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Capital Markets Robust, HELOC Volume Up in Q2 2024 Home Equity Study

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Press Releases | 2024 Press Releases

FirstClose, LoanCare and Covius sponsor in-depth review of Q2 home-equity originations, capital markets and servicing

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Aug. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Home Equity Lending News LLC (HELN), the leading source for breaking news and statistics exclusively about home-equity finance, has published the Q2 2024 Home Equity Study sponsored by FirstClose Inc., a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for mortgage and home equity lenders nationwide. Quarterly HELOC originations turned higher after several consecutive quarterly declines, while capital markets conditions are robust.

This timely study was generously co-sponsored by LoanCare, a top U.S. mortgage subservicer, and Covius, a leading provider of technology-enabled solutions to the financial services industry.

FirstClose CEO Tedd Smith said, “The home equity market represents a pivotal opportunity for homeowners and lenders, alike. With the right technology and processes in place, lenders can unlock value and drive more efficient, transparent transactions, ultimately empowering homeowners to better leverage their home equity for their financial goals.”

After three consecutive quarters of slowing, HELOC production turned higher — though lending levels pale compared to available equity. Rocket’s home equity production doubled, and Better’s business was up by three quarters. A stream of new CES, HELOC and HEi products emerged.

“While some leaders are indicating that CES and HELOC lending will accelerate this year, all eyes are on the Fed and its response to upcoming economic reports,” HELN Executive Board Member Ralph Armenta said.

Home-equity RMBS issuance reached a recent record, with dollar volume on HELOC deals more than doubling, and both CES and HEi transaction count tripling. One insider noted that excess capital in the market has helped to stimulate securitizations.

Armenta added, “Industry players are reporting that home equity capital markets are frothy, and investor demand far outpaces the supply from originators.”

The report also covered the acquisition of two HEi players, Freddie Mac’s pilot CES program and a deep dive into interest rates and WACs.

Access the full 43-page study here.

About Home Equity Lending News
HELN is the leading source of breaking news and statistics exclusively about home-equity products – including closed-end second liens (CES), home-equity lines of credit (HELOC) and home-equity investment contracts (HEi). Our editorial team writes for home-equity originators, servicers, investors and other stakeholders. HELN was founded in 2022 by its CEO, Sam Garcia. Read more about home-equity lending online at www.HEL.News.

Media Contact
editor@HEL.News | 949.773.9237

 

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SOURCE Home Equity Lending News

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Agoda and OpenAI Bring AI Learning to Life at Agoda’s 12th Tech Camp Day in Thailand

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BANGKOK, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Digital travel platform Agoda hosted the 12th edition of Agoda Tech Camp Day on 5–6 November, welcoming over 420 students from four Thai universities. The latest edition, in collaboration with OpenAI, brings the program’s cumulative reach to over 4,100 students since 2023.

Delivered in collaboration with OpenAI, the program introduced university students to foundational AI concepts and practical ways to use ChatGPT in their academic and future professional lives, drawing on real-world examples from Agoda.

Agoda’s AI Developer Report 2026 found that junior developers were nearly three times as likely as senior developers to cite a lack of skills as a barrier to wider AI agent adoption (17% versus 6%). The finding underscores the value of giving students early, hands-on opportunities to work with AI and build the skills to apply it thoughtfully as software development evolves.

Throughout the Tech Camp Day workshops, students explored ChatGPT’s agentic capabilities, comparing conversational interactions in Chat mode with tool-enabled workflows in Work mode. They used personal instructions, tools, and skills to guide an agent through multi-step tasks, transforming spreadsheet data into a presentation and an interactive web app. Students also built and published their own applications and learned to package workflow instructions into reusable skills, enabling an agent to repeat the same set of steps from a single prompt.

As part of the collaboration, participating students will receive two months of ChatGPT Plus access, giving them an extended period after the event to practice with ChatGPT, apply AI to their studies and career preparation, and build on the skills introduced at the workshop.

“AI becomes useful when people understand what it can do, where its limitations are, and how to apply it to a problem they want to solve,” said Idan Zalzberg, Chief Technology Officer at Agoda. “Tech Camp Day lets us share Agoda’s practical experience with future tech talent in Thailand and across the region. Working with OpenAI connects that experience with expertise in building AI, helping students use it responsibly and giving educators and policymakers practical insights to build on.”

“Thailand’s students are already curious about what AI can do. Access to AI is just the beginning. We also want to help them build the confidence and skills to use it well, to ask better questions, explore ideas and build things they might not have been able to build before,” said Sandy Kunvatanagarn, OpenAI’s Head of Policy for ASEAN. “That means learning to use the tools available to them, while questioning the output, checking sources and applying their own judgment. Through our work with Agoda, we hope students can carry these skills into their studies and future careers.”

The appetite for AI is already visible in Thailand, which ranks among the top 20 countries for weekly active ChatGPT users. According to OpenAI’s internal data, the three most common uses of ChatGPT among 18- to 24-year-olds in Thailand are creative media, writing and communication, and education and learning, reflecting how young people are using AI to create, communicate and learn.

The program brought together first- to fourth-year students from Sripatum University, Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakhon, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, and Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.

Dr. Preesan Rakwatin, Acting Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Operational Officer, Digital Transformation Unit, Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) also attended the event’s opening ceremony, broadening government support for the program alongside the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

“Building AI skills is essential to preparing Thailand’s young people for the changing world of work and strengthening our digital economy,” commented Dr. Preesan. “This initiative by Agoda and OpenAI brings together practical applications and AI expertise, giving students opportunities to develop skills relevant to their future careers, supporting our ambition to broaden access to AI learning and help people use the technology responsibly and productively.”

As Thailand advances AI adoption and its digital economy, practical AI skills can help drive productivity, growth and new jobs. Through Tech Camp Day, Agoda and OpenAI support these ambitions while developing the next generation of Thai technology talent. The initiative also builds on Agoda’s ties to Thailand, a key technology hub where its teams develop solutions used by travelers worldwide, by sharing that expertise with local universities.

Since its launch, Agoda Tech Camp Day, Agoda’s technology-focused social impact initiative, has offered high school and university students hands-on learning in emerging technology fields, including AI applications, UX/UI design and web development. Through workshops developed and led by Agoda engineers, the program connects technical learning with real-world applications, helping students build practical skills and explore further study and career opportunities in technology.

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SOURCE Agoda

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From Cars to Homes: OMODA & JAECOO Ecosystem Partner AiMOGA Robotics Unveils Its First Home Companion Robot

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WUHU, China, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Automotive competition in intelligent technology is moving fast beyond the cabin. Perception, decision-making and control capabilities honed in cars are now finding their way into homes and city services.

On October 21, during the OMODA & JAECOO International User Summit, AiMOGA Robotics, an embodied AI ecosystem partner, held its global launch in Wuhu and opened pre-orders for Mobo, its first home companion robot—marking its entry from commercial services into the consumer home market. It also displayed its full robot portfolio for business and household use. Supported by OMODA & JAECOO’s intelligent technology and global channels, AiMOGA Robotics applies embodied AI across multiple scenarios.

Expanding into the Consumer Market: Mobo Combines Advanced Technology with Warm Companionship. Powered by the MoAgent agent, Mobo integrates home spatial awareness, natural interaction, full-body motion control, long-term memory and an edge-cloud architecture, enabling it to break down long-horizon tasks while adapting to complex home environments. It covers three core scenarios: elderly care and companionship, children’s companionship, and whole-family care. With 22 degrees of freedom, it recognises family members, remembers their preferences and provides end-to-end data privacy protection. At launch, 35 early adopters became Mobo’s inaugural Global Angel User Experience Ambassadors. Since debuting at the World Robot Conference in August, Mobo has drawn interest from over 10,000 prospective users worldwide, with plans to refine its interactions, features and services based on family habits across markets.

On the market side, AiMOGA Robotics announced an initial network of 300 experience centres worldwide, supporting partners across solutions, digital marketing, financial and insurance services, and after-sales—building a global channel connecting experience, sales and service. It also plans a global robotics rental brand serving healthcare, transportation, education, security, culture and tourism.

Alongside Mobo, the company showcased its broader portfolio: Mornine for high-end business reception, the Intelligent Security Robot R001 for public safety patrols, the Robotic Nurse RN001 for patient guidance, and the Argos quadruped for specialised inspection and outdoor operations. Cumulative commercial deliveries have passed 3,000 units across more than 60 countries and regions, with field data feeding back into continuous iteration.

Extending Automotive Engineering Capabilities. Autonomous driving and embodied AI share common logic in environmental perception algorithms, motion control models, hardware mass production and supply chain quality control. Drawing on an established automotive R&D and manufacturing system, AiMOGA Robotics reuses automotive supply-chain resources and R&D technologies, bringing automotive-grade quality control and affordability to its robots—lowering the costs of trial and error and scaled production versus start-ups. As embodied AI enters the window between prototype demonstrations and large-scale deployment, this portfolio and global expansion will further enrich OMODA & JAECOO’s intelligent ecosystem, extending intelligence from vehicles into more areas of everyday life.

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SOURCE OMODA | JAECOO

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ASTRI Establishes Advisory Board for Smart Mobility Technology Alliance

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Bringing Together Industry, Academia and Research to Drive Mobility Innovation

HONG KONG, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) announced the establishment of an Advisory Board for the Smart Mobility Technology Alliance (SMTA), an industry-leading initiative designed to accelerate the adoption and scaling of next-generation smart mobility technologies across the Greater Bay Area and beyond. The SMTA aims to address critical challenges and foster a commercially-driven ecosystem for innovation in the smart mobility sector.

The newly-formed Advisory Board comprises distinguished leaders from infrastructure, transport, telecommunications, and academia, offering a wide-ranging blend of industry expertise, market intelligence and policy insight. Drawing on their extensive network and experience across the public and private sectors, the Advisory Board will shape the SMTA’s strategic priorities, identify emerging opportunities, and provide guidance on the evolving mobility landscape.

“The formation of the SMTA Advisory Board underscores ASTRI’s commitment to advancing Hong Kong as a regional leader in technology-driven mobility,” said Ir Dr Ted Suen, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI. “By uniting industry, government, academia and research around a shared vision, this strategic alliance will unlock commercial opportunities and deliver transformative solutions that redefine the future of mobility,” he added.

The Advisory Board provides strategic guidance on SMTA’s vision and research and development priorities, helping to align its initiatives with market needs and commercialisation opportunities. It supports ecosystem development by fostering partnerships across industry, academia and the public sector, while facilitating pilot projects and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. The Board also offers insights on policy and standards, and promotes engagement with key stakeholders and international partners to advance future mobility innovation.

Members of the Advisory Board for Smart Mobility Technology Alliance include:

Chairman

Dr Ying Huang, Chief Technology Officer, ASTRI

Deputy Chairman

Mr Dominic Chow, Deputy Director-General of Civil Aviation, HKSAR Government

Secretary

Dr Ivan Sham, Chief Director, Technical Solutions Business Development, ASTRI

Members (by alphabetical order in surname)

Mr Lawrence Fong, Director, Digital and IT, Cathay Pacific Airways LimitedMr William Ho, Executive Director, Corporate Development, Airport Authority Hong KongIr Dr John Hui, Deputy Executive Director, Vocational Training CouncilMr Ryan Ip, Vice President of Our Hong Kong FoundationProf Mei-po Kwan, Director, Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong KongDr Gabriel Leung, Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Solutions, Hong Kong Broadband Network LimitedMr Roger Ma, General Manager (Operations), Citybus LimitedMr Steve Ng, Managing Director, Commercial Group, HKT LimitedMs Sylvia Ng, Deputy Director, Corporate Development, MTR Corporation LimitedMr BY Sim, General Manager (Hong Kong SAR), Thales Solutions and Services Hong Kong LimitedMr Alex Wong, Deputy CEO, Corporate Affairs, Hong Kong Representative Office, Huawei International Co LimitedDr Rosana Wong, Deputy Chair and Executive Director, Yau Lee Holdings LimitedMs Yan Yan, General Manager, Keeta Drone Hong KongMs Theresa Yeung, Managing Principal, East Asia, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited

Launched by ASTRI in April 2023, the Smart Mobility Technology Alliance (formerly the Smart Mobility Technology (C-V2X) Alliance) provides a networking and knowledge sharing platform for ecosystem stakeholders. These include infrastructure manufacturers, telecommunications providers, EV and drone developers, system integrators, and end users from China, in particular the Greater Bay Area, and overseas markets, all seeking to explore collaboration and technology commercialisation in the smart mobility field.

SMTA Website: https://smta.astri.org/

Photos Download: https://bit.ly/4s0M9ex

 

About ASTRI

Founded in 2000 by the HKSAR Government, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is the city’s largest government-funded R&D centre. Committed to transforming high-impact research into practical innovations, ASTRI drives market-driven, interdisciplinary advancements across sectors, including Smart City, FinTech, Digital Health and Life Sciences, New Industrialisation and Intelligent Manufacturing, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) and Advanced Electronics, New Energy and Energy Storage, and Green and ESG Technologies. Following its merger with the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, ASTRI has further strengthened its capabilities, with over 1,500 patents and 2,200 successful cases of technology transfer. Recognised with numerous international awards, ASTRI continues to nurture top I&T talent and foster collaborations among the I&T ecosystem, contributing to Hong Kong’s high-value economic development. For more information, please visit: https://www.astri.org

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SOURCE Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI)

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