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KDDI and DriveNets Signed A Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Open Network Architecture

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DriveNets software will be deployed in KDDI’s commercial backbone network in 2025 to support the growing data demands of the AI era

TOKYO, May 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — KDDI Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Hiromichi Matsuda, hereinafter “KDDI”) and DriveNets Ltd. (Headquarters: Ra’anana, Israel; CEO: Ido Susan, hereinafter “DriveNets”) signed a basic agreement for a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the adoption of open network architecture (i.e., the separation of hardware and software). This agreement aims to expand the deployment of disaggregated routers, improve the management efficiency of these routers, and optimize the capital investment and operating costs of high-scale network deployments.

Based on the agreement, KDDI will start the deployment of DriveNets Network Cloud solution in backbone core routers at four key locations with the goal of reaching commercial operations by the end of 2025.

Looking ahead, both companies will work together to build a flexible network architecture that can quickly adapt to changing market conditions and technological advancements, in order to meet the growing data demands of the AI era.

Background

With the rapid spread and adoption of AI technologies in recent years, the demand for network infrastructure has been rising sharply. Going forward, even greater traffic volumes and increasingly diverse needs are anticipated. Open network architecture is becoming increasingly important in building networks that can respond swiftly to such changes. This approach facilitates new features based on specific requirements and helps improve network scalability.Since 2020, KDDI has been pushing forward the development of Cluster-Based Distributed Disaggregated Backbone Routers (DDBR), which are not bound by physical chassis constraints and allow for flexible capacity expansion, through the Telecom Infra Project*1, as part of its ongoing efforts to promote disaggregated routers. In June 2023, KDDI completed the commercial deployment of DDBR standalone as peering routers at its internet gateway*2, and by February 2025, it had completed technical validation for DDBR cluster as core routers in its backbone network*3.DriveNets provides software-based network solutions optimized for disaggregated routers that many leading global carriers have adopted. The peering routers that KDDI deployed commercially in June 2023 are also based on DriveNets’ software. Building on the software’s proven contribution to network operational stability, the two companies have now entered this strategic partnership.

Company Comments

Kazuyuki Yoshimura, Senior Managing Executive Officer, CTO, General Manager of Core Technology Sector, KDDI Corporation

We are delighted to have signed the basic agreement for the strategic partnership with DriveNets. Since 2020, we at KDDI have been committed to achieving open and scalable networks, and we believe our collaboration with DriveNets will create significant new innovations. Our vision for the future is to build a flexible and robust architecture suited to the AI era, allowing us to swiftly respond to the evolving market needs and set new industry standards.

Ido Susan, CEO, DriveNets Ltd.

We are honored to become a strategic partner of KDDI, one of the world’s leading telecommunications carriers. Together with KDDI, we will promote openness, disaggregation, and innovation across the entire network – from the core network to the edge and aggregation layers. By streamlining network operations and introducing automation and generative AI tools, we aim to help KDDI enhance the efficiency of its network and build a resilient architecture that can flexibly meet future demands.

Reference

About KDDI

KDDI offers a wide range of services in Japan and internationally. For individual customers, it operates a multi-brand strategy centered on 5G under the “au,” “UQ mobile,” and “povo” brands. For corporate customers, it provides services under the “KDDI BUSINESS” brand.

In May 2022, the company established its long-term vision, KDDI VISION 2030: “The creation of a society in which anyone can make their dreams a reality, by enhancing the power to connect.” Based on this vision, KDDI is promoting its medium-term management strategy for FY23.3-FY26.3, known as the new Satellite Growth Strategy. This strategy focuses on 5G, data-driven innovation, and generative AI as core businesses. It includes two business domains: “Orbit 1,” which drives growth in areas such as digital transformation (DX), finance, and energy; and “Orbit 2,” which explores new growth in areas like mobility, space, healthcare, Web3 and the metaverse, as well as sports and entertainment.

Through sustainability-focused management and strengthening the foundation that supports the new Satellite Growth Strategy, KDDI aims to achieve sustainable societal growth and enhanced corporate value in collaboration with its partners.

About DriveNets

DriveNets is a leader in high-scale networking solutions for service providers and AI infrastructures. The company created a radical new way to build networks that substantially improves the network’s economic model and optimizes network utilization and efficiency.

DriveNets Network Cloud is a software-based solution that runs on standard white boxes and adapts the architectural model of cloud to high-scale networking, substantially increasing scale and lowering network costs. The solution is used by leading service providers globally.

DriveNets’ Network Cloud-AI, which was introduced to the market in 2023, is based on the same technology, providing the highest-performance Ethernet-based AI networking solution and the best Ethernet alternative to InfiniBand in the market. The solution is used by Hyperscalers, NeoClouds, and Enterprises worldwide. Learn more at https://www.drivenets.com.

*1: A non-profit organization established in February 2016 with the goal of reducing the cost of building communication networks through the development of open technologies and accelerating innovation in the telecom sector. Hundreds of companies and organizations around the world participate in the initiative.

*2: Published on June 8, 2023
Commercial Deployment of “Open Routers” That Support Multi-Vendor Configurations Begins (Japanese Language only) 

*3: News release dated February 19, 2025
Technical Validation Completed for Cluster-Based Routers Designed for Flexible Capacity Expansion in Backbone Networks

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Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

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Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

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Air Products to Expand Industrial Gas Supply for Samsung Electronics’ Next-Generation Semiconductor Fab in South Korea

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New investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to Korea and its leading role in the global semiconductor industry 

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Air Products (NYSE:APD), a world-leading industrial gases company and serving Samsung globally, today announced it has been selected by Samsung to supply industrial gases for its new advanced semiconductor fab in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

Under the agreement, Air Products will build, own and operate multiple state-of-the-art production facilities and a bulk specialty gas supply system to supply nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and hydrogen for Samsung’s new semiconductor fab. The new facilities are expected to come onstream in multiple phases from 2028 through 2030.

Air Products has a long track record of executing multiple phase expansions in Pyeongtaek to support Samsung’s growing manufacturing needs. This latest project represents Air Products’ largest investment to date in the semiconductor industry and will establish Pyeongtaek as the company’s single largest operations site globally supporting the electronics industry. 

“Air Products is honored to be selected once again by Samsung and to have their continued confidence as a trusted partner supporting their strategic growth plans,” said SR Kim, President, Air Products Korea. “This significant investment reinforces Air Products’ role as a leading global supplier to the semiconductor industry and underscores our long-standing commitment to supporting our strategic customers with safety, reliability, efficiency and excellent service.”

Air Products has served the global electronics industry for more than 40 years, supplying industrial gases safely and reliably to many of the world’s leading technology companies. The company has operated in Korea for more than 50 years and has established a strong position in electronics and manufacturing sectors.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE: APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 85 years focused on serving energy, environmental, and emerging markets and generating a cleaner future. The Company supplies essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, medical and food. As the leading global supplier of hydrogen, Air Products also develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest clean hydrogen projects, supporting the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy in the industrial and heavy-duty transportation sectors. Through its sale of equipment businesses, the Company also provides turbomachinery, membrane systems and cryogenic containers globally.

Air Products had fiscal 2025 sales of $12 billion from operations in approximately 50 countries. For more information, visit airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedInXFacebook or Instagram.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. While forward-looking statements are made in good faith and based on assumptions, expectations and projections that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors, including the risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025 and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-products-to-expand-industrial-gas-supply-for-samsung-electronics-next-generation-semiconductor-fab-in-south-korea-302757497.html

SOURCE Air Products

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