CRADA and related SpaceWERX Phase I research will explore space-based computing approaches for weather-modeling applications

PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sophia Space today announced a new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with MIT Lincoln Laboratory to investigate how space-based computing approaches could support high-resolution weather-modeling research for remote operating environments.

The collaboration combines MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s weather-modeling research expertise with Sophia Space’s edge-compute concepts. The effort will explore whether distributed computing can support more timely environmental information for planning and decision-support applications.

Under the agreement, MIT Lincoln Laboratory will contribute weather-modeling research expertise, including the identification of modeling configurations, parameters, and data sources for evaluation. The team will develop representative test data and assess weather-model performace against defined research metrics using frameworks compatible with Sophia Space’s initial hardware configurations.

Sophia Space will provide the AI-inference compute environment for evaluating representative weather-model workloads, including terrestrial and potential space-based computing configurations. The organizations will explore high-level system and service architectures that may inform future research into space-based computing applications.

Sophia Space and MIT Lincoln Laboratory are also pursuing related work under Department of the Air Force STTR Topic SF25D-T1201 through the SpaceWERX Futures Series: Adaptive and Intelligent Space Challenge. The related effort examines technologies relevant to autonomous, resilient, and networked space-system operations.

“This partnership reflects our conviction that space-based computing infrastructure should be developed through rigorous collaboration between commercial innovators and world-class research institutions,” said Rob DeMillo, Co-founder and CEO of Sophia Space. “MIT Lincoln Laboratory brings unmatched weather sensing, forecasting and decision-support research expertise, and together we will explore the potential application of space-based computing to weather-modeling research.”

The collaboration aligns with Sophia Space’s research interests in edge-compute architectures, distributed processing, and sensor fusion integration for environments.

“Timely weather information is critical for operations in remote and contested environments,” said Dr. Timothy Bonin, Assistant Group Leader of the Air Traffic Control & Weather Systems Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. “This collaboration allows us to explore how space-based computing can help process satellite observations and other environmental data closer to the point of collection, while assessing potential impacts on communications demands and information-delivery timelines.”

About Sophia Space Inc.
Sophia Space is building the future of orbital computing and in-space data centers. Its modular TILE (Thermal-Integrated LEO Edge) technology enables passive computing alongside in-situ data processing, AI acceleration, and edge computing for satellites, defense systems, and commercial space stations—dramatically reducing latency and delivering actionable insights where and when they are needed. Learn more at www.sophia.space.

About MIT Lincoln Laboratory
MIT Lincoln Laboratory is a federally funded research and development (R&D) center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Since 1951, the Laboratory has developed technology that has transformed the activities of the defense, scientific, and industry communities. Its mission focuses on long-term technology development as well as rapid system prototyping and demonstration. Through several mechanisms, it facilitates partnerships with companies to advance R&D and increase U.S. technical competitiveness. Learn more at www.ll.mit.edu.

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SOURCE Sophia Space

Collaboration to connect AstraZeneca’s scientific and therapeutic expertise with Oracle’s real-world data, cloud, AI, and clinical capabilities to accelerate clinical research and bring evidence-driven insights into care workflows to help improve patient care

AUSTIN, Texas and ABU DHABI, UAE, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Oracle today announced an agreement with AstraZeneca to explore how AI and real-world data can help clinicians identify eligible patients for clinical trials, accelerate evidence generation, and bring relevant research insights into everyday care. The collaboration is expected to combine AstraZeneca’s scientific and therapeutic expertise with Oracle’s health data, cloud, AI, analytics, and clinical workflow capabilities.

Through a non-binding agreement, the companies plan to explore selected use cases that could improve clinical-trial efficiency and success by leveraging modern applications and AI to help care teams identify eligible patients earlier and easier, resulting in greater access to clinical trials for patients in need and helping to overcome one of the largest obstacles in clinical trials – patient recruitment. Initial disease areas to be explored could include oncology; cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases; respiratory and immunology; and rare diseases.

Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca said: “This unique collaboration brings leaders in healthcare and AI together at a global scale to accelerate the journey from the discovery of medicine to patient care. Combining AstraZeneca’s world class science with Oracle’s deep data and technology expertise, we can help clinicians identify patients sooner, optimize clinical trials, and generate evidence continuously across the lifecycle of a medicine.”

“Some of the most important opportunities for AI are in healthcare, where better use of data can help turn scientific innovation into better outcomes for patients,” noted Mike Sicilia, chief executive officer, Oracle. “By bringing AstraZeneca’s scientific expertise together with Oracle’s data, cloud, AI, and healthcare capabilities, we have an opportunity to help accelerate research, connect more patients to clinical trials, and ultimately bring relevant insights into care faster.”

Connecting Research and Care

Anne-Claire Gerbaldi, Chief Digital, Data and AI Officer, AstraZeneca, added: “Too many patients are diagnosed late or face a long journey to get the care they need. To build the next decade of medicine, we aim to harness AI to connect learnings across science, clinical trials, and everyday care, generating insights that continuously strengthen research, accelerate innovation, and enhance patient outcomes. Bringing together the unique capabilities of Oracle and AstraZeneca, we believe we can support smarter clinical trials, strengthen safety monitoring, and help ensure patients are diagnosed sooner and receive the right care.”

Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Health and Life Sciences, said: “Healthcare progress depends on shortening the distance between scientific insight and the decisions clinicians make every day. AstraZeneca brings deep scientific and therapeutic expertise, and Oracle will deliver the secure data, cloud, AI, and clinical workflow capabilities. This collaboration has the potential to help health systems identify eligible patients sooner, broaden access to clinical trials, and generate evidence that supports the next decision, all under the governance of the health systems delivering care.”

AstraZeneca and Oracle intend to explore a continuous learning model in which insights from clinical research and routine care help inform future study design, safety monitoring, and patient care. The companies plan to establish shared governance, reusable technical components, and agreed outcome measures to assess results and determine whether successful approaches could extend across disease areas and geographies.

About Oracle
Oracle offers integrated suites of applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit www.oracle.com.

Trademarks
Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company – ushering in the new era of cloud computing.

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SOURCE Oracle

Branded AI assistant brings everyday business activities into messaging channels, reducing the need for separate software and specialist teams

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Loyyal today unveiled the Perxi AI Business Suite, enabling small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to manage everyday business activities through WhatsApp. Building on its introduction as a loyalty assistant, Perxi brings commerce, customer engagement and business management into one conversational interface, with capabilities including ordering, customer service and loyalty.

The suite helps SMEs and direct-to-consumer brands manage these activities without purchasing separate ordering systems, customer relationship management software or support tools. Its conversational approach reduces the need to hire specialists or train employees to operate multiple systems.

“Small business owners should be able to focus on growth without assembling a collection of software tools,” said Ashish Kumar Singh, Founder and CEO of Loyyal.

“Perxi brings everyday business capabilities into WhatsApp under each business’s own brand. We want to make these tools affordable and accessible while helping businesses retain greater control over their customer relationships, data and decisions.”

Perxi provides the underlying technology, while each business launches its assistant under its own brand name. Customers engage directly with the business they recognise, rather than entering a separate Perxi marketplace.

Customers can place orders, ask questions, receive assistance and access rewards within a familiar conversation. There is no additional branded application to install or separate login to remember. This approach is designed to appeal to younger consumers accustomed to discovering and interacting with brands through mobile messaging.

Beyond WhatsApp, Perxi can be deployed across messaging channels suited to each business and market, including Instagram, WeChat and KakaoTalk.
Multilingual capabilities enable businesses to serve customers in their preferred languages, supporting brands operating beyond English and those engaging diverse communities.

As conversational commerce and AI assistants become more prominent, SMEs face growing expectations for convenient, responsive interactions. Bringing business services into messaging channels offers a way to meet those expectations while building direct customer relationships.

Marketplaces and aggregators offer a fast route to market, but access to customer information and engagement opportunities varies. Perxi helps businesses establish a direct channel and gain insights from their own customer conversations and transactions.

These insights can inform service improvements, personalised engagement and retention, while reducing dependence on intermediaries for customer access.

Pricing is designed to remain simple and affordable. Loyyal plans further services under the same umbrella.

Perxi will return to exhibit at Dubai AI Festival on October 26–27, 2026, at Dubai World Trade Centre.

About Loyyal

Loyyal is a US-born, UAE-based enterprise technology company helping businesses turn loyalty and customer engagement into growth and revenue. Combining patented blockchain technology with AI, its modular portfolio spans loyalty management, rewards, points exchange, offers, gift cards, gamification and conversational business assistants.

Media Contact

Marketingdepartment@loyyal.com

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