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Centro Accelerates Growth and Expands Platform Capabilities with Enhanced Communication and Engagement Solutions

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Strategic Expansion Strengthens Centro’s Role as a Transformational Force in the Broker and Carrier Space

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Centro Benefits Research (Centro), a leading employee benefits consulting and technology firm, today announced a major expansion of its platform, aimed at transforming the broker-carrier ecosystem. Centro’s cutting-edge platform is expanding by adding advanced benefits communication technologies and engagement tools to its robust suite of solutions, including its API-driven rating and quoting platforms, further underscoring its position as one of the most comprehensive and impactful players in the ancillary space.

The addition of these enhanced solutions comes with Centro’s acquisition of EOI Service Company (EOI), a well-established leader serving brokers and large employer groups in benefit communications and employee engagement. This marks a pivotal moment in Centro’s ongoing growth strategy. By integrating EOI’s specialized solutions, Centro is deepening its technology and service offerings, equipping broker partners with advanced tools to better serve their clients and drive greater value.

“We are entering a new era of growth at Centro, building on our technology foundation to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the benefits space,” said Dan McAlone, Founder & President, Centro. “With the addition of EOI’s expertise, we’re poised to accelerate our impact on the industry, providing groundbreaking solutions that empower brokers, simplify benefits administration, and now drive greater engagement for the employees we reach. This is a significant step forward in our mission to integrate solutions that fundamentally change how the industry operates.”

EOI, based in Anaheim, CA and founded in 1978 by Jim Davidson, has built a powerful platform of technology-driven solutions that seamlessly integrate benefit communication strategies and enrollment support for broker partners and large employer groups. Additionally, EOI partners with brokers to develop long-term voluntary benefit strategies, streamline the RFP process, and negotiate with carriers to achieve significant cost savings. At closing, EOI represented over $400 million in voluntary benefits premium.

“Joining Centro allows us to scale our capabilities and continue evolving as leaders in benefit communications,” said Jim Davidson, Chairman & CEO, EOI. “Centro’s vision of transforming the industry with technology that streamlines processes and maximizes value aligns perfectly with the legacy we’ve built at EOI. Together, we’re positioned to deliver even more impactful solutions that not only meet the growing needs of brokers and employers but also redefine what’s possible in the benefits space.”

With this strategic expansion, Centro continues its momentum as a growing technology company, positioned to change the benefits landscape through its innovative platform, deep talent expertise, and commitment to delivering comprehensive solutions that drive value for broker partners and employer clients. Dowling Hales acted as exclusive financial advisor to EOI in its sale.

About Centro Benefits Research 

Centro Benefits Research is an ancillary benefits and technology consulting firm that enables brokers and carriers to deliver the best possible outcomes for their mutual customers through powerful research, deep industry expertise and the creation of digitally focused platform efficiencies that drive business growth. Centro’s mission remains squarely focused on bringing modern technology to a legacy insurance process and helping all stakeholders in the system work more effectively. For information, visit centrobenefitsresearch.com

About EOI Service Company

After 46 years in business, EOI’s unique capabilities in strategic planning, product evaluation, communication, and enrollment services are stronger than ever. 

EOI has expanded its suite of value-added services beyond the design, communication, and enrollment of benefit programs to include a more comprehensive array of services designed to meet corporate and HR initiatives. EOI prides itself on its continuous innovation and expansion of services.

Headquartered in Anaheim, CA, EOI is appointed, licensed, and represents clients in all 51 jurisdictions.  From 1978 to the present, the company has been led by the same management group and is well-known for its team of salaried, professional benefit counselors. 

Media Contact: Rachel Pennington, rachel.pennington@centrobenefits.com

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SOURCE Centro Benefits Research

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Trip.com Group Sincerely Accepts Administrative Penalty Decision Issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China

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SINGAPORE, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Trip.com Group Limited (Nasdaq: TCOM; HKEX: 9961) today announced that it has received the administrative penalty decision issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China.

Trip.com Group sincerely accepts the decision and will adopt rectification measures in accordance with applicable laws and regulations to implement the decision’s requirements. The Company will strengthen its long-term governance mechanisms and strive to contribute to the sustainable development of the travel industry.

Trip.com Group’s management team will host a conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on July 27, 2026 (or 8:00 PM Hong Kong Time on July 27, 2026).

The conference call will be available on Webcast live at: http://investors.trip.com.

All participants must pre-register to join this conference call using the participant registration link below:
https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIb78e08d8f18340c4882a7e4ab961906b.

Upon registration, each participant will receive details for this conference call, including dial-in numbers and a unique access PIN. To join the conference, please dial the number provided, enter your PIN, and you will join the conference instantly.

For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Trip.com Group Limited
Email: iremail@trip.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tripcom-group-sincerely-accepts-administrative-penalty-decision-issued-by-the-state-administration-for-market-regulation-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-302834599.html

SOURCE Trip.com Group Limited

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NAVER Partners with Brookfield and NVIDIA to Expand Korea’s National AI Factory Infrastructure Buildout

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NAVER, Brookfield and NVIDIA announced an expansion of Korea’s sovereign AI factory infrastructure. New investments will increase the initial NVIDIA DSX™ AI factory deployment from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts.

Announced during Korea President Jae Myung Lee’s AI Summit visit to San Francisco, the planned 200-megawatt expansion will be built with the NVIDIA DSX platform at NAVER’s GAK Sejong hyperscale data center in Sejong, South Korea. The expanded infrastructure will provide Korea- and U.S.- based AI innovators with access to production-scale AI compute for building next-generation models, agents and AI-powered services.

Under the terms of the agreements, Brookfield will fund up to $9 billion as the exclusive capital partner, NVIDIA will invest $1 billion and NAVER will fund the remaining amount to finance the $10 billion project.

This builds on NAVER’s June announcement to extend its GAK Sejong data center with NVIDIA DSX, with a long-term path to gigawatt-scale sovereign AI infrastructure serving Korea’s enterprises, industries, government organizations and global AI cloud customers. Combining Brookfield’s capital with NVIDIA’s computing platform, the investment supports NAVER’s AI factory deployment.

“NVIDIA’s strategic investment and our infrastructure supply agreement with Brookfield have propelled NAVER’s vision for the AI Factory business into a robust execution phase,” said Haejin Lee, Founder and Chairman of NAVER. “Leveraging the solid partnerships with our global partners, we will drive technological innovation, foster a sovereign AI ecosystem, and spearhead efforts to strengthen South Korea’s AI competitiveness.” 

AI Factory Expansion and Open Model Collaboration to Fuel AI Innovators

NAVER, as an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, provides deep expertise in operating hyperscale infrastructure powered by the full-stack NVIDIA AI platform. The 200-megawatt AI factory, featuring NVIDIA Vera Rubin and Blackwell platforms, will establish a dedicated resource pool for emerging AI companies, providing the compute, software and support needed to develop and deploy competitive AI models and applications at scale.

This expanded infrastructure also builds on NAVER and NVIDIA’s collaboration on open model development for agentic and physical AI. NAVER is advancing its HyperCLOVA X models to be based on NVIDIA Nemotron™ 3 Ultra open models with its proprietary data and training expertise. NAVER is also the first Korean company to join the NVIDIA Nemotron Coalition, contributing to open model development across pretraining, post-training and reinforcement learning.

NAVER plans to launch an AI agent platform in Korea in the second half of the year, powered by NVIDIA Agent Toolkit software including NVIDIA NemoClaw™ blueprints. NAVER is also developing a Seoul World Model using proprietary urban street-view and spatial modeling data, built on NVIDIA Cosmos™ world foundation models.

About NAVER

Founded in 1999, NAVER is Korea’s largest Internet company and one of the world’s top tech companies. Leading cutting-edge technologies, NAVER operates the No.1 search engine in Korea and holds various business portfolios encompassing commerce, fintech, cloud, AI and robotics.

NAVER recorded sales of KRW 12.04 trillion (USD 8.18 billion) in 2025. TEAM NAVER continues to enhance its business portfolio and expand its global presence across Japan, North America, and Europe, while pursuing innovation through continuous research and development in future technologies.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/naver-partners-with-brookfield-and-nvidia-to-expand-koreas-national-ai-factory-infrastructure-buildout-302834577.html

SOURCE NAVER

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Beijing Review: Walking Through Time: China and U.S. Youths Explore Dali’s Past and Future

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BEIJING, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On July 17, a China-U.S. youth delegation came to Dali of Yunnan Province. By examining how Dali’s rich history intersects with modern development, the delegates explored new pathways for rural development.

They visited Dali Old Town, tried their hand at making the Bai people’s Three-Course Tea and also explored the ancient town of Xizhou, where they learned how modern tourism and indigenous life coexist.

In Yunnanyi Village, they explored its history as a stop along the Tea Horse Road and learned about the role it played during the Second World War (WWII).

Tyler James Smith

“I think it’s a very underappreciated part of World War II history. Hearing these stories of different countries working together despite cultural differences is incredibly inspiring.

I also think there are many stories like these that haven’t been widely told, simply because World War II is such a complex period in history. That’s why I think it’s so meaningful to visit museums like this and experience these stories firsthand.”

At Xiangyun Economic and Technological Development Zone, they visited a local new energy company to see how green, low-carbon development is driving regional growth.

Valerie Marie

“I recently started studying energy transitions. I know China has been really big in the renewable energy sector. So actually getting to hear more about [China’s] 2060 [pledge], learning more about carbon neutrality [goals], as well as other zero-carbon goals, was cool.”

During their stay in Dali, they also strolled along the Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor.

Bai Yiwen

“I’d describe this journey as “to be continued,” because my own connection with Yunnan is far from over. For the U.S. delegates, this was only their first visit, so they’ve only had a glimpse of what Yunnan has to offer. I hope they will have more opportunities to come back to China, explore other cities in Yunnan, and discover even more of its people, culture and traditions.”

After Dali, the delegates will visit Beijing for more tours and exchanges. The event was co-hosted by China International Communications Group (CICG) Center for the Americas and the U.S.-based International Student Conferences.

https://x.com/beijingreview/status/2080104404552663067?s=46&t=yfVMVdMyE2zKAFrYaLoV-g

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EtGCCKzy4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.tiktok.com/@cachinachic/video/7665536913532587294?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7227134149436605995

https://youtu.be/jGONWTqwduc?is=KfL-Zn3HyVYE-KEm

Contact: Jiaweibellapeng@163.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beijing-review-walking-through-time-china-and-us-youths-explore-dalis-past-and-future-302834587.html

SOURCE Beijing Review

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