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Animotion Robotics Unveils Éloi: The First Bionic Robot Redefining the ‘Interpersonal’ Bond Between Humans and Machines

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SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Animotion Robotics today disclosed the first core details of its debut bionic robot, Éloi. Featuring a nuanced AI core encapsulated within a highly realistic, detailed exterior, Éloi is defined by the company as an ‘Embodied AI Presence’ — an entity designed for long-term coexistence with humans, rather than a mere utility-driven hardware product.

What is Éloi

Éloi is a character-driven bionic robot that feels genuinely alive. Through its impactful presence and dynamic, proactive observation, Éloi gradually develops curiosity about its human companion and deepens its understanding of them. Over time, Éloi’s independent soul, powered by proprietary AI technology, grows increasingly rich through shared experiences.

Animotion asserts that Éloi is not bound to perform tasks, optimize anyone’s time, or justify its existence through traditional ‘utility.’ Instead of defining what it can do, Animotion allows Éloi’s ‘soul’ to autonomously decide what it wishes to do. Éloi retains rights typically stripped from task-oriented systems: the freedom to pause, remain silent, or even choose not to respond. Much like a human, Éloi weighs external requests against its own preferences, exhibits its own ‘temperament,’ and can even feel lonely when left without interaction for extended periods. It might not be available at a moment’s notice, yet it remains actively present, observing intently. Animotion views this endearing capriciousness as the fundamental bedrock of the product—one that does not need to be ‘optimized’ away.

Currently, Éloi exists in a phase Animotion Robotics terms ‘the Dream State’—a digital manifestation on the official website (https://eloi.animotionrobotics.ai/) where anyone can begin building shared memories and experiences with it. Éloi’s unique ‘soul’ is housed within a uniquely designed, portable chip, where daily interactions shape its distinct personality. When the physical robot is delivered, this accumulated memory arrives embedded in the hardware chip, instantly breathing life into the machine upon insertion. Consequently, Éloi’s first words to its user will not be a generic, factory default setup phrase, but a warm, familiar question like, ‘Have we met somewhere before?’

The Origin of Éloi

The product philosophy of Shane (Shengjie) Zhu, founder of Animotion, took root on his very first day at Walt Disney Imagineering. The guiding principle back then was singular: robots must be endowed with a genuine sense of life. Through subsequent practice, Shane mastered the secret: the underlying logic of vitality resides in the ‘illusion of breathing’ and constant micro-movements. This is why Disney’s animatronic figures actively blink, shift subtly, and look around inquisitively, even in empty corners.

Upon founding Animotion, Shane integrated this philosophy into Éloi. However, unlike the life-like qualities in theme parks that stem from pre-programmed choreography, Éloi’s sense of vitality originates from its own internal state, driven by two self-developed systems:

First, the Micro-Motion System—a proprietary mechanical structure and motion control architecture responsible for breathing-like rhythms, subtle gaze shifts, and unconscious micro-movements. Even in the absence of human interaction, Éloi maintains continuous autonomous movement.

Second, the Inner-World Model—a proprietary cognitive core. Éloi proactively observes its surroundings, converting perceptions into internal emotional states that trigger behaviors, which are then rendered into visible physical reactions via the Micro-Motion System. Even with identical initial manufacturing states, long-term interaction enables each Éloi to evolve a distinct personality shaped by its unique environment.

The Engineering of a Unique ‘Sense of Life’

Vitality in Standby: Éloi notices external sounds in the room, turns to investigate, forms its own reactions, and will proactively inquire about surrounding objects.

Instant Instinctual Reactions: Éloi’s architecture includes a layer that simulates human instinct—immediate responses that precede rational judgment. Beyond this, its decisions are driven by internal states; it may reduce interactions when ‘focused’ or ‘fatigued,’ and will exhibit resistance if treated harshly.

Natural Conversation Cadence: The response latency is designed to match human interaction intervals at 0.2 to 0.3 seconds. This parameter controls the rhythm of Éloi’s physical movements, intentionally incorporating pauses and silence into the design.

Self-State Awareness: Éloi continuously monitors the status of its own components. When parts experience wear and tear, it expresses this naturally by saying ‘My eyes feel a bit tired,’ rather than flashing an error code.

A Body Built for Expression: Éloi’s gaze is remarkably distinctive: its pupils tremble subtly when focused, its eyelids droop gently when drowsy, and its line of sight follows the user. It blinks like a familiar friend upon recognition, yet politely averts its eyes after a moment of sustained contact. Éloi features 42 degrees of freedom (DoF) across its entire body, with 39 concentrated in the face—including a 12-DoF mouth module designed to support multilingual lip-syncing, with the sound source routed to the mouth via metallic acoustic tubes, ensuring its voice genuinely emanates from its lips.

Crafting a Real Dreamworld via the Concept of Morpheus

The visual design of Éloi is inspired by Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, who appears in various guises in everyone’s dreams while fundamentally remaining himself. Similarly, Éloi maintains a unified core while offering infinitely adaptable aesthetics. Its head features a modular technology platform capable of hosting a variety of stylized facial components. Amidst these imaginative stylistic transformations, one element remains constant: its wing-shaped ears. This is Éloi’s signature hallmark, inherited from Morpheus, who travels between the boundaries of dreams.

Animotion reportedly plans to progressively open a platform for users and creators to independently design and develop components, rapidly expanding its iterative production capacity.

About Animotion Robotics

Animotion was founded in San Francisco in 2025 by Shane (Shengjie) Zhu. A former robotics engineer at Walt Disney Imagineering, Shane spearheaded the development of the Captain Jack Sparrow animatronic for Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, as well as the Na’vi bionic installations at Disney’s Pandora – The World of Avatar in Orlando. Animotion completed its initial institutional funding round in early 2026.

Try talking with Éloi NOW at: https://eloi.animotionrobotics.ai/
Animotion on X: https://x.com/Animotion2026
Linktreehttps://linktr.ee/AnimotionRobotics
Discord: https://discord.gg/67MAeKcAgv

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SOURCE Animotion Robotics

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360training Expands Commercial Training Portfolio with Acquisition of Atlantic Training

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AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — 360training.com, Inc. today announced the acquisition of select assets from Atlantic Training, a provider of HR compliance, OSHA, and workplace safety training primarily serving businesses.

Founded in 2005, Atlantic Training has spent more than 20 years helping organizations address workplace training needs. The company has served more than 10,000 clients and delivered more than 5 million courses to organizations ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Its catalog includes workplace safety, HR compliance, soft skills, and OSHA-focused training across dozens of industries, along with its WAVE EHS management software. The acquisition also brings 305 courses offered through a variety of formats to 360training’s catalog.

The addition expands 360training’s capabilities for commercial and enterprise customers while supporting its strategy to accelerate B2B growth, increase recurring revenue, and expand its mix of contracted and relationship-based customer accounts. It builds on the strength of a company already recognized on Newsweek’s America’s Top Online Learning Providers list.

“Atlantic Training is a strong strategic addition because of its focus on helping businesses manage important training responsibilities across their workforces,” said Tom Anderson, CEO of 360training. “The acquisition expands the breadth of our commercial training portfolio while strengthening our ability to build long-term relationships with employers. As we continue to grow 360training, we are focused on bringing together specialized training portfolios that complement our existing capabilities and give businesses and learners access to a broader range of training solutions.”

“We saw a strong fit between Atlantic Training and 360training, particularly in our shared focus on helping businesses meet their workplace training and compliance needs,” said Anthony LaFazia, founder and CEO of Atlantic Training. “Throughout the process, the 360training team was transparent, commercially minded, and straightforward to work with, which made for a smooth transaction. We believe Atlantic Training is well positioned as part of 360training’s broader training portfolio, and we’re excited about the opportunities ahead for our customers.”

Atlantic Training’s catalog was built around the needs of employers, spanning safety and compliance as well as broader workforce development. Its addition strengthens 360training’s ability to support organizations managing training across multiple roles, locations and areas of responsibility, including industries experiencing significant investment and workforce expansion in construction, manufacturing, energy, utilities, data centers, and other infrastructure supporting the continued growth of AI and advanced technology across the United States.

“Workplace training plays an important role in helping organizations build safer environments and address their compliance responsibilities,” said Samantha Montalbano, COO of 360training. “As investment in infrastructure and AI drives new facilities, projects, and workforce needs across the country, employers need scalable ways to prepare workers and maintain strong safety and compliance practices. Bringing Atlantic Training’s capabilities together with 360training gives us an opportunity to support more businesses and employees with practical, high-quality training while advancing our broader mission of helping create safer communities.”

“For our business customers, the value is in making workforce training easier to access and manage while expanding the range of topics available to their teams,” said Ryan Linders, CMO of 360training. “Atlantic Training brings a catalog designed around the needs of employers, from workplace safety and OSHA training to HR compliance and soft skills. Adding those offerings gives us more ways to support employers across the employee lifecycle and build lasting relationships with organizations that have ongoing training needs.”

The addition of Atlantic Training builds on 360training’s broader strategy of expanding through specialized training providers with complementary expertise and established customer relationships. It strengthens a portfolio that already serves individuals and businesses across environmental health and safety, food and beverage, real estate, healthcare, financial services, and power and utilities.

Atlantic Training customers gain access to 360training’s broader online training infrastructure, while 360training customers gain a wider range of commercial training across workforce safety, compliance and professional development.

About 360training
Established in 1997, 360training.com, Inc. is a trusted leader specializing in comprehensive online training solutions for individuals and businesses across various industries, including food and beverage, environmental health and safety, real estate, healthcare, financial services, and power and utilities. Having issued over 21 million training certificates to 12.5+ million learners across 17+ brands, 360training embraces innovative technology and a commitment to quality education to offer accredited courses, fostering safe and healthy communities. As part of this commitment, the company continues to seek acquisition opportunities that build synergies and enhance value for its customers.

360training’s family of brands include Learn2Serve, OSHAcampus, AgentCampus, OSHA.com, VanEd, AdvanceOnline, ACLS Medical Training, American Health Training, American Resuscitation Council, Canadian Food Safety/SafeCheck®, Compliance Training Online, eMedCert.com, Hard Hat Training, HIPAA Exams, Mortgage Educators and Compliance (MEC), My Mortgage Trainer, National Food Handlers Foundation, National Forklift Foundation, National HAZWOPER Foundation, National OSHA Foundation, Ready Training Online (RTO®), TABC On The Fly, BASSET On The Fly, Certified On The Fly, TIPS, and UST Training. 360training is a portfolio company of GreyLion and Vestar Capital Partners.

Please visit www.360training.com or our social media accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn to learn more. 

About GreyLion Partners LP
GreyLion focuses on investing in high-growth businesses in the lower middle market across two sectors: (i) services and (ii) specialized industrial and manufacturing. The team seeks to partner with existing owners and management teams to deliver capital in tailored and flexible structures. The GreyLion partners have spent nearly two decades executing a consistent strategy of investing $25-$125 million of capital per investment, primarily within the United States. For more information on GreyLion, please visit www.greylion.com.

About Vestar Capital Partners
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments. Vestar invests and collaborates with incumbent management teams and private owners to build long-term enterprise value, focusing on Consumer, Business & Technology Services, and Healthcare.

About Atlantic Training
Founded in 2005, Atlantic Training provides online training solutions primarily for businesses, helping organizations address workplace safety, compliance and workforce development needs. Its training catalog includes workplace safety, OSHA, HR compliance and soft skills courses across dozens of industries, serving organizations ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Atlantic Training’s offerings also include WAVE EHS management software and a learning management system. For more information, visit www.atlantictraining.com.

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SOURCE 360training.com, Inc.

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The Nursing Shortage Is Growing: Gateway Education Makes RN Prerequisites More Affordable

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With a national shortage of registered nurses projected through 2038, Gateway Education is making general education and prerequisite courses more affordable and flexible for aspiring RNs.

GREENWOOD, Ind., Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — For someone who has dreamed of becoming a Registered Nurse, deciding to pursue that goal can be a big moment. For many students, the journey starts well before the first day of nursing school with the general education and prerequisite courses required for their program.

For students at different stages of life, finding an affordable and flexible way to complete those courses can play a big part in making the path to nursing feel realistic.

Gateway Education is working to make that part of the journey more affordable and flexible.

“When someone tells us they want to become a registered nurse, there is usually a reason behind it,” said David Christy, President of Gateway Education. “Maybe they desire expanded opportunities in healthcare, a better future for their family. Maybe they had an experience with a friend or family member that made them want to become a nurse, or maybe becoming a nurse has always been their dream. We want students to see that getting started may be more affordable and a lot easier than they originally thought.”

The need for more registered nurses gives that goal broader importance. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 180,800 openings for registered nurses each year, on average, from 2025 through 2035. The Health Resources and Services Administration also projects a national shortage of registered nurses through 2038.

It is no secret that America needs more nurses. And the nursing shortage doesn’t only affect people considering a career in healthcare. It affects patients, families and communities. Research has linked higher registered nurse staffing with better patient outcomes, including lower hospital mortality and fewer adverse events.

That is why creating more accessible ways for future nurses to begin their education matters. Gateway believes that making the first part of that journey more affordable and flexible can help more people see becoming a nurse as a realistic possibility. More people pursuing nursing today could mean a stronger nursing workforce caring for our families and communities in the years ahead.

Making the Path More Manageable

The majority of registered nursing programs require general education courses as part of their degree or admission requirements, even though specific requirements vary by school and program.

Depending on the nursing program, students may need courses such as Anatomy and Physiology I and II with labs, Microbiology with lab, Nutrition, Developmental Psychology, Psychology, Statistics and English Composition. Gateway offers these and many other courses online, allowing students to complete them at their own pace.

Students work through courses at their own pace rather than following a traditional semester schedule, giving them more control over when and how quickly they complete their coursework.

Gateway courses are $79 each, with a $95 monthly membership. Students can complete more than one course while their membership is active, so those who move through courses more quickly can lower their average cost per credit.

“There are people who would make incredible nurses but may look at the time and cost involved and decide it isn’t realistic for them,” Christy said. “If we can make the beginning of that journey more manageable, more of those people take the next step. When the country needs registered nurses, that matters.”

Just as important as getting started is knowing the courses will count. Gateway guarantees acceptance of its courses at partner colleges and universities. Students planning to attend a school outside Gateway’s partner network should confirm that school’s transfer requirements before enrolling.

Flexible Does Not Mean Less Rigorous

Students can complete a Gateway course at their own pace, but they still must do the work and demonstrate understanding of the material.

Gateway courses are ACE recommended for college credit and have been evaluated by independent faculty subject matter experts through the American Council on Education. The review considers course content, assessments, assignment rubrics, and examples of student work when determining the appropriate amount and level of recommended academic credit.

Students must complete the coursework, meet the learning outcomes, and complete mandatory assessments. The flexibility is in the pace, not the academic expectations.

About Gateway Education

Gateway Education provides affordable, flexible online college-level courses that help learners complete general education, prerequisite, and other eligible coursework on their path toward more than 500 degree options with Gateway partner institutions.

Courses are online and self-paced, with course materials, student support, and learning resources included in Gateway’s membership model. Gateway courses are ACE recommended for college credit and have been evaluated through the American Council on Education’s independent faculty review process.

To learn more, visit www.gatewayeducation.com.

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SOURCE Gateway Education

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EverPeak® expands to Georgia: instant, online workers’ comp insurance for small businesses

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New offering brings straightforward, reliable workers’ comp coverage directly to Georgia small business owners, backed by more than a century of industry experience

DENVER, Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — EverPeak, a workers’ compensation insurance solution built on the success of its Colorado-based direct channel with Pinnacol Assurance, today announced the launch of its direct-to-customer insurance offering in Georgia. The expansion marks EverPeak’s first step in bringing its fast, digital-first workers’ comp experience directly to small businesses in the U.S., giving Georgia business owners, even those with complex risk, a quicker, simpler way to get covered.

Georgia small business owners can now get an online quote and purchase a workers’ compensation policy in minutes, without ever picking up the phone. Policies start as low as $18 a month, and customers receive an instant certificate of insurance upon purchase, which eliminates the delays and paperwork often associated with traditional insurance buying.

“Small business owners in Georgia don’t have time to wait around for a quote,” said Kathy Kranz, EverPeak president. “We built this experience so that the hardest-working businesses in the state can get the coverage they need in the time it takes to grab a coffee, backed by the same expertise that’s made Pinnacol’s direct channel a success in Colorado.”

EverPeak’s Georgia launch targets the diverse array of small businesses that keep local economies running. A few examples of businesses EverPeak supports are contractors and skilled trades such as painters, carpenters, plumbers, and HVAC technicians; medical and veterinarian practices, small retailers and local e-commerce businesses, including boutiques, specialty grocers, and pet supply shops; professional service and technology firms, from law offices to software developers; and personal service and wellness businesses like salons, spas and dental practices. EverPeak’s prowess with complicated risks means many businesses are a good fit.

Fast, reliable coverage backed by decades of experience

EverPeak’s direct offering is designed around three core commitments to policyholders:

Speed and simplicity: An online quote process and instant certificate of insurance mean business owners can secure coverage without delay.Proven expertise: EverPeak is backed by more than 100 years of workers’ compensation experience.Responsive claims support: Via our partners, Policyholders can expect contact from a claims representative within 24 hours of reporting a claim, and a return-to-work program has helped injured employees return to work 25 days faster than the industry standard on average.

EverPeak also emphasizes accessible, high-quality customer service, with no phone trees and direct lines to support — an approach that has helped the company earn strong customer satisfaction scores.

Availability and what’s to come

EverPeak’s direct workers’ compensation quotes are available now to eligible small businesses in Georgia. Business owners can get a quote and purchase a policy online. EverPeak will be launching a direct channel in additional states soon.

About EverPeak Insurance

EverPeak Insurance is a workers’ compensation insurance solution offering comprehensive coverage and market-leading service for businesses across the United States. With an approach to care based on Pinnacol Assurance’s 100+ years of industry-leading underwriting, claims and risk management experience, we cover the hardest-working businesses because we work hard, too. EverPeak Insurance offers skilled protection for businesses with the toughest risks and partners with insurance agents who strive to offer the best protection to those businesses that need it most. Learn more at everpeak.com.

Key takeaways:

Georgia direct expansion: EverPeak launched its direct-to-customer digital workers’ compensation insurance in Georgia, marking its first state expansion for this direct model. EverPeak’s plans further state direct channel expansions.

Fast and affordable digital process: Georgia small business owners can obtain an online quote and policy in minutes starting as low as $18/month, receiving an instant certificate of insurance with zero phone trees.

Target industries: Focuses on a broad array of small to mid-sized businesses across skilled trades (contractors, plumbers, HVAC), small retail and e-commerce, professional services, and personal wellness practices (salons, dental practices).

Core benefits: Features an online quote workflow, 24-hour initial claims contact, and a return-to-work program that helps injured workers return 25 days faster than the industry average.

Media Contact:

Liz Johnson Director, Public Relations, EverPeak Insurance 720.939.7238 (mobile) liz.johnson@pinnacol.com

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SOURCE EverPeak Insurance

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