vision and federated learning to drive responsible AI adoption across the bank and strengthen Canada’s broader AI ecosystem.

RBC is a leading voice on AI in Canada and globally in financial services. Today, the bank is ranked #1 in Canada and #3 globally for AI maturity among 50 global financial institutions. This recognition reflects not only investment in talent and innovation, but investments in AI research, responsible innovation and creating opportunities for homegrown IP.

“At RBC, we believe we have a responsibility to help advance the Canadian AI ecosystem,” said Bruce Ross, Group Head, AI, RBC. “Vector brings world-class talent and top AI research together. Through this partnership, RBC gains access to top talent while strengthening the infrastructure that keeps Canada’s best researchers and innovators here–and helps us shape responsible AI standards for the industry.”

Earlier this year, RBC announced the creation of a dedicated AI Group reporting to the CEO. Building on existing capabilities and top AI talent, RBC’s AI Group helps accelerate the bank’s AI ambitions while working closely with business and functions across the bank to turn high-potential AI use cases into market-ready solutions that bring value to clients. In collaborating with Vector over the past nine years, RBC has executed 30 applied AI projects, deployed advanced AI capabilities, and recruited 200 Vector-affiliated AI specialists.

“RBC has been with Vector from the beginning and this renewal reflects a shared conviction that Canada’s AI leadership isn’t just worth investing in – it’s worth leading. What sets RBC apart is their drive to set the standard for responsible AI in financial services, not just domestically but globally. That ambition, paired with a long-term commitment to developing homegrown talent and research, is what helps move the whole ecosystem forward,” said Glenda Crisp, President and CEO, Vector Institute.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 101,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada’s biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our more than 19 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.‎

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/peopleandplanet.

For more information, please contact:
Briana D’Archi

SOURCE RBC

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W.A. Chester Awarded Major High-Pressure Fluid-Filled Transmission Infrastructure Project

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New transmission feeder will enhance long-term grid reliability, increase system resiliency, and support future regional power demand

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — W.A. Chester, a division of United Utility Services (UUS), announced today the award of a major underground transmission infrastructure contract involving the installation of a new 230 kV high-pressure fluid-filled (HPFF) circuit. The circuit is part of a broader project that will connect two substations in the city of Miami Beach. Installation, which will span approximately three miles, is scheduled to begin this year and continue through 2028.

The goal of this initiative is to strengthen long-term electric transmission reliability. Key components of the work include multiple over-water horizontal directional drill (HDD) installations, subsea jetting operations, open-trench installation of new 10-inch steel pipe, floating pipe operations, HPFF cable installation, splicing and terminations, fluid-line adjustments, commissioning, and final energization of the new feeder circuit.

W.A. Chester will leverage its extensive experience performing similarly complex submerged HPFF installations, including prior work involving underwater pipe assembly and river-crossing operations.

“This project will provide long-term reliability benefits for the utility provider and the customers who depend on its transmission network every day,” said Brett Hurlburt, President, Operations – Northeast. “By delivering critical infrastructure improvements with a strong focus on safety, quality, and execution certainty, we’re helping support a more resilient power system capable of meeting the region’s growing energy demands for years to come.”

The project further reinforces W.A. Chester’s position as a leading contractor for complex underground and submarine transmission infrastructure throughout North America.

About United Utility Services

United Utility Services is a leading provider of essential infrastructure services for North America’s power grid. UUS provides integrated service solutions—from design, construction, and installation to repairs and maintenance—for electrical power transmission and distribution systems, substations, smart grid solutions, battery storage systems, and more. Visit www.unitedutility.com to learn more.

Contact
Brett Hurlburt
President, Operations – Northeast
United Utility Services
419807@email4pr.com
(504) 584.4943

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wa-chester-awarded-major-high-pressure-fluid-filled-transmission-infrastructure-project-302838656.html

SOURCE United Utility Services

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Gist CMO Speaks on the Death of the Click and What Comes Next at Ai4 2026

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Peter Sloterdyk Will Discuss How “AI Eats the Web That Feeds It” on August 4 in Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES, July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Peter Sloterdyk, Chief Marketing Officer of Gist, aplatform designed to track, measure, and optimize brand visibility across major AI answer engines, will take the stage at Ai4 2026, America’s largest AI industry conference, drawing more than 12,000 attendees to The Venetian in Las Vegas. Presenting the session “AI Eats the Web That Feeds It” at 4:40PM PT on Tuesday, August 4, Sloterdyk will address the supply-side squeeze threatening the open web and Gist’s role in building the infrastructure to understand, analyze, build, and measure brand, publisher, and creator presence in AI answers.

Sloterdyk’s session will deconstruct today’s Q&A economy. In the last two years, small publishers lost roughly 60% of search referrals; AI referrals are nowhere close to replacing them, and the ad supply funding the open web is contracting behind it. He will trace how this shift is rewriting the rules of visibility, moving brands and publishers beyond traditional SEO and into GEO, the emerging discipline for earning credit and relevance inside AI-generated answers.

“The click was the monetization mechanism for the entire open web, and it’s disappearing,” said Sloterdyk. “There’s no ‘page one’ inside an AI conversational answer. A brand is either part of the response, or it is invisible. In this growing zero-click world, the top of the funnel has materially changed. Brands and publishers have a rare chance today to set the stakes for what comes next. There is a first-mover advantage for those that choose not to wait-and-see.”

Gist is an AI visibility platform that helps brands, publishers, and creators stay present in AI-generated answers across all the major LLMs. Its parent company ProRata provides revolutionary attribution technology to ensure that when AI draws on human-created content, the creators receive proper credit and compensation.

Sloterdyk leads global brand strategy, marketing, communications, and growth for Gist, bringing more than two decades of marketing leadership across technology, media, and consumer platforms, with a track record of scaling emerging companies into trusted global brands. Prior to his current role, Sloterdyk served as Global Chief Marketing and Technology Officer at Koala, the Australia-founded direct-to-consumer furniture brand. Before that, he led original series marketing at Netflix, devising campaigns that expanded and engaged the platform’s audience. Sloterdyk formerly led the global marketing organization for the Grindr family of brands, overseeing worldwide marketing, user growth, and brand strategy during a period of rapid international expansion.

About Gist
Gist, a ProRata company, helps brands, publishers, creators, and agencies own the conversation from question to answer. Powered by ProRata’s revolutionary attribution technology, Gist tracks, analyzes, and measures the content that shapes AI answers, so partners understand why AI recommends them, what to do next, and how to maintain authority. For more information, visit www.gist.ai.

About Ai4 2026
Ai4 2026 is America’s largest AI conference, taking place August 4-6, 2026, at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The event brings together thousands of business executives and technology leaders to explore AI agents, generative AI, enterprise AI transformation, and real-world AI applications across every major industry. For more information, visit https://ai4.io/

Press Contact
Frances Alban
Mark Allen & Co.
786.200.4315
419820@email4pr.com 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gist-cmo-speaks-on-the-death-of-the-click-and-what-comes-next-at-ai4-2026-302838824.html

SOURCE Gist

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TD strengthens Its Responsible AI Principles to support trust in AI innovation

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TD Framework embeds fairness, transparency and accountability across the AI lifecycle as adoption accelerates

TORONTO, July 30, 2026 /CNW/ — As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in banking, TD Bank Group (“TD” or “the Bank”) today introduced its enterprise-wide Responsible AI Principles, reinforcing the Bank’s commitment that   innovation is to be guided by strong oversight, transparency and accountability.

The TD Responsible AI Principles establish seven commitments that guide how AI is developed, deployed and used across TD. These commitments address laws that already apply to financial institutions, as well as transparency and explainability, data use and privacy, fairness, quality and accountability, reliability, and security. TD is also incorporating the Responsible AI Principles into employee education programs, helping colleagues understand expectations related to the responsible use of AI at the Bank.

“The future of banking will increasingly be powered by AI,” said Sumee Seetharaman, Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Practice at TD. “Our Responsible AI Principles are designed to help the Bank scale that technology responsibly, with the governance, oversight and transparency needed to maintain the trust our clients place in us every day.”

These Responsible AI Principles establish clear expectations for fairness, transparency, explainability and accountability, while the Bank’s governance and risk-management processes require the consistent application of those principles across AI use cases. TD is embedding these Responsible AI Principles throughout the lifecycle of its AI systems, from initial design and development through deployment and ongoing monitoring. Every AI use case introduced at TD must align with these principles and undergo assessments for explainability, fairness and performance development.

“Trust has always been the foundation of banking, and that won’t change as AI becomes more deeply embedded in our industry,” said Ajai Bambawale, Chief Risk Officer, TD. “Our Responsible AI Principles provide a clear framework for adopting these technologies responsibly, enabling innovation while requiring transparency, accountability and trust at every step. We’ve embedded our Responsible AI Principles into AI use cases across the Bank. For example, in colleague-facing virtual assistants, we apply controls such as retrieval grounding, human oversight and continuous monitoring to help mitigate the risk of inaccurate, unsupported or inappropriate AI-generated guidance.”

The framework is supported by governance and risk management processes, including model risk assessments, privacy impact assessments and independent oversight reviews to ensure alignment with the principles.

The Responsible AI Principles are embedded in the AI Risk framework and policy. They are overseen by the Bank’s AI Risk Management team and operationalized by the Trustworthy AI team, a specialized group of scientists focused on advancing the safe and secure use of the technology at TD.

Under TD’s AI Risk Management framework, AI use cases are evaluated against requirements related to fairness, explainability, privacy and performance before they are deployed. The Trustworthy AI team continues to monitor AI use cases once deployed, tracking performance, fairness and explainability so that systems continue to operate as intended.

Through these measures, TD aims to deliver AI capabilities that are transparent, accountable and resilient, helping clients and colleagues benefit from innovation with confidence.

Advice‑Forward Q&A: Understanding Responsible AI at TD

Why are the TD Responsible AI Principles important now?
AI, Gen AI and agentic AI adoption are accelerating and introducing new risks. Clear principles help ensure AI is used ethically, transparently and safely.

How can TD oversee that AI remains trustworthy over time?
Through continuous monitoring and model review processes that reassess risk and performance as systems evolve.

What does this mean for clients and investors?
Clients benefit from more transparent and reliable AI systems, while investors gain confidence that AI risks are actively managed and governed.

About TD Bank Group

The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group (“TD” or the “Bank”). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by assets and serves 28.1 million clients in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Auto Finance Canada; U.S. Banking, including TD Auto Finance U.S., and TD Wealth (U.S.); Wealth Management and Insurance, including TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities and TD Cowen. TD also ranks among North America’s leading digital banks, with more than 13 million active mobile users in Canada and the U.S. TD had $2.1 trillion in assets on April 30, 2026. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol “TD” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.

SOURCE TD Bank Group

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