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Motional Open-Sources Dataset to Help Autonomous Vehicles Master Human-Like Reasoning

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World’s first reasoning-centric, long-tail scenario open dataset designed to teach autonomous vehicles (AVs) human-like reasoning and decision making
Motional launches nuReasoning Challenge at European Conference on Computer Vision for researchers and practitioners to advance next-generation driving foundation models
Dataset and Challenge developed in partnership with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Mobility Lab and its Director, Professor Jiaqi Ma

BOSTON, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Motional, a leader in autonomous driving technology, announces the release of nuReasoning, the world’s first reasoning-centric, long-tail scenario open dataset designed to teach autonomous vehicles (AVs) human-like reasoning and decision making. nuReasoning serves to advance the AV industry by training end-to-end autonomous systems with the common-sense intuition needed to navigate complex edge cases.

Today’s most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) is moving beyond simply recognizing what it sees toward understanding the physical world, reasoning about what could happen next, and deciding how to act. Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models bring these capabilities together, but they need training data that teaches more than just the correct action, they also need to learn the logic behind that action. nuReasoning provides this missing supervision by teaching models to understand spatial relationships, reason about driving decisions, anticipate risks, and consider alternative outcomes.

Along with having 20,000 long-tail scenarios, nuReasoning provides unparalleled annotation. Each long-tail event, selected from Motional’s millions of miles of driving data, has a video clip of at least 20 seconds that is embedded with high-quality and human verified reasoning. Through this annotation, researchers are able to understand not just what an AV perceives, but why specific actions were taken and why alternative choices were ruled unsafe.

A nuReasoning miniset release earlier this year has already been downloaded over 50,000 times, underscoring the need for a dataset of this kind within the advanced AI research community.

As shown above, one nuReasoning scenario features a nighttime construction zone and shows that the AV stopped before proceeding forward. The stop could be taken as the AV not understanding how to proceed through the zone. The scenario annotation details that the AV actually stopped correctly for a small animal crossing the road up ahead. Alternate routes were rejected because of construction barriers and the animal’s unknown speed and direction.

“To safely expand AV fleets, autonomous driving systems must react to rare, chaotic edge cases with the same assured logic as an experienced human driver,” said Phil Michel, Motional’s Senior Vice President of Autonomy and AI. “At Motional, we’re prioritizing transparent AI so we can clearly evaluate real-time decision-making and risk assessment. By making nuReasoning openly available, we’re offering a shared foundation to help the entire industry solve edge cases and advance toward scalable autonomous operation.”

To catalyze global research, Motional is hosting a nuReasoning Challenge, launching at the European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) in Sweden. The dataset and Challenge were created in partnership with the UCLA Mobility Lab and Professor Jiaqi Ma.

nuReasoning Dataset

Mined from real-world Motional fleet data across Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, and Singapore, nuReasoning features:

Over 105 hours of carefully selected reasoning intensive edge cases including unusual pedestrian activity, work zones and night road construction, animal crossings, and limited visibility scenarios.
Diverse reasoning annotations support a broad range of VLA model training, including Spatial Reasoning, Decision Reasoning, and Counterfactual Reasoning.

247,000 reasoning annotations with human verified quality assurance.
Multi-modal sensor types to provide complete scene representation in 3D space. 

Additionally, Motional has integrated its proprietary Omnitag data search engine, giving nuReasoning researchers an intuitive navigation layer to query dataset distributions by scenario type, difficulty level, and location. Furthermore, Omnitag unlocks powerful natural language semantic search, allowing users to search complex tactical interactions, such as “emergency vehicle approaching behind with a construction site nearby ” and instantly isolate matching data.

nuReasoning Challenge at European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV)

Motional and the UCLA Mobility Lab are hosting the nuReasoning Challenge, launching at ECCV in Sweden.

The Challenge is designed as a joint evaluation of planning and reasoning on 1,000 private-test scenarios.

Explainable Trajectory & Motion Planning: Benchmarking physical motion planning accuracy and safety compliance when guided by explicit counterfactual reasoning.
Long-Tail Visual Question Answering & Scene Reasoning: Evaluating a model’s ability to accurately infer spatial relationships, causal decision traces, and risk factors in edge cases.

Interested participants can find more information here. Submissions will be evaluated, and Challenge winners will be announced at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) in December.

Pioneering Open Safety Standards: From nuScenes to nuReasoning

nuReasoning extends Motional’s legacy of advancing AV research through open data, beginning with nuScenes in 2019, the industry’s first multi-modal public AV dataset, and continuing through nuImages, Panoptic nuScenes, and nuPlan. By providing open benchmarks, Motional empowers academic and commercial engineers to establish unified safety standards for AV perception, trajectory planning, and explainable AI.

Motional’s datasets are available for commercial licensing or free academic use subject to Motional’s non-commercial terms and conditions. Interested users can contact nuscenes@motional.com.

About Motional:

Motional is an autonomous vehicle technology company on a mission to make driverless vehicles a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. The company formed in 2020 and is majority-owned by Hyundai Motor Group, one of the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers. Motional has extensive experience in commercial robotaxi operations, with service currently available on the Uber network in Las Vegas and plans for driverless operations by the end of 2026. Headquartered in Boston, Motional has operations in the U.S. and Singapore. For more information, visit www.Motional.com and follow the company on LinkedIn.

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SOURCE Motional

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Eliza Appoints Lori Borg as Chief Operating Officer

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September 8, 2026

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SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Eliza, an AI-native consulting firm that embeds forward-deployed engineers into enterprises to build production AI systems and AI fluency, today announced that Lori Borg has joined as Chief Operating Officer.

Borg will oversee Eliza’s operations as the company expands its work with OpenAI and helps more enterprises adopt and build production AI systems.

“Lori brings founder experience, operating discipline, and a deep understanding of partner-driven growth,” said Stephen Garden, Co-Founder and CEO of Eliza. “She knows how to build the systems and teams that allow a company to scale without slowing it down. That experience will be critical as we expand our work with OpenAI and help more enterprises move AI into production.”

Borg brings more than two decades of experience building and scaling technology businesses across the Microsoft ecosystem. She founded and served as CEO of Northwest Cadence, a Microsoft partner focused on DevOps, software development, data, and AI. The company was acquired by 10th Magnitude in 2018, which was later acquired by Cognizant. Borg went on to serve as Cognizant’s Global Head of the Microsoft Alliance, lead MCA Connect’s Azure, data, and AI business, and most recently serve as Microsoft’s Vice President of Go-to-Market for Americas Enterprise Partner Sales.

“I’m thrilled to join Eliza at such an exciting point in its journey,” said Borg. “The growth the company has achieved in such a short time is a testament to the strength of its mission, team, and vision. I’m inspired by what Eliza has built so far and excited to help support its continued momentum and next phase of growth.”

Eliza was recently named an OpenAI Advanced Partner and is investing in new talent, deeper industry expertise, and global expansion. As COO, Borg will focus on building the operating foundation needed to support that growth while maintaining the speed and quality Eliza’s clients expect.

About Eliza

Eliza is an AI-native consulting firm that helps enterprises build and adopt production AI systems on OpenAI. Its embedded teams combine AI strategy, forward-deployed engineering, workflow redesign, and enablement to move from high-value use cases to systems that operate at scale. Eliza works alongside client teams to transfer capability, so they can own and extend what they build. Learn more at eliza.com.

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SOURCE Eliza

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Visual Graphic Systems, Inc. Acquires ImageLife, Establishing Southeast Manufacturing and Sales Presence

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September 8, 2026

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Acquisition expands VGS’s architectural-signage capabilities, manufacturing capacity and regional service platform through a new Nashville operation.

CARLSTADT, N.J. and NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Visual Graphic Systems, Inc. (VGS), a 100% employee-owned, fully integrated visual-communications, design and manufacturing company, today announced that it has acquired ImageLife, LLC, a Nashville-based architectural-signage company. The transaction closed on September 1, 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Together, VGS and ImageLife are creating greater capacity and a stronger service platform for customers throughout the Southeast and across the country.”

Although VGS has served national clients across 12 vertical markets for over four decades, the acquisition establishes the company’s first physical manufacturing, sales and operational presence in the Southeast. Operating as ImageLife, LLC, a VGS Company, the Nashville location will complement VGS’s Carlstadt, New Jersey headquarters and manufacturing operation while expanding the combined organization’s architectural-signage expertise and regional reach.

“The acquisition of ImageLife represents an important next step in VGS’s national growth strategy,” said Paul Theodore, President and Chief Executive Officer of VGS. “Our companies share a commitment to craftsmanship, customer service and building long-term relationships. By bringing together ImageLife’s architectural-signage expertise and strong Nashville presence with VGS’s integrated design, manufacturing and national rollout capabilities, we are creating greater capacity, broader expertise and a stronger service platform for customers throughout the Southeast and across the country.”

ImageLife is a boutique architectural-signage manufacturer and turnkey provider specializing in custom architectural signage, environmental graphics, wayfinding and ADA signage, branded environments, exterior signage and specialty fabrication. Its hands-on design-build approach—from engineering coordination through installation—is particularly suited to complex, highly customized work. The company’s approximately 10,000-square-foot Nashville facility and 14-person team will remain in place, with room to expand the operation to approximately twice its current size.

The Nashville team will continue delivering complete projects and serving its relationships with general contractors, developers, architects and designers, now supported by VGS’s substantially larger manufacturing platform, integrated design resources and national rollout capabilities. The combined organization will be positioned to pursue larger, more complex opportunities while providing added production flexibility and closer Southeast support. VGS expects to invest in additional equipment, personnel, technology and sales resources as the Nashville business grows.

Cody Chlebowski will continue to oversee the Nashville operation, join the VGS Executive Management Team and serve as Vice President of Architectural Sales.

“Joining VGS creates an exciting opportunity for our employees and customers,” Chlebowski said. “We are preserving the responsiveness, relationships, hands-on problem-solving and accountability that have built ImageLife’s reputation, while gaining access to VGS’s design resources, manufacturing scale and national platform. Together, we will be able to pursue larger opportunities, expand our capabilities and continue growing in Nashville and throughout the Southeast.”

VGS views Nashville as an integral component of its five-year growth plan. The region’s continued development, central geographic position and strong labor market provide a foundation for serving customers throughout the Southeast. The company anticipates that expansion of the Nashville production and distribution operation will create additional local employment opportunities and remains open to further strategic opportunities that support its national growth.

The DAK Group, Ltd. served as financial advisor to VGS in connection with the transaction.

About Visual Graphic Systems, Inc.

Visual Graphic Systems, Inc. (VGS) is a 100% employee-owned, fully integrated visual-communications, design and manufacturing company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. For 45 years, VGS has helped leading brands translate strategy into built environments through design, value engineering, rapid prototyping, fabrication and national rollout. Supported by an in-house design studio and 110,000 square feet of New Jersey manufacturing space, VGS delivers interior and exterior signage, graphics and décor, display fixtures, print production, menu boards, drive-thru systems, wayfinding and ADA signage, donor recognition, millwork and digital/interactive solutions across 12 vertical markets and thousands of projects. Learn more at www.vgsonline.com.

About ImageLife, LLC

ImageLife, LLC is a Nashville-based boutique architectural-signage manufacturer and turnkey provider serving commercial, cultural and healthcare environments. Through a hands-on design-build model, the company delivers custom architectural signage, environmental graphics, way-finding and ADA signage, branded environments, exterior signage and specialty fabrication. Known for solving complex, highly customized architectural challenges, ImageLife operates from an approximately 10,000-square-foot facility with capacity for future expansion and now operates as ImageLife, LLC, a VGS Company.

Media Contact

Patrick Benasillo, EVP & CCO, Visual Graphic Systems, Inc., 1 201-528-2224, pbenasillo@vgs-inc.com, www.vgsonline.com

LinkedIn

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SOURCE Visual Graphic Systems, Inc.

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CPP Investments Insights Institute research identifies what makes markets investible

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September 8, 2026

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New reports developed in support of the Canada Investment Summit find trust attracts global capital, but scale, bankability and execution determine whether it deploys

Highlights

Market opportunity is the primary driver of capital allocationDigital and AI infrastructure are strongest global investment themesCanada leads major countries in investor intention to maintain or increase investments

TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2026 /CNW/ — CPP Investments Insights Institute today published two complementary reports examining how global institutional investors decide where to deploy capital and what makes markets investible. The findings, published in the lead-up to the Canada Investment Summit, highlight Canada’s strong position among global markets and its opportunity to translate investor confidence into greater investment.

Competing for Capital: How Global Investors Choose Markets explains how global institutional investors evaluate markets, while Trusted, But Untapped: Canada’s Next Competitive Advantage Is Investibility applies those findings to Canada. Together, the reports examine how markets can convert investor interest into long-term capital deployment.

The Canada Investment Summit, scheduled for September 14 and 15 in Toronto, will bring together global investors, business leaders and public-sector representatives to explore investment opportunities in Canada, strengthen relationships with partners and advance commercial conversations that can translate investment interest into action.

The research draws on insights from 65 senior investment professionals across 20 countries, representing approximately $65 trillion in assets under management, which is roughly one-third of estimated global AUM. Respondents included pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers and other institutional investors across public and private markets.

Leading drivers of capital allocation

Market opportunity is the leading driver of capital allocation, cited by 80% of respondents, followed by regulatory efficiency and predictability at 72%, and policy stability at 69%. Leading barriers include unattractive risk-adjusted returns, policy reversal and regulatory uncertainty, among others.

“Global capital is looking for opportunity, but opportunity alone does not make a market investible,” said Naomi Powell, Director, Insights Institute, CPP Investments. “Trust and predictable rules build confidence, but capital ultimately moves to opportunities with sufficient scale, profitable structures and a credible path to execution.”

Investors also see a shift in where opportunities are coming from. Digital and AI infrastructure leads global investment themes at 65%, followed by energy at 43%, technology and semiconductors at 42% and defence at 35%.

Investors increasingly see AI, energy, transmission, critical minerals and logistics as an interconnected infrastructure system. Data centres require reliable electricity; electricity requires generation, transmission and distribution; and those systems depend on permitting, financing, engineering and secure critical-mineral supplies.

Canada’s opportunities and challenges

Against that backdrop, Trusted But Untapped finds Canada well positioned. Among eight developed markets, it has the strongest investor retention profile: 94% expect to maintain or increase Canadian exposure over the next three years, ahead of Japan at 82% and the United States at 77%.

Canada is valued for policy stability, regulatory predictability and openness to global capital, and ranks second to the United States for access to sophisticated local investment partners. Its strengths in energy, natural resources and critical minerals also align with growing global demand for infrastructure supporting AI, electrification, advanced manufacturing and strategic industries.

The challenge is converting these advantages into investible opportunities at scale.

“Canada has already earned something increasingly valuable: the trust of global investors,” Powell said. “The opportunity now is to turn that confidence into profitable investments. Connecting Canada’s strengths in energy, critical minerals and infrastructure to AI and other emerging themes can position the country for the next wave of global capital.”

The reports find that investibility can be strengthened through clear project pipelines, predictable regulation, revenue certainty, effective risk-sharing and institutional-scale investment structures.

About CPP Investments Insights Institute 

CPP Investments Insights Institute delivers actionable insights on the most pressing challenges facing long-term investors. Drawing on CPP Investments’ global expertise, the Institute partners with business leaders, academics and leading think tanks to publish high-impact research and convene conversations that advance investing excellence and long-term value.

About CPP Investments

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund in the best interest of the more than 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, we make investments around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure, fixed income and alternative strategies including in partnership with funds. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York City, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At June 30, 2026, the Fund totalled C$863.6 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram or on X @CPPInvestments.

SOURCE Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

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