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SandboxAQ Makes AQCat Generally Available on Claude for High-Throughput Catalyst Screening

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PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SandboxAQ today announced that AQCat is now generally available on Claude Science through Model Context Protocol (MCP), letting any researcher tap the company’s Large Quantitative Model (LQM), an AI model trained to predict the physics of materials, simply by asking questions in plain English. AQCat  identifies promising catalysts with accuracy approaching the field’s most trusted methods, but up to 20,000 times faster, and it runs entirely through natural-language prompts with no coding required.

Catalysts are the hidden engine of the physical economy. They are the materials that speed up chemical reactions and make them practical at industrial scale, and they are essential to more than 80% of all manufactured goods and over 90% of all commercially produced chemicals, from fertilizer and fuel to fabric, glass, and plastics. Yet finding new and better ones has remained slow and expensive. Conventional lab methods typically test fewer than 100 candidate materials per week, a pace that keeps most progress limited to small, incremental gains.

AQCat lets any research team evaluate catalysts at a scale that once required specialized staff and hard-to-access computing power. It runs the first and most decisive step in the process: calculating adsorption energy, a measure of how strongly molecules stick to a catalyst’s surface, which is the key early signal of whether a material will work. Teams can rank thousands of candidates up front and focus their modeling and lab budgets only on the most promising ones.

AQCat’s accuracy comes from physics that other AI models leave out. Density Functional Theory (DFT), the long-standing gold standard for these calculations, is highly accurate but slow and costly, while faster machine-learning models often ignore magnetism altogether. AQCat is “spin-aware,” meaning it accounts for magnetic behavior, bringing abundant, low-cost but magnetically complex metals like iron, cobalt, and nickel within practical reach. SandboxAQ trained it on AQCat25, a public dataset of 13.5 million high-fidelity DFT calculations spanning 47,000 intermediate-catalyst systems and every industrially relevant element.

“In catalysis research, a key bottleneck has been the number of surfaces you can realistically evaluate within compute and scientist resource constraints. Recovering DFT-quality adsorption energies at a faster speed changes the scale of questions my group can ask, and it opens up design spaces that were previously out of reach. Putting models behind a natural-language interface lowers the barrier for students and collaborators to participate in computational work,” said Dr. Joe Gauthier, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University.

“Adsorption energy is the critical first calculation in most catalyst screening workflows, because it tells you how strongly a molecule binds to a surface and helps you prioritize what to study next. Many AI models overlook the magnetic physics that matter in earth-abundant industrial catalysts. We built AQCat to be spin-aware from the ground up, so it can recover near-DFT accuracy for magnetically complex systems, including iron, cobalt, and nickel, while running thousands of times faster than traditional approaches. Making it generally available on Claude means any researcher can run that calculation at scale, in plain language, without touching a line of code,” said Aayush Singh, Head of Science, Catalysis, SandboxAQ.

The applications reach across green hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel, fertilizer production, and plastics recycling, letting research teams pre-screen large design spaces before they commit DFT or experimental budgets and shortening innovation cycles that once took years.

Geoff Ling, Founding Director of the Biotech Office at DARPA, said, “In science, the biggest risk is often the unknown. Anything that helps researchers reduce uncertainty is incredibly valuable, and SandboxAQ’s MCP tools in Claude do that for both materials science and drug discovery.”

AQCat is available today through Claude Science, on SandboxAQ’s website, and AWS Marketplace. SandboxAQ pairs today’s launch with the general availability of a second LQM, AQPotency, for drug discovery.

About SandboxAQ

SandboxAQ is a B2B company delivering solutions at the intersection of AI and quantum techniques. The company’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) deliver critical advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, and other sectors. SandboxAQ is an independent, growth-backed company funded by leading investors and strategic partners including funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Google, Alger, IQT, US Innovative Technology Fund, S32, Paladin Capital, BNP Paribas, Eric Schmidt, Breyer Capital, Ray Dalio, Marc Benioff, Thomas Tull, Yann LeCun, and others. For more information, visit www.sandboxaq.com.

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SOURCE SandboxAQ

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Radha Exports partners with Körber for advanced warehouse automation in Singapore

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SINGAPORE, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Körber today announced a new partnership with Radha Exports Pte Ltd (Radha) to deploy a high-density automated pallet storage and interfloor conveying system. The technology will be integrated into Radha’s new state-of-the-art facility on Pandan Road, Singapore, enhancing operational efficiency across their operations.

Established in 1995, Radha is a leading FMCG retailer in Singapore, operating more than 200 outlets through ABC Bargain Centre, ValuDollar and Japan Home. As an importer, wholesaler and retailer, Radha sought a future-ready solution to optimise space, streamline material flow and support continued growth.

To meet these requirements, Körber engineered a solution that integrates a five-floor interfloor pallet lifter system with advanced smart shuttle technology. This high-density automated storage system will accommodate nearly 9,000 pallets within a compact volumetric space of approximately 61,200 m³, enabling seamless, accelerated goods movement across multiple facility levels.

Körber will integrate its Warehouse Control System (WCS) with Radha’s Warehouse Management System (WMS), linking storage and material flow to create a coordinated warehouse operation.

“As our retail footprint expands, automation has become essential to managing higher volumes and accelerating fulfillment. Körber partnered closely with our team to understand our operational needs and develop a scalable solution that meets today’s needs while supporting future growth,” commented Sunil Advani, Chief Operating Officer, Radha Exports Pte Ltd.

For Körber, the project demonstrates the value of combining proven technologies with a customer-focused approach. Louis Kok, Head of Marketing & Sales, Körber Business Area Supply Chain Singapore, said: “Radha’s multi-floor operations demanded a customized approach. Through transparent communication and close collaboration, we developed a system tailored to their workflows, building on our track record of delivering warehouse automation solutions in Singapore and across Southeast Asia.”

“Across APAC, different industries and markets present varying growth opportunities. Our vertical strategy helps us recognize these market dynamics and bring the right solutions and capabilities together with the industry expertise, to respond to specific requirements of our customers by creating greater value for our customers and Radha Exports Pte Ltd is a perfect example,” says Suunil Dabral, Senior Vice President & Regional Head APAC, Körber Business Area Supply Chain.

About Körber’s Business Area Supply Chain 

Supply chains are growing more complex every day. At Körber, we provide a comprehensive range of proven, end-to-end supply chain solutions tailored to any business size or growth strategy. Our customers optimize their supply chains through a portfolio spanning software, automation, mail and parcel solutions, robotics, and material handling, supported by the expertise to tie it all together. By connecting technologies and capabilities across the entire supply chain, Körber helps businesses turn their operations into a competitive advantage with leading technology to fuel what’s next.

The Business Area Supply Chain is part of Körber, a global technology company for intelligent manufacturing and supply chains solutions. Find out more on www.koerber.com.

Inquiries:

Louis Kok
Head of Marketing & Sales
Körber Supply Chain SG Pte Ltd
+65 6841 7073
info.sc.sgp@koerber-supplychain.com

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Nearly Half of Asia Pacific Consumers Open to Using Stablecoins in the Next Five Years, Visa Study Finds

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Findings from Visa Consumer 360 research, surveying 14,250 consumers across 14 Asia Pacific markets, point to growing interest in stablecoins.

SINGAPORE, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Visa, a world leader in digital payments, today released new survey findings on stablecoin awareness and consumer sentiment in Asia Pacific. The research reveals growing interest in practical uses such as everyday spending, travel and cross-border money movement, while limited understanding and concerns around trust remain barriers to wider use.

As stablecoins move beyond their crypto-native roots, consumers are beginning to view them less as a crypto-trading instrument and more as a potential tool for everyday spending, travel and cross-border transfers. Yet misconceptions remain widespread, with close to half believing stablecoins can only be used to buy or sell other cryptocurrencies. Turning this interest into everyday utility will depend on making stablecoins easier to understand and use through trusted, familiar and regulated payment experiences.

“We’re seeing a meaningful shift in how consumers across Asia Pacific think about stablecoins,” said Nischint Sanghavi, Head of Digital Currencies, Asia Pacific at Visa. “Consumers are beginning to see how stablecoins could support the ways they already spend and move money, particularly through online purchases, travel and cross-border transfers. The opportunity now is to turn that interest into trusted and familiar payment experiences that work at scale.”

Consumers show rising interest in everyday stablecoin use

Across Asia Pacific, 46% of consumers say they are likely to use stablecoins within the next five years, compared with 16% who have used them in the past 12 months. Interest extends to everyday online purchases, travel spending and overseas shopping, pointing to potential use beyond investment or crypto trading. Cross-border money movement is another area of potential, with 49% believing stablecoins could become a common way to move money across borders within five years.

This points to possible relevance for remittances, international transfers and other payment needs. Yet understanding has not caught up with these emerging use cases: 49% of consumers who are aware of stablecoins still believe they can only be used to buy and sell other cryptocurrencies.

Market-level findings show where stablecoin awareness and intent are strongest across Asia Pacific. Hong Kong (84%), India (80%) and Thailand (77%) recorded the highest awareness, while Vietnam (67%) and India (67%) showed the strongest intent to use stablecoins within the next five years. These findings highlight the importance of making stablecoins available through secure payment experiences consumers already recognise and trust. Visa is already working with banks, regulated financial institutions and payment partners to connect stablecoin capabilities with familiar ways to pay and move money.

Stablecoin awareness is mainstream, but trust and understanding remain barriers

Stablecoins have entered mainstream awareness across Asia Pacific, with 66% of consumers aware of them. Yet only 6% demonstrate an accurate understanding of how stablecoins work, while misconceptions remain with 41% believing that stablecoins always increase in value.

Trust is also holding consumers back. Among those who are aware of stablecoins but have never used them, 38% cite concerns about fraud or scams, while 36% point to a lack of understanding. Consumers show the strongest preference for regulated institutions, with government or central bank-linked entities (27%) and banks or regulated financial institutions (26%) ranking as the most trusted providers.

While interest is growing, adoption will depend less on awareness alone and more on whether stablecoins can be made understandable, secure and useful in everyday payment contexts. The findings underscore the need for trusted and familiar ways to access stablecoins. Visa is working with banks, regulated financial institutions and payment partners to bring greater security, compliance and usability to stablecoin-enabled experiences, including through the Visa Stablecoin Platform, which helps clients mint, move and manage stablecoins.

“This research confirms what we’ve been building toward,” added Nischint. “Consumers want stablecoins to feel like a natural part of the payments they already trust, not a separate system. Our role is to connect emerging stablecoin technology with the secure, familiar payment experiences consumers rely on every day.”

About Visa Consumer 360 study

The Visa Consumer 360 study was commissioned in 2026, with fieldwork conducted between June and July 2026. The study surveyed 14,250 consumers aged 18 to 65 across 14 Asia Pacific markets: Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Australia and New Zealand.

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

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SOURCE Visa Worldwide Pte Ltd

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Payward and Singapore Gulf Bank Partner to Bring 24/7 Settlement to Institutional Digital Asset Markets

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Payward has integrated SGB Net, Singapore Gulf Bank’s real-time clearing network, allowing institutional clients in Asia and the Gulf region to settle instantly at any hour. SGB will also onboard Kraken Prime as an additional source of digital asset liquidity.

SYDNEY, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Payward, the unified financial infrastructure platform behind Kraken, and Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB), a fully licensed digital bank regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, today announced a strategic partnership to bring always-on settlement to institutional digital asset markets available to specific jurisdictions only. 

With this partnership, Payward has integrated SGB Net, SGB’s real-time multi-currency clearing network. It allows institutional clients of both firms to now settle transactions instantly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The settlement offering initially starts with US dollar transactions for a select number of clients, with plans to expand to more clients and additional currencies over time.

Settlement between banks and trading venues have historically taken days and been held to fixed cut-off times, even as digital asset markets trade around the clock. Through SGB Net, an SGB client can deposit funds with Payward and put them to work instantly, at any hour. SGB is also partnering with Kraken Prime, Payward’s full-service prime brokerage solution, to access liquidity for its digital asset offerings. Over the coming months, it will draw on Payward’s markets to price trades for its own customers.

SGB launched SGB Net in 2025 for digital asset businesses with growing operational needs, and the network has since scaled to process more than $20 billion in fiat transactions each month. SGB is backed by Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, and by Singapore’s Whampoa Group, and it onboards corporate clients digitally across markets.

“Exchanges, payment providers, OTC desks and fintechs all run into the same banking constraint. Settlement stops when the business day does, while their markets do not. SGB has built settlement infrastructure that reflects the future of digital asset banking and payments,” said Mark Greenberg, Chief Commercial Officer of Payward. “Every regulated bank we connect with this way brings us closer to a world where settlement and cross-border payments happen in real time, wherever our clients are.”

“Access to liquidity is only useful if clients can move funds when they need to,” said Shawn Chan, Chief Executive Officer, SGB. “By connecting SGB Net with Payward and partnering with Kraken Prime, we are bringing settlement and liquidity closer together, giving clients more flexibility in how they fund and manage their digital asset activity.”

To support clients across borders and asset classes, SGB offers corporate and personal banking accounts to businesses and individuals worldwide, combining multi-currency accounts, international payments and remote account opening with access to digital asset services.

The partnership is part of enhancing Payward Banking, the money layer behind the Payward platform, which modernizes how clients move cash across deposits, payments, cards, custody, and lending. As digital asset markets and traditional banking offerings converge, clients expect their cash to move as quickly as the assets they trade. Working with leading regulated banks lets Payward bring that speed to new markets, and Payward will keep adding banking partners to offer a broader suite of banking services to clients worldwide.

About Payward:

Payward, Inc. is a unified financial infrastructure platform that powers a family of products advancing an open, global financial system. Built on a single shared architecture, Payward enables customers to hold, trade, earn, pay, and invest across asset classes without friction or fragmentation.

At its core, Payward provides the infrastructure layer behind Kraken and a growing set of purpose-built products, including NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, and CF Benchmarks.

Payward separates infrastructure from product expression. Each product surface is designed for a specific customer segment, regulatory regime, and use case, while operating on the same global foundation:

One global liquidity poolOne unified risk and margin engineOne collateral and settlement systemOne compliance and licensing framework

This shared architecture allows Payward to scale efficiently, launch new products at low marginal cost, and serve diverse global markets while maintaining consistent risk management, regulatory integrity, and operational resilience.

For more information about Payward, please visit www.payward.com.

About Singapore Gulf Bank:

Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) is the bank for all of finance, serving businesses and individuals worldwide. Backed by Whampoa Group, a Singapore-based investment holding company, and Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, SGB is fully licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain.

For more information, visit https://www.sgb.com/

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/payward-and-singapore-gulf-bank-partner-to-bring-247-settlement-to-institutional-digital-asset-markets-302897780.html

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