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CometAPI Delivers Unified Access to Frontier AI Models to Empower Developers

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CometAPIis a platform that platform brings multimodal models and newly released frontier APIs into a single OpenAI-compatible interface

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As artificial intelligence moves rapidly from experimentation into production, developers are facing a new infrastructure challenge: the number of available AI models is growing faster than the tools and workflows needed to manage them.

Instead of working with a single model provider, modern AI teams increasingly need access to multiple large language models, image generators, video models, audio systems and specialized AI services. Each provider can introduce different APIs, authentication methods, SDKs, pricing structures and technical requirements. For developers, keeping pace with the model market can therefore mean spending significant engineering resources on integration and maintenance rather than product development.

CometAPI is positioning itself as an infrastructure layer designed to address that fragmentation. The platform provides a unified, OpenAI-compatible API through which developers can access more than 500 AI models, using a single API key and interface. According to CometAPI, the platform currently serves more than 10,000 active developers and provides average response times of less than 400 milliseconds and a 99.9% service uptime target.

Building AI Infrastructure Around Developers

The idea behind CometAPI is rooted in a problem that has become increasingly familiar to AI developers: model innovation is accelerating, but the underlying process of accessing those models remains fragmented.

CometAPI CEO Lee Sonic has described the motivation behind the platform in similarly practical terms. In a public statement about the company’s origins, Sonic said that he started CometAPI after becoming frustrated with the multiple registrations, incompatible APIs, credit-card requirements and billing dashboards involved in testing different AI models.

“As a developer, I was exhausted from dealing with fragmented AI tools,” Sonic wrote when describing the origins of CometAPI.

His broader argument is that AI infrastructure should absorb this complexity rather than transfer it to application developers. In another public post, Sonic described CometAPI not simply as an API aggregator, but as an infrastructure layer designed to make AI development less dependent on individual model providers.

That philosophy is reflected in the platform’s technical architecture. Developers can use a single CometAPI credential to access models from multiple providers and switch models by changing the model parameter rather than rebuilding an application’s entire integration layer.

For teams developing AI-powered SaaS products, coding assistants, automation systems, research applications and multimodal products, the model-agnostic approach can provide a way to evaluate different models according to quality, latency, availability and cost without maintaining an entirely separate integration for every provider.

CometAPI’s public platform currently highlights more than 500 AI models, more than 10,000 active developers, average response times below 400 milliseconds and 99.9% service availability. The company also states that its pricing can provide ongoing savings of approximately 20% to 40% compared with official provider pricing, depending on the model and usage.

The underlying proposition is straightforward: as the number of AI models continues to increase, developers need infrastructure that can absorb model complexity rather than add another layer of it.

Frontier Models and Full Multimodal Coverage, Led by GPT-6 Astra

CometAPI prioritizes rapid integration of the industry’s most capable models. Notably, the platform recently added OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra (On September 5, 2026) , a flagship reasoning and computer-use model featuring a 1.05-million-token context window and strong performance on complex coding, research, and agentic workflows. Developers can access GPT-6 Astra through the same unified key and dashboard used for all other supported models, at rates approximately 20% below official OpenAI standard pricing for both short- and long-context usage.

Beyond text and reasoning, CometAPI provides comprehensive multimodal support, including image generation, video generation (such as Kling and Veo series), audio transcription and synthesis, and specialized tools. This breadth allows teams to build end-to-end pipelines—combining language models with vision, video, and speech—under a single credential and consistent interface. This model diversity is particularly relevant as AI applications become less dependent on a single “best” model. Different tasks can require different trade-offs. A model optimized for reasoning may not be the most economical option for high-volume classification, while a specialized image or video model may be better suited to a creative workflow.

Independent developers and engineering leaders have echoed the practical benefits. Leonid Dolgirev, SDE-2 of Servicenow, stated: “As developers, we really enjoy communicating with the CometAPI support team, and we would not want to switch to alternative API services.” Kevin, CEO of Bytewatchers, added: “We sincerely appreciate the CometAPI team for the excellent API support, partnership, and assistance—your help has enabled the successful use of API keys in the Claude Code setup and provided valuable second opinions, making you a fantastic partner.” Daniel Schweig, a developer working with Kindle Direct Publishing workflows, noted the desire to consolidate LLM and image traffic onto the platform because of competitive pricing and unified access.

Faster Model Integration and Lower API Costs

The speed of AI model releases is creating a new requirement for infrastructure providers: keeping up with the frontier.

For developers, a model announcement is only the beginning. The next steps are accessing the API, testing performance, evaluating costs, comparing results with existing models and determining whether the new capability can improve a production workflow.

CometAPI has built its product roadmap around this continuous integration cycle. 

Cost is another part of the equation.

CometAPI currently promotes **20% to 40% ongoing cost savings** compared with official model pricing, with a pay-as-you-go model and no monthly subscription requirement. The company says its pricing advantage comes in part from its ability to aggregate large-scale model usage and pass pricing efficiencies to developers.

The distinction becomes increasingly important as AI moves into production. A model that costs only a few cents per interaction at prototype scale can represent a substantial operating expense when multiplied across millions of API calls. For AI agents, automated workflows and high-volume SaaS products, the ability to compare models and optimize the balance between performance and cost can become an important part of infrastructure management.

CometAPI therefore combines three elements within a single platform: access to a growing range of frontier and multimodal models, a common API layer for integration, and pricing designed to reduce the cost of model usage.

Users highly value the CometAPI platform, likely because it genuinely offers them greater convenience.

Neha Jain, a Senior ML Engineer at PayPal and former Microsoft SDE, said, “CometAPI aims to make models available as quickly as possible—ideally on day one—once stable access is ready. So, instead of the workflow: **new model → find a provider → set everything up → start testing**, the process becomes much closer to: **new model → change the model name → start testing**.” Kriti Jaiswal, an SDE-2 at ServiceNow, notes: “CometAPI places multiple models behind a single OpenAI-compatible API, making it easier to test routing strategies without the need to maintain separate integrations.”

About CometAPI

CometAPI is an AI infrastructure platform designed to provide reliable, controllable and scalable access to multiple AI models through a unified API layer. The platform provides developers and businesses with access to more than 500 AI models through a single API and credential, covering language, image, video and audio use cases. CometAPI is designed to reduce integration complexity, support flexible model selection and provide transparent cost and usage management for AI applications in production environments.

Media Contact

CometAPI
Email: support@cometapi.com
Official site: View here

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SOURCE CometAPI

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iQIYI AIGC Series “The Ferry Man” Exceeds RMB 8 Million in Revenue-Sharing as Third Instalment Debuts on October 1

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BEIJING, Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — iQIYI, China’s leading online entertainment platform, announced that the cumulative revenue-sharing, a model where production partners share earnings with iQIYI based on viewership, box office for its AIGC film series “The Ferry Man” has surpassed RMB 8 million (US$1.2 million) as of September 23, marking a new milestone for the series. This comes as the third instalment, “The Ferry Man: The Dream of the Princess”, debuts on October 1 on iQIYI and iQIYI International.

Produced by iQIYI and GHY Culture & Media, the series’ first two titles, “The Ferry Man: Butterfly Dream” and “The Ferry Man: The Dream of the Celestial Maiden”, were released simultaneously on August 22 on iQIYI and iQIYI International, and quickly gained commercial traction, reflecting growing market confidence in iQIYI’s AI-driven premium content.

Rooted in traditional Chinese culture, “The Ferry Man” is an established IP spanning long-form drama, online films, musicals, and short-form series, blending mythology, folklore, and contemporary themes. The new films use AI production to render classical Chinese philosophical imagery as cinematic worlds.

Redefining Production Efficiency

The success of “The Ferry Man” series demonstrates a robust end-to-end AIGC value chain, one that successfully integrates production efficiency, market validation, and strong financial returns. By incorporating AI into its core workflow, iQIYI has fundamentally optimized the filmmaking process.

According to Zhichao LI, producer of the series, the first two films moved from project initiation to launch in less than four months. “AI significantly improved efficiency during the preparation and production stages,” Li said, noting that the script development and post-production processes remained largely consistent with traditional film and television workflows.

During production, AIGC was used to generate visual assets for concept design, sets, props, and other art elements, which could then be directly turned into video based on the director’s creative requirements. This simplified parts of the traditional production process, including physical shoots and scene transitions, while giving creators greater flexibility. For a key scene in “The Ferry Man: The Dream of the Celestial Maiden”, AI generation also streamlined a process that would traditionally involve months of visual effects and green-screen production, significantly improving production efficiency and making complex scenes more feasible to produce.

Leveraging Digital Assets for Long-Term Value

Unlike traditional productions, “The Ferry Man” series builds lasting digital asset value through AIGC. The three lead actors licensed their likenesses and provided their own voiceovers, with digital character assets, scenes, and props developed as standardized, reusable assets. These assets enable the upcoming third film to maintain visual consistency while significantly reducing production costs, establishing a scalable model for serialized content development.

Market Validation through Data-Driven Models

The commercial performance of “The Ferry Man” series further validates the viability of AIGC content as a financially sustainable production model. Through iQIYI’s revenue-sharing model, the series recovered its full production costs within the first week and surpassed RMB8 million in cumulative box office within the first month, with figures continuing to grow. This rapid market feedback also enables producers to adjust subsequent creative decisions in a timely manner, reducing the time and cost of iteration.

The series also builds on iQIYI’s continued exploration of long-form AIGC filmmaking, following “Mystic Tales – The Spider Lady’s Vendetta” — China’s first AIGC internet feature film released under an Internet Drama and Film Distribution License.

iQIYI Press
press@qiyi.com

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SOURCE iQIYI

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“a-nation 2026”, One of Japan’s Largest Music Festivals, to Stream Live for Free on the Official Avex YouTube and TikTok Channels

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TOKYO, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — “a-nation 2026” will be streamed live for free on Avex’s official YouTube and TikTok channels. The festival will take place on Saturday, October 3, and Sunday, October 4, 2026, at the a-nation special venue in Odaiba, Tokyo.

“a-nation” is one of Japan’s largest outdoor music festivals, presented annually since 2002 by Avex, one of the world’s leading entertainment companies. With a diverse lineup that transcends musical genres, the festival has captivated more than six million people to date.

Now in its 22nd edition, a-nation will be held in autumn for the first time and will return to Odaiba, Tokyo, for the first time in 23 years. Over the two-day festival, a total of 39 artists will take the stage, including opening acts and performers at the PARK STAGE.

“a-nation 2026” Live Streaming: Overview
Platforms: Avex official YouTube and TikTok
Streaming Schedule:
Saturday, October 3: 12:25 PM (JST)
Sunday, October 4: 12:10 PM (JST)

【Viewing URL & Live Streaming Artists】
【Day 1】Saturday, October 3
YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/0KyO5GgOJBY
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@avex_official
Artists: EXILE, Bullet Train, CHANYEOL, WINNER, NCT JNJM, NCT WISH, NEXZ, KickFlip, ONE OR EIGHT, Be-ray, Girls², VIBY
Opening Acts: BOKUAO, Pasmal, GPP, KRUNK

【Day 2】Sunday, October 4
YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/CdTcf0WVFps
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@avex_official
Artists: ayumi hamasaki, J.Y. Park, Da-iCE, TRF, JUN. K, AK-69, Novelbright, FANTASTICS, ONE N’ ONLY, SHOW-WA & MATSURI, THE JET BOY BANGERZ, Ami Suzuki, GENIC, VIBY, THE MADE IN TOHOKU
Opening Acts: @onefive, PG, ONE LOVE ONE HEART

*Streaming artists and times are subject to change. Some performances may be streamed only in part due to production reasons.
*The livestream will be available free of charge to all viewers.
*No replays or archive streaming will be available.
*Rewind and catch-up playback will not be available.
*Please be aware of fake accounts, spam posts, and suspicious links impersonating the official a-nation livestream.
*PARK STAGE performances will not be streamed.

“a-nation 2026” Official Site: https://a-nation.net/

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SOURCE avex

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New IBM CHRO Study: Canadian Employees Worry AI Is Eroding Skills as Critical Thinking Gains Importance

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62% of Canadian employees worry AI is eroding their skills54% of Canadian employees and 55% of Canadian CHROs say critical thinking and problem framing are among the skills that matter most in the AI era

MARKHAM, ON, Oct. 2, 2026 /CNW/ — A new global study from the IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value points to a disconnect between the skills Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) say AI requires and those employees prioritize. While 68% of Canadian CHROs identify the ability to supervise, validate and override AI outputs as the workforce’s most essential skill, only 29% of Canadian employees rank judgement as important.

The study,* which surveyed 1,500 CHROs and 8,800 employees globally, finds that 62% of Canadian employees worry about skills erosion, with critical thinking cited most often as declining. At the same time, Canadian CHROs identify critical thinking (55%) and human judgement (49%) as among the workforce’s most important capabilities.

The findings also show that organizations creating the greatest value from AI are redesigning work, decision-making and workforce capabilities around people and technology. Globally, organizations that clearly define workflows as human-led, AI-assisted or AI-executed achieve 18% risk reduction and 20% quality improvement. Yet, 37% of Canadian organizations do not involve the CHRO when AI strategy is being defined.

“As AI becomes more deeply embedded in how work gets done, organizations have an opportunity to strengthen the human capabilities that matter most,” said Brandon-Jo Mouna, Director, Human Resources, IBM Canada. “Critical thinking, judgement and the ability to challenge AI-generated outputs will become increasingly important as employees work alongside AI. Organizations that intentionally develop those capabilities will be better positioned to create value from AI while preparing their workforce for the future.”

“Offering an organization a design framework for transformation is HR work. It’s actually the HR work everyone aspires to,” geneviève bich, Vice President, Human Resources (CHRO), METRO and Board member

Other key findings include:

Concerns about skills erosion reinforce the importance of judgement and critical thinking

Among Canadian employees who worry about skills erosion, 69% say AI has already begun to erode at least some of their skills.Skills erosion ranks among Canadian CHROs’ top concerns, cited by 45% of respondents.54% of Canadian employees and 55% of Canadian CHROs say critical thinking and problem framing are among the skills that matter most in the AI era.Globally, where judgement is built into how work is done, 62% of CHROs report growing employee confidence in AI-enabled decisions; where it is not, 57% report confidence declining.

AI accountability gaps are impacting employees

39% of Canadian employees report that when something goes wrong with AI, the blame falls on them.32% of Canadian CHROs say unclear accountability complicates AI deployment.39% of Canadian CHROs report a joint roadmap with IT backed by a shared operating cadence, and 72% say they struggle to coordinate consistently across the C-suite.Globally, where the CHRO at least shares responsibility for which decisions remain human-led, 76% of employees feel safe to question or override AI recommendations, compared with 43% where HR is merely advisory.

AI gains are creating new pressure on the workforce

87% of Canadian CHROs believe AI adoption creates “invisible” work for employees, including validating recommendations, fixing mistakes, providing context and managing exceptions.51% of Canadian employees say AI increases their work or their work goes unrecognized.45% of Canadian CHROs say AI productivity gains are primarily reinvested for innovation or reskilling.

HR is expected to lead AI transformation, but its own adoption lags

63% of Canadian organizations make limited or no use of AI inside the HR function.Canadian CHROs rate HR’s capabilities particularly low in AI literacy across the team (23%), AI performance measurement (20%) and change management for AI adoption (24%).At a global level, organizations with mature HR AI capability, including governance, architecture and measurement, are nearly twice as likely to report a higher number of positive business KPIs.

To view the full study, visit: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/c-suite-study/chro.

*Study Methodology:

The IBM Institute for Business Value, in collaboration with Oxford Economics, conducted two complementary surveys from April to June 2026. The first survey gathered insights from 1,500 CHROs and equivalent senior executives, including 75 Canadian executives,  responsible for workforce strategy on how they design work, culture and the workforce for an AI-enabled enterprise across 21 geographies and 23 industries. Executive respondents represented organizations of varying sizes and sectors, from USD250 million to USD123.7 billion in annual revenue or budget and from 200 to more than 880,000 employees. The second survey polled 8,800 full-time employees, including 452 Canadian employees, spanning 28 countries to capture their experience with AI at work. Additional analysis was conducted to identify organizations converting AI into growth versus those converting it into savings, segmenting organizations by strategic maturity based on capabilities and culture readiness.

The IBM Institute for Business Value, IBM’s thought leadership think tank, combines global research and performance data with expertise from industry thinkers and leading academics to deliver insights that help business leaders make informed decisions. For more information, visit www.ibm.com/ibv.  To receive more insights, subscribe to the IdeaWatch newsletter: https://ibm.co/ibv-ideawatch.

Media Contact:
Lorraine Baldwin
IBM Canada Communications
lorraine@ca.ibm.com 

SOURCE IBM

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