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Category: Machine Learning

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Government rips up rules to fire-up nuclear power

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    More nuclear power plants will be approved across England and Wales as the Prime Minister slashes red tape to get Britain building – as part of his Plan for Change.

    • Prime Minister puts Britain back in the global race for nuclear energy.
    • Changes will allow for Small Modular Reactors for the first time.
    • Latest step in Government’s determination to grow the economy and deliver cleaner, more affordable energy.

    More nuclear power plants will be approved across England and Wales as the Prime Minister slashes red tape to get Britain building – as part of his Plan for Change.

    Reforms to planning rules will clear a path for smaller, and easier to build nuclear reactors – known as Small Modular Reactors –to be built for the first time ever in the UK. This will create thousands of new highly skilled jobs while delivering clean, secure and more affordable energy for working people.

    This is the latest refusal to accept the status quo, with the government ripping up archaic rules and saying not to the NIMBYs, to prioritise growth. It comes after recent changes to planning laws, the scrapping of the 3-strike rule for judicial reviews on infrastructure projects, and application of common-sense to environmental rules.

    For too long the country has been mired by delay and obstruction, with a system too happy to label decisions as too difficult, or too long term. The UK was the first country in the world to develop a nuclear reactor, but the last time a nuclear power station was built was back in 1995. None have been built since, leaving the UK lagging behind in a global race to harness cleaner, more affordable energy.

    The industry pioneered in Britain has been suffocated by regulations and this saw investment collapse, leaving only one nuclear power plant – Hinkley Point C – under construction. And this was after years of delay caused by unnecessary rules – meaning companies produced a 30,000-page environmental assessment to get planning permission.

    Meanwhile, China is constructing 29 reactors, and the EU has 12 at planning stage, giving these places a huge advantage in the global race to harness new technologies, create jobs and deliver cleaner, cheaper, independent energy.

    Investors want to get on and build reliable, cheap nuclear power, which will in turn support critical modern infrastructure, such as supercomputers to power the UK’s ambitions – but they have been held back.

    Today’s plan will shake up the planning rules to make it easier to build nuclear across the country – delivering jobs, cheaper bills in the long term, and more money in people’s back pockets. This will be achieved by:

    Including mini-nuclear power stations in planning rules for the first time – so firms can start building them in the places that need them.

    Scrapping the set list of 8-sites – which meant nuclear sites could be built anywhere across England and Wales.

    Removing the expiry date on nuclear planning rules – so projects don’t get timed out and industry can plan for the long term. 

    Setting up a Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce – that will spearhead improvements to the regulations to help more companies build here. This will report directly to the PM. 

    This is the Government delivering on a manifesto commitment to galvanise nuclear to help the UK achieve energy security and clean power, while securing thousands of good, clean jobs.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

    This country hasn’t built a nuclear power station in decades. we’ve been let down, and left behind. 

    Our energy security has been hostage to Putin for too long, with British prices skyrocketing at his whims.  

    I’m putting an end to it – changing the rules to back the builders of this nation, and saying no to the blockers who have strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long. 

    My government was elected to deliver change. I’ll take the radical decisions needed to wrestle Britain from its status quo slumber, to turbocharge our plan for change.

    Currently, nuclear development is restricted to eight sites – as part of archaic planning rules that haven’t been looked at since 2011. With the reforms unveiled today, the refreshed planning framework will help streamline the process to encourage investment and enable developers to identify the best sites for their projects, supporting development at a wider range of locations.  

    Developers will be encouraged to bring forward sites as soon as possible at the pre-application stage in the planning process, speeding up overall timelines.  

    It will include new nuclear technologies such as small and advanced modular reactors for the first time, providing flexibility to co-locate them with energy intensive industrial sites such as AI data centres. 

    These technologies are cheaper and quicker to build than traditional nuclear power plants and require smaller sites, meaning they can be built in a greater variety of locations.  

    There will also continue to be robust criteria for nuclear reactor locations, including restrictions near densely populated areas and military activity, alongside community engagement and high environmental standards. 

    Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: 

    Build, build, build – that is what Britain’s clean energy mission is all about.  

    The British people have been left vulnerable to global energy markets for too long – and the only way out is to build our way to a new era of clean electricity. 

    Nuclear power creating thousands of skilled jobs. That is what this government will deliver.

    Alongside reforms to the siting process, a specialist taskforce will lead on making sure nuclear regulation incentivises investment, to deliver new projects more quickly and cost efficiently, while upholding high safety and security standards. 

    Britain is currently considered one of the world’s most expensive countries in which to build nuclear power. The taskforce will speed up the approval of new reactor designs and streamline how developers engage with regulators.  

    Nuclear regulation will cover both civil and defence nuclear to help unlock economic growth in the sector.  

    The taskforce will better align the UK with international partners so reactor designs approved abroad could be green lit more quickly, minimising expensive changes. It will also examine how to reduce duplication and simplify processes where there are multiple regulators covering overlapping issues, as well as ensuring regulatory decisions are both safe and proportionate. 

    The work will help the issues faced by projects such as Hinkley Point C, where three European regulators reached different assessments on the reactor design, leading to delays and increased costs. 

    The UK’s rigorous safety standards and record will continue to be upheld. Nuclear plants are designed with multiple layers of safety measures including making them robust enough to withstand a direct aircraft impact. 

    This is part of the government push to drive growth – building on the Prime Minister’s announcement to overhaul the legal challenges to major infrastructure projects including nuclear – with Sizewell C having suffered increased legal costs and uncertainty as a result of local activists taking them to court.  

    In a volatile world, where oil and gas prices are driven by tyrants like Putin, the drive for new nuclear is an integral part of the government’s plans to replace the UK’s dependence on fossil fuel markets with clean homegrown energy, to make the UK energy independent and protect consumers with clean, homegrown power.  

    Since July, the government has committed to driving forward new nuclear including further funding for Sizewell C at the Autumn Budget 2024.  

    Great British Nuclear also continues to progress the small modular reactor competition, with contract negotiations currently underway. 

    Gary Smith, GMB General Secretary, said: 

    GMB has long said there can be no net zero without new nuclear. 

    For too long, the failure to deliver new nuclear has weakened our energy security and undermined economic growth. 

    Sizewell C stands ready and waiting for the green light to power up our country’s future. 

    Now we need to see spades in the ground without delay.

    Alistair Black, Senior Director, UK at X-energy said: 

    Opening up new siting opportunities for a fleet of advanced reactors will help unlock tens of billions of pounds of investment and growth across the country, bringing clean secure electricity and heat for industry. 

    We welcome this step today, and the intent to streamline assessment processes whilst ensuring robust regulatory standards continue to be met. We look forward to reviewing this in detail and responding to the consultation.

    Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF in the UK, said:

    As a major operator, investor and developer, EDF welcomes the proposals designed to speed up new nuclear projects in the UK and unlock economic growth.

    Nuclear is essential to a secure, low carbon energy system and is the ideal partner to renewables. There is a great opportunity to build new infrastructure across England and Wales, to replace aging stations and take advantage of available skills, existing grid connections and supportive communities.

    “The opportunity will only be fully realised with the necessary reforms to planning and regulation, alongside continuing to build on the critical work at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C to further develop skills and supply chains.”

    Darren Hardman, CEO, Microsoft UK, said: 

    We welcome the government’s plans to accelerate the building of safe, modern nuclear as part of the energy mix. Economic growth will require increased energy supply for the UK, but we must not lose sight of our ambitions for a fully decarbonised grid.

    Chair of Great British Nuclear Simon Bowen said:

    Nuclear energy is a powerful tool for growing the UK’s economy. By expanding the range of sites where safe, secure, reliable, and clean nuclear energy plants can be built, there is huge potential to positively transform areas facing economic uncertainty. 

    Today’s announcement also signals exciting opportunities to co-locate nuclear energy generation on data centre sites and to decarbonise industrial processes.

    Nuclear is one of the safest and cleanest forms of energy generation. The new independent nuclear regulation taskforce will help unlock growth and investment by providing clarity and certainty while ensuring regulations are fit for purpose.

    Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said:

    This is the Prime Minister’s strongest signal yet that new nuclear is critical to the growth and clean power mission. A more streamlined planning system will give certainty to investors, the supply chain and communities, and will enable us to get on with building new nuclear plants on more sites and at pace for a cleaner, more secure power system.

    We need to make Britain the best possible place to build new nuclear, both large-scale and SMRs, which means avoiding unnecessary stumbling blocks and ensuring regulations are proportionate to our urgent need for low carbon power, energy security and good jobs.

    Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said:

    The government is right to identify nuclear power as a crucial contributor to the UK’s future electricity needs. This development shows the right desire to overcome the significant challenges involved in building back nuclear at scale, in terms of planning obstacles and project delivery. Despite these challenges, today’s announcement marks a significant move forward.

    Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect said:

    The government’s ambition to drive forward a new generation of nuclear power after decades of delay is exactly what Britain needs.

    Nuclear is not only essential for hitting our Net Zero goals and maintaining energy security, it also creates thousands of good, well-paid jobs in areas of the country where they are sorely needed.

    Speeding up the approval of new sites and new reactors is an important step towards enabling investment in new nuclear. The government’s support for Sizewell C is also a welcome vote of confidence in the sector and bringing this project to a Final Investment Decision will provide a strong foundation for its future growth.

    The success of Britain’s world class nuclear sector is built on a robust regulatory process, and we welcome a review of this framework to ensure it is supporting investment while still providing assurance that high safety standards are being maintained.

    Cathal O’Rourke, Laing O’Rourke’s Group Chief Executive Officer said:

    This announcement is a significant step forward for the UK’s nuclear industry. The clarity provided by these new planning rules, the focus on streamlining the regulatory process, and the emphasis on standardising reactor designs is precisely the sort of clear, unequivocal direction the industry needs.

    Having played a central role in delivering nuclear capacity at Hinkley Point C, we understand the complexities of these projects firsthand and these new measures, particularly around regulatory reform and streamlined planning, will be invaluable in ensuring future projects, like Sizewell C, can be delivered more efficiently and cost-effectively.  

    In particular, standardisation and an industrialised approach will be key to driving down costs and accelerating construction timelines, ensuring we can deploy new nuclear capacity efficiently and at pace by adopting a “copy, improve, repeat” approach to design and implementation. This type of approach would also improve worker welfare conditions on site from a physical and wellbeing perspective.

    This clear signal from government will unlock investment, create jobs nationwide for shared prosperity, including an ability to plan for long-term investment in apprenticeships, and ensure the UK can benefit from clean, locally supplied nuclear power for generations to come.

    Chris Conboy, Managing Director, Nuclear EMEA at AtkinsRéalis said:

    We welcome plans to accelerate new nuclear developments. Speeding up lengthy planning processes would help to bring forward new projects faster, strengthening the UK’s world-class nuclear supply chain and creating jobs and skills across the country. 

    Nuclear will be the cornerstone of a reliable net zero energy system. We need both large and small nuclear technologies to realise our AI ambitions, bolster our energy security, and enable the sustainable development of towns, cities and industries across the UK: building the right technology in the right locations is vital to power the UK’s growth agenda and meet our net zero goals.

    David Omand, former Director of GCHQ said: 

    It is very welcome to see this government pushing forward on their commitment to national security by making the UK more energy secure and speeding up nuclear power to boost growth across the country. Nuclear is critical to national security, and taking this kind of action is a mark of the seriousness with which Keir Starmer takes the challenges of modern geopolitics. I fully support this push to knock down barriers to safe, modern nuclear as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

    Kim Darroch, former National Security Adviser said: 

    As a former National Security Adviser, I think driving for as much homegrown clean power as possible in this age of global turbulence should be among our top national security objectives. So I welcome the Prime Minister’s intervention to accelerate the regeneration of our nuclear power industry.

    Julian David OBE, CEO, techUK said: 

    If we want the UK economy to keep growing, we must invest in our energy infrastructure. We are pleased to see the Government announce new plans to reform planning rules to expand new energy generation. This move will boost the economy, create new jobs, and ensure the UK is not reliant on external agents for its own energy supply.

    Updates to this page

    Published 6 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Press release: Government rips up rules to fire-up nuclear power

    Source: United Kingdom – Prime Minister’s Office 10 Downing Street

    More nuclear power plants will be approved across England and Wales as the Prime Minister slashes red tape to get Britain building – as part of his Plan for Change.

    • Prime Minister puts Britain back in the global race for nuclear energy.
    • Changes will allow for Small Modular Reactors for the first time.
    • Latest step in Government’s determination to grow the economy and deliver cleaner, more affordable energy.

    More nuclear power plants will be approved across England and Wales as the Prime Minister slashes red tape to get Britain building – as part of his Plan for Change.

    Reforms to planning rules will clear a path for smaller, and easier to build nuclear reactors – known as Small Modular Reactors –to be built for the first time ever in the UK. This will create thousands of new highly skilled jobs while delivering clean, secure and more affordable energy for working people.

    This is the latest refusal to accept the status quo, with the government ripping up archaic rules and saying not to the NIMBYs, to prioritise growth. It comes after recent changes to planning laws, the scrapping of the 3-strike rule for judicial reviews on infrastructure projects, and application of common-sense to environmental rules.

    For too long the country has been mired by delay and obstruction, with a system too happy to label decisions as too difficult, or too long term. The UK was the first country in the world to develop a nuclear reactor, but the last time a nuclear power station was built was back in 1995. None have been built since, leaving the UK lagging behind in a global race to harness cleaner, more affordable energy.

    The industry pioneered in Britain has been suffocated by regulations and this saw investment collapse, leaving only one nuclear power plant – Hinkley Point C – under construction. And this was after years of delay caused by unnecessary rules – meaning companies produced a 30,000-page environmental assessment to get planning permission.

    Meanwhile, China is constructing 29 reactors, and the EU has 12 at planning stage, giving these places a huge advantage in the global race to harness new technologies, create jobs and deliver cleaner, cheaper, independent energy.

    Investors want to get on and build reliable, cheap nuclear power, which will in turn support critical modern infrastructure, such as supercomputers to power the UK’s ambitions – but they have been held back.

    Today’s plan will shake up the planning rules to make it easier to build nuclear across the country – delivering jobs, cheaper bills in the long term, and more money in people’s back pockets. This will be achieved by:

    Including mini-nuclear power stations in planning rules for the first time – so firms can start building them in the places that need them.

    Scrapping the set list of 8-sites – which meant nuclear sites could be built anywhere across England and Wales.

    Removing the expiry date on nuclear planning rules – so projects don’t get timed out and industry can plan for the long term. 

    Setting up a Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce – that will spearhead improvements to the regulations to help more companies build here. This will report directly to the PM. 

    This is the Government delivering on a manifesto commitment to galvanise nuclear to help the UK achieve energy security and clean power, while securing thousands of good, clean jobs.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

    This country hasn’t built a nuclear power station in decades. we’ve been let down, and left behind. 

    Our energy security has been hostage to Putin for too long, with British prices skyrocketing at his whims.  

    I’m putting an end to it – changing the rules to back the builders of this nation, and saying no to the blockers who have strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long. 

    My government was elected to deliver change. I’ll take the radical decisions needed to wrestle Britain from its status quo slumber, to turbocharge our plan for change.

    Currently, nuclear development is restricted to eight sites – as part of archaic planning rules that haven’t been looked at since 2011. With the reforms unveiled today, the refreshed planning framework will help streamline the process to encourage investment and enable developers to identify the best sites for their projects, supporting development at a wider range of locations.  

    Developers will be encouraged to bring forward sites as soon as possible at the pre-application stage in the planning process, speeding up overall timelines.  

    It will include new nuclear technologies such as small and advanced modular reactors for the first time, providing flexibility to co-locate them with energy intensive industrial sites such as AI data centres. 

    These technologies are cheaper and quicker to build than traditional nuclear power plants and require smaller sites, meaning they can be built in a greater variety of locations.  

    There will also continue to be robust criteria for nuclear reactor locations, including restrictions near densely populated areas and military activity, alongside community engagement and high environmental standards. 

    Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: 

    Build, build, build – that is what Britain’s clean energy mission is all about.  

    The British people have been left vulnerable to global energy markets for too long – and the only way out is to build our way to a new era of clean electricity. 

    Nuclear power creating thousands of skilled jobs. That is what this government will deliver.

    Alongside reforms to the siting process, a specialist taskforce will lead on making sure nuclear regulation incentivises investment, to deliver new projects more quickly and cost efficiently, while upholding high safety and security standards. 

    Britain is currently considered one of the world’s most expensive countries in which to build nuclear power. The taskforce will speed up the approval of new reactor designs and streamline how developers engage with regulators.  

    Nuclear regulation will cover both civil and defence nuclear to help unlock economic growth in the sector.  

    The taskforce will better align the UK with international partners so reactor designs approved abroad could be green lit more quickly, minimising expensive changes. It will also examine how to reduce duplication and simplify processes where there are multiple regulators covering overlapping issues, as well as ensuring regulatory decisions are both safe and proportionate. 

    The work will help the issues faced by projects such as Hinkley Point C, where three European regulators reached different assessments on the reactor design, leading to delays and increased costs. 

    The UK’s rigorous safety standards and record will continue to be upheld. Nuclear plants are designed with multiple layers of safety measures including making them robust enough to withstand a direct aircraft impact. 

    This is part of the government push to drive growth – building on the Prime Minister’s announcement to overhaul the legal challenges to major infrastructure projects including nuclear – with Sizewell C having suffered increased legal costs and uncertainty as a result of local activists taking them to court.  

    In a volatile world, where oil and gas prices are driven by tyrants like Putin, the drive for new nuclear is an integral part of the government’s plans to replace the UK’s dependence on fossil fuel markets with clean homegrown energy, to make the UK energy independent and protect consumers with clean, homegrown power.  

    Since July, the government has committed to driving forward new nuclear including further funding for Sizewell C at the Autumn Budget 2024.  

    Great British Nuclear also continues to progress the small modular reactor competition, with contract negotiations currently underway. 

    Gary Smith, GMB General Secretary, said: 

    GMB has long said there can be no net zero without new nuclear. 

    For too long, the failure to deliver new nuclear has weakened our energy security and undermined economic growth. 

    Sizewell C stands ready and waiting for the green light to power up our country’s future. 

    Now we need to see spades in the ground without delay.

    Alistair Black, Senior Director, UK at X-energy said: 

    Opening up new siting opportunities for a fleet of advanced reactors will help unlock tens of billions of pounds of investment and growth across the country, bringing clean secure electricity and heat for industry. 

    We welcome this step today, and the intent to streamline assessment processes whilst ensuring robust regulatory standards continue to be met. We look forward to reviewing this in detail and responding to the consultation.

    Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF in the UK, said:

    As a major operator, investor and developer, EDF welcomes the proposals designed to speed up new nuclear projects in the UK and unlock economic growth.

    Nuclear is essential to a secure, low carbon energy system and is the ideal partner to renewables. There is a great opportunity to build new infrastructure across England and Wales, to replace aging stations and take advantage of available skills, existing grid connections and supportive communities.

    “The opportunity will only be fully realised with the necessary reforms to planning and regulation, alongside continuing to build on the critical work at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C to further develop skills and supply chains.”

    Darren Hardman, CEO, Microsoft UK, said: 

    We welcome the government’s plans to accelerate the building of safe, modern nuclear as part of the energy mix. Economic growth will require increased energy supply for the UK, but we must not lose sight of our ambitions for a fully decarbonised grid.

    Chair of Great British Nuclear Simon Bowen said:

    Nuclear energy is a powerful tool for growing the UK’s economy. By expanding the range of sites where safe, secure, reliable, and clean nuclear energy plants can be built, there is huge potential to positively transform areas facing economic uncertainty. 

    Today’s announcement also signals exciting opportunities to co-locate nuclear energy generation on data centre sites and to decarbonise industrial processes.

    Nuclear is one of the safest and cleanest forms of energy generation. The new independent nuclear regulation taskforce will help unlock growth and investment by providing clarity and certainty while ensuring regulations are fit for purpose.

    Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said:

    This is the Prime Minister’s strongest signal yet that new nuclear is critical to the growth and clean power mission. A more streamlined planning system will give certainty to investors, the supply chain and communities, and will enable us to get on with building new nuclear plants on more sites and at pace for a cleaner, more secure power system.

    We need to make Britain the best possible place to build new nuclear, both large-scale and SMRs, which means avoiding unnecessary stumbling blocks and ensuring regulations are proportionate to our urgent need for low carbon power, energy security and good jobs.

    Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said:

    The government is right to identify nuclear power as a crucial contributor to the UK’s future electricity needs. This development shows the right desire to overcome the significant challenges involved in building back nuclear at scale, in terms of planning obstacles and project delivery. Despite these challenges, today’s announcement marks a significant move forward.

    Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect said:

    The government’s ambition to drive forward a new generation of nuclear power after decades of delay is exactly what Britain needs.

    Nuclear is not only essential for hitting our Net Zero goals and maintaining energy security, it also creates thousands of good, well-paid jobs in areas of the country where they are sorely needed.

    Speeding up the approval of new sites and new reactors is an important step towards enabling investment in new nuclear. The government’s support for Sizewell C is also a welcome vote of confidence in the sector and bringing this project to a Final Investment Decision will provide a strong foundation for its future growth.

    The success of Britain’s world class nuclear sector is built on a robust regulatory process, and we welcome a review of this framework to ensure it is supporting investment while still providing assurance that high safety standards are being maintained.

    Cathal O’Rourke, Laing O’Rourke’s Group Chief Executive Officer said:

    This announcement is a significant step forward for the UK’s nuclear industry. The clarity provided by these new planning rules, the focus on streamlining the regulatory process, and the emphasis on standardising reactor designs is precisely the sort of clear, unequivocal direction the industry needs.

    Having played a central role in delivering nuclear capacity at Hinkley Point C, we understand the complexities of these projects firsthand and these new measures, particularly around regulatory reform and streamlined planning, will be invaluable in ensuring future projects, like Sizewell C, can be delivered more efficiently and cost-effectively.  

    In particular, standardisation and an industrialised approach will be key to driving down costs and accelerating construction timelines, ensuring we can deploy new nuclear capacity efficiently and at pace by adopting a “copy, improve, repeat” approach to design and implementation. This type of approach would also improve worker welfare conditions on site from a physical and wellbeing perspective.

    This clear signal from government will unlock investment, create jobs nationwide for shared prosperity, including an ability to plan for long-term investment in apprenticeships, and ensure the UK can benefit from clean, locally supplied nuclear power for generations to come.

    Chris Conboy, Managing Director, Nuclear EMEA at AtkinsRéalis said:

    We welcome plans to accelerate new nuclear developments. Speeding up lengthy planning processes would help to bring forward new projects faster, strengthening the UK’s world-class nuclear supply chain and creating jobs and skills across the country. 

    Nuclear will be the cornerstone of a reliable net zero energy system. We need both large and small nuclear technologies to realise our AI ambitions, bolster our energy security, and enable the sustainable development of towns, cities and industries across the UK: building the right technology in the right locations is vital to power the UK’s growth agenda and meet our net zero goals.

    David Omand, former Director of GCHQ said: 

    It is very welcome to see this government pushing forward on their commitment to national security by making the UK more energy secure and speeding up nuclear power to boost growth across the country. Nuclear is critical to national security, and taking this kind of action is a mark of the seriousness with which Keir Starmer takes the challenges of modern geopolitics. I fully support this push to knock down barriers to safe, modern nuclear as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

    Kim Darroch, former National Security Adviser said: 

    As a former National Security Adviser, I think driving for as much homegrown clean power as possible in this age of global turbulence should be among our top national security objectives. So I welcome the Prime Minister’s intervention to accelerate the regeneration of our nuclear power industry.

    Julian David OBE, CEO, techUK said: 

    If we want the UK economy to keep growing, we must invest in our energy infrastructure. We are pleased to see the Government announce new plans to reform planning rules to expand new energy generation. This move will boost the economy, create new jobs, and ensure the UK is not reliant on external agents for its own energy supply.

    Updates to this page

    Published 6 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Mongolian Minister of Defense visits U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    AIEA, Hawaii  –  

    U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, deputy commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, hosts Mongolian Minister of Defense Sandag Byambatsogt at USINDOPACOM headquarters on Camp H.M. Smith in Hawaii, Feb. 4, 2025.

    Topics of discussion included defense ties, advancing shared interests and cooperation, military modernization, and expansion of peacekeeping operations.

    The U.S. and Mongolia upgraded their bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership in 2019, and this year marks 38 years of the U.S.-Mongolian relationship rooted in shared values and mutual respect.

    USINDOPACOM is committed to enhancing stability in the Indo-Pacific region by promoting security cooperation, encouraging peaceful development, responding to contingencies, deterring aggression and, when necessary, fighting to win

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Samsung Electronics Unveils 6G White Paper and Outlines Direction for AI-Native and Sustainable Communication

    Source: Samsung

    Samsung Electronics has published a 6G white paper titled “AI-Native & Sustainable Communication,” detailing the latest trends in next-generation mobile communication technologies.
     
    Following the first 6G white paper “The Next Hyper-Connected Experience for All.” in July 2020, this white paper covers the latest trends driving 6G standardization and next-generation mobile communications — including evolving market and technology needs, emerging services, key attributes of 6G and enabling technologies.
     
    Samsung aims to integrate the latest AI technology throughout the telecommunication system and improve network quality for a future-oriented and sustainable user experience.
     
    “We are intensifying our 6G research efforts, focusing on AI-enabled communication technologies and sustainable networks,” said Charlie Zhang, Senior Vice President of Advanced Communications Research Center (ACRC), Samsung Research. “As the telecommunication industry accelerates 6G standardization this year, Samsung will develop technologies to align with market demands.”
     

     
     
    Market and Technology Trends Toward 6G
    Mobile data traffic has surged, driven by the proliferation of AI technologies and the rise of streaming services. Now more than ever, there is a pressing need for technological advancements to manage increased data traffic and enhance user experiences in next-generation mobile communications.
     
    Since the introduction of 5G, the telecommunications industry has been particularly focused on optimizing system operations, sustainability and user experiences. Beyond communication performance improvements such as data rates and latency, there is an urgency to reduce operating costs, enhance energy efficiency, expand service coverage and introduce innovative technologies such as AI.
     
     
    Emerging Services
    5G-Advanced will provide further enhanced 5G performance and incorporate AI to support new services and use cases — ultimately becoming the foundation for 6G technology.
     
    In this white paper, some key emerging services such as immersive extended reality (XR), digital twin, massive communication, ubiquitous connectivity and fixed wireless access (FWA) are highlighted.
     

     

    Immersive Extended Reality (XR): Offers truly immersive user experiences by integrating and interacting with the virtual and real worlds, attracting attention across industries such as entertainment, healthcare and science.
     
    Digital Twin: Creates virtual replicas of physical entities — including objects, people, devices and places — using 6G technology to allow remote monitoring, problem detection and control.
     
    Massive Communication: Simultaneously connects numerous sensors, machines, terminals and other devices to networks and supports automation and management of smart cities, homes and factories.
     
    Ubiquitous Connectivity: Expands service areas by extending terrestrial network coverage and interworking between terrestrial and non-terrestrial network components — including satellites and high-altitude platform stations (HAPS).
     
    Fixed Wireless Access (FWA): Allows wireless delivery of broadband services that traditionally required wired connections to become recognized as a key driver of expanding telecommunications businesses.

     
     
    6G Key Attributes
    In the white paper, Samsung highlighted four key attributes crucial to adapting to evolving market demands — AI-native, sustainable network, ubiquitous coverage and secure and resilient network.
     

     

    AI-Native: Incorporates the latest AI technologies into communication functionalities from system design to the development, management and operation of systems for performance improvements.
     
    Sustainable Network: Reduces operational costs and increases user satisfaction by improving the energy efficiency of both networks and terminals.
     
    Ubiquitous Coverage: Decreases capital expenditures (CAPEX) of networks and enhances service quality by expanding communication service areas and strengthening connectivity via interconnecting terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
     
    Secure and Resilient Network: Ensures network security, user privacy and resilience for significant advancements in computing capabilities and AI technology for the 2030s.

     
     
    6G Timeline
    With the release of this white paper, Samsung solidifies its leadership in shaping the direction of 6G research and key technologies.
     
    The telecommunications industry and standardization organizations have been researching 6G since 2020. In 2030, the 6G technology standards are expected to be finalized — following candidate technology development, evaluation and consensus-building processes. With the recent timelines from the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R)1 and 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP),2 momentum for 6G research and development is expected to intensify.
     
    Samsung will continue to lead global standardization efforts and prepare for the 6G era while incorporating lessons learned from 5G commercialization and adapting to new market requirements.
     
    Last November, Samsung held the Silicon Valley Future Wireless Summit and hosted an in-depth discussion with industry experts on the convergence of telecommunications and AI technologies. The company demonstrated AI-RAN technologies and Proof of Concept (PoC) results, showcasing the possibilities of AI-native technologies and garnering significant interest from major telecommunications operators.
     
     
    1 ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies with memberships of 193 Member States and more than 1,000 companies, universities, research institutes and international and regional organizations. The ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is responsible for regulating and standardizing global radio communication.2 3GPP is dedicated to developing the global unified technical specifications for mobile communications.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-Evening Report: What’s the difference between climate and weather models? It all comes down to chaos

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Hogg, Professor and Director of ACCESS-NRI, Australian National University

    Nadia Piet/AIxDESIGN & Archival Images of AI / Better Images of AI , CC BY-SA

    Weather forecasts help you decide whether to go for a picnic, hang out your washing or ride your bike to work. They also provide warnings for extreme events, and predictions to optimise our power grid.

    To achieve this, services such as the Australian Bureau of Meteorology use complex mathematical representations of Earth and its atmosphere – weather and climate models.

    The same software is also used by scientists to predict our future climate in the coming decades or even centuries. These predictions allow us to plan for, or avoid, the impacts of future climate change.

    Weather and climate models are highly complex. The Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator, for example, is comprised of millions of lines of computer code.

    Without climate and weather models we would be flying blind, both for short-term weather events and for our long-term future. But how do they work – and how are they different?

    The same physical principles

    Weather is the short-term behaviour of the atmosphere – the temperature on a given day, the wind, whether it’s raining and how much. Climate is about long-term statistics of weather events – the typical temperature in summer, or how often thunderstorms or floods happen each decade.

    The reason we can use the same modelling tools for both weather and climate is because they are both based on the same physical principles.

    These models compile a range of factors – the Sun’s radiation, air and water flow, land surface, clouds – into mathematical equations. These equations are solved on a bunch of tiny three-dimensional grid boxes and pieced together to predict the future state.

    These boxes are sort of like pixels that come together to make the big picture.

    These solutions are calculated on a computer – where using more grid boxes (finer resolution) gives better answers, but takes more computing resources. This is why the best predictions need a supercomputer, such as the National Computational Infrastructure’s Gadi, located in Canberra.

    Because weather and climate are governed by the same physical processes, we can use the same software to predict the behaviour of both.

    But there most of the similarities end.

    Climate and weather models are made up of thousands of 3-dimensional grid cells which are represented by mathematical equations that describe physical processes.
    NOAA

    The starting point

    The main differences between weather and climate come down to a single concept: “initialisation”, or the starting point of a model.

    In many cases, the simplest prediction for tomorrow’s weather is the “persistence” forecast: tomorrow’s weather will be similar to today. It means that, irrespective of how good your model is, if you start from the wrong conditions for today, you have no hope of predicting tomorrow.

    Persistence forecasts are often quite good for temperature, but they’re less effective for other aspects of weather such as rainfall or wind. Since these are often the most important aspects of weather to predict, meteorologists need more sophisticated methods.

    So, weather models use complex mathematics to create models that include weather information (from yesterday and today) and then make a good prediction of tomorrow. These predictions are a big improvement on persistence forecasts, but they won’t be perfect.

    In addition, the further ahead you try to predict, the more information you forget about the initial state and the worse your forecast performs. So you need to regularly update and rerun (or, to use modelling parlance, “initialise”) the model to get the best prediction.

    Weather services today can reliably predict three to seven days ahead, depending on the region, the season and the type of weather systems involved.

    Chaos reigns

    If we can only accurately predict weather systems about a week ahead before chaos takes over, climate models have no hope of predicting a specific storm next century.

    Instead, climate models use a completely different philosophy. They aim to produce the right type and frequency of weather events, but not a specific forecast of the actual weather.

    The cumulative effect of these weather events produces the climate state. This includes factors such as the average temperature and the likelihood of extreme weather events.

    So, a climate model doesn’t give us an answer based on weather information from yesterday or today – it is run for centuries to produce its own equilibrium for a simulated Earth.

    Because it is run for so long, a climate (also known as Earth system) model will need to account for additional, longer-term processes not factored into weather models, such as ocean circulation, the cryosphere (the frozen portions of the planet), the natural carbon cycle and carbon emissions from human activities.

    The additional complexity of these extra processes, combined with the need for century-long simulations, means these models use a lot of computing power. Constraints on computing means that we often include fewer grid boxes (that is, lower resolution) in climate models than weather models.

    A machine learning revolution?

    Is there a faster way?

    Enormous strides have been made in the past couple of years to predict the weather with machine learning. In fact, machine learning-based models can now outperform physics-based models.

    But these models need to be trained. And right now, we have insufficient weather observations to train them. This means their training still needs to be supplemented by the output of traditional models.

    And despite some encouraging recent attempts, it’s not clear that machine learning models will be able to simulate future climate change. The reason again comes down to training – in particular, global warming will shift the climate system to a different state for which we have no observational data whatsoever to train or verify a predictive machine learning model.

    Now more than ever, climate and weather models are crucial digital infrastructure. They are powerful tools for decision makers, as well as research scientists. They provide essential support for agriculture, resource management and disaster response, so understanding how they work is vital.

    Andy Hogg works for ACCESS-NRI, Australia’s Climate Simulator, based at the Australian National University. He receives funding for ACCESS-NRI from the Department of Education through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, and receives research funding from the Australian Research Council. He is a member of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.

    Aidan Heerdegen works for ACCESS-NRI, Australia’s Climate Simulator, based at the Australian National University.

    ACCESS-NRI receives funding from the Federal Department of Education through the National Collaborative Infrastructure Strategy.

    Kelsey Druken works for ACCESS-NRI, Australia’s Climate Simulator, based at the Australian National University. ACCESS-NRI receives funding from the Australian federal government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). She is a member of the American and European Geophysical Unions (AGU, EGU).

    – ref. What’s the difference between climate and weather models? It all comes down to chaos – https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-climate-and-weather-models-it-all-comes-down-to-chaos-244914

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Bendigo NEXT presents a dynamic program to inspire business innovation

    Source: State of Victoria Local Government 2

    The region’s biggest tourism conference, Bendigo NEXT, returns with an exciting program tailored for tourism professionals and businesses to thrive in Greater Bendigo.

    Presented by Be.Bendigo in partnership with the City of Greater Bendigo and the Bendigo Tourism Board, Bendigo NEXT’s one-day showcase is from 10am to 4pm on Monday February 24 at the Quality Lakeside Hotel.

    City Manager Economy & Experience James Myatt said Bendigo NEXT was a must-attend event for businesses eager to drive innovation, growth, and success in Bendigo and beyond.

    “This year’s Bendigo NEXT conference builds on its tourism-focused roots whilst incorporating dynamic business training seminars designed to appeal to a broader audience in the business community,” Mr Myatt said.

    “From the latest trends to practical tools for growth, this event is packed with insightful presentations, interactive workshops, strategies, and a networking session to connect and build new partnerships.

    The MC for the day’s event is Bendigo Tourism Chair Kath Bolitho and the conference features an impressive program to inspire including:

    • Victorian Tourism Industry and Council Updates & the Future of Business with AI with Despina Karatzias
    • Upgrading nbn across the Bendigo region in 2025 with Emy Peel, Head of nbn Local – Victoria/Tasmania
    • Workforce Requirements and Opportunities with Martin Collins from the Victorian Skills Authority
    • Attracting Multicultural Visitors to Bendigo with Bendigo Heritage Attractions
    • Accessible Content for Businesses with City of Greater Bendigo Community Engagement Officer Angela McKinley
    • 2025 Highlights and Opportunities in Bendigo with Bendigo Art Gallery Curator Lauren Ellis, Manager Bendigo Venues & Events Julie Amos, Manager Major Events Nicole McNamara and Manager Destination and Experience Glenn Harvey

    Be.Bendigo incoming CEO Hayley Tibbett said the program offered something for everyone.

    “We’re really excited to be partnering with the City of Greater Bendigo to deliver the 2025 Bendigo NEXT Conference,” Ms Tibbett said.

    “This is a dynamic and forward-thinking event that builds on its tourism-focused expertise with new elements to support small business owners and entrepreneurs.

    “The program will deliver a wide of range of topics from expert-led presentations on critical topics like AI, workforce development, multicultural tourism, to interactive workshops on finance, marketing, and customer service tailored to your business needs.

    “The conference is more accessible than ever, designed to deliver practical insights and meaningful connections that will help businesses thrive. We encourage tourism professionals, small business owners, and innovators across all industries to join us for a day of learning, inspiration, and networking.”

    Bendigo NEXT stands for Networking, Emerging trends, eXperiences, and Technology.

    To register, visit:

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI: LeddarTech Announces Listing Transfer to the Nasdaq Capital Market; Comments on Recent Positive Business Developments

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    QUEBEC CITY, Canada, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LeddarTech® Holdings Inc. (“LeddarTech” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: LDTC), an automotive software company that provides patented disruptive AI-based low-level sensor fusion and perception software technology, LeddarVision™, today announced that it has received approval from the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) to transfer the listing of its securities from the Nasdaq Global Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market. The Company’s Common Shares and publicly traded warrants will continue to trade under the symbols “LDTC” and “LDTCW,” respectively. The transfer of the Company’s listing to the Nasdaq Capital Market is not expected to have any impact on trading in the Company’s securities. This transfer is expected to take effect as of the opening of trading on February 6, 2025.

    As previously disclosed, the Company received notifications from Nasdaq indicating the Company had failed to comply with certain continued listing requirements for the Nasdaq Global Market. In connection with the transfer of its listing to Nasdaq Capital Market, the Company had either cured such deficiencies or met the applicable standards on the Nasdaq Capital Market, and will be subject to robust Nasdaq Capital Market listing standards going forward.

    “We look forward to further growth and development of LeddarTech on the Nasdaq,” said Frantz Saintellemy, President and CEO of LeddarTech. “We are excited about our business momentum, as demonstrated by the selection of LeddarVision, our fusion and perception software solution, by one of the world’s leading commercial vehicle OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) for their advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) program for 2028 model year vehicles. We believe this win along with other recent announcements validate our commercial strategy and reflect the momentum that is building with our business.”

    About LeddarTech

    A global software company founded in 2007 and headquartered in Quebec City with additional R&D centers in Montreal and Tel Aviv, Israel, LeddarTech develops and provides comprehensive AI-based low-level sensor fusion and perception software solutions that enable the deployment of ADAS, autonomous driving (AD) and parking applications. LeddarTech’s automotive-grade software applies advanced AI and computer vision algorithms to generate accurate 3D models of the environment to achieve better decision making and safer navigation. This high-performance, scalable, cost-effective technology is available to OEMs and Tier 1-2 suppliers to efficiently implement automotive and off-road vehicle ADAS solutions.

    LeddarTech is responsible for several remote-sensing innovations, with over 170 patent applications (87 granted) that enhance ADAS, AD and parking capabilities. Better awareness around the vehicle is critical in making global mobility safer, more efficient, sustainable and affordable: this is what drives LeddarTech to seek to become the most widely adopted sensor fusion and perception software solution.

    Additional information about LeddarTech is accessible at www.leddartech.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter (X), Facebook and YouTube.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Certain statements contained in this Press Release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (which forward-looking statements also include forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws), including, but not limited to, statements relating to LeddarTech’s selection by the OEM referred to above, anticipated strategy, future operations, prospects, objectives and financial projections and other financial metrics and ability to comply with Nasdaq Capital Markets listing standards in the future. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend” and other similar expressions among others. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation, our ability to continue to maintain compliance with Nasdaq continued listing standards following our transfer to the Nasdaq Capital Market, as well as: (i) the risk that LeddarTech and the OEM referred to above are unable to agree to final terms in definitive agreements; (ii) the volume of future orders (if any) from this OEM, actual revenue derived from expected orders, and timing of revenue, if any; (iii) our ability to timely access sufficient capital and financing on favorable terms or at all; (iv) our ability to maintain compliance with our debt covenants, including our ability to enter into any forbearance agreements, waivers or amendments with, or obtain other relief from, our lenders as needed; (v) our ability to execute on our business model, achieve design wins and generate meaningful revenue; (vi) our ability to successfully commercialize our product offering at scale, whether through the collaboration agreement with Texas Instruments, a collaboration with a Tier 2 supplier or otherwise; (vii) changes in our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, projects, prospects and plans; (viii) changes in general economic and/or industry-specific conditions; (ix) our ability to retain, attract and hire key personnel; (x) potential adverse changes to relationships with our customers, employees, suppliers or other parties; (xi) legislative, regulatory and economic developments; (xii) the outcome of any known and unknown litigation and regulatory proceedings; (xiii) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism, outbreak of war or hostilities and any epidemic, pandemic or disease outbreak, as well as management’s response to any of the aforementioned factors; and (xiv) other risk factors as detailed from time to time in LeddarTech’s reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the risk factors contained in LeddarTech’s Form 20-F filed with the SEC. The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Except as required by applicable law, LeddarTech does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

    Contact:
    Chris Stewart, Chief Financial Officer, LeddarTech Holdings Inc.

    Tel.: + 1-514-427-0858, chris.stewart@leddartech.com

    Leddar, LeddarTech, LeddarVision, LeddarSP, VAYADrive, VayaVision and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of LeddarTech Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other brands, product names and marks are or may be trademarks or registered trademarks used to identify products or services of their respective owners.

    LeddarTech Holdings Inc. is a public company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “LDTC.”

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Silicon Motion Announces Results for the Period Ended December 31, 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Business Highlights

    • Fourth quarter of 2024 sales decreased 10% Q/Q and decreased 6% Y/Y
      • SSD controller sales: 4Q of 2024 decreased 5% to 10% Q/Q and decreased 5% to 10% Y/Y
      • eMMC+UFS controller sales: 4Q of 2024 decreased 10% to 15% Q/Q and were flat Y/Y
      • SSD solutions sales: 4Q of 2024 decreased 35% to 40% Q/Q and decreased 25% to 30% Y/Y
    • Announced annual cash dividend of $2.00 per American Depositary Share (“ADS”)

    Financial Highlights

      4Q 2024 GAAP 4Q 2024 Non-GAAP*
     • Net sales $191.2 million (-10% Q/Q, -6% Y/Y) $191.2 million (-10% Q/Q, -6% Y/Y)
     • Gross margin 46.8% 47.0%
     • Operating margin 10.3% 16.5%
     • Earnings per diluted ADS $0.68 $0.91
      Full Year 2024 GAAP Full Year 2024 Non-GAAP*
     • Net sales $803.6 million (+26% Y/Y) $803.6 million (+26% Y/Y)
     • Gross margin 46.1% 46.2%
     • Operating margin 11.6% 15.3%
     • Earnings per diluted ADS $2.69 $3.43

    * Please see supplemental reconciliations of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) to all non-GAAP financial measures mentioned herein towards the end of this news release.

    TAIPEI, Taiwan and MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NasdaqGS: SIMO) (“Silicon Motion,” the “Company” or “we”) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2024. For the fourth quarter of 2024, net sales (GAAP) decreased sequentially to $191.2 million from $212.4 million in the third quarter of 2024. Net income (GAAP) increased to $23.0 million, or $0.68 per diluted ADS (GAAP), from net income (GAAP) of $20.8 million, or $0.62 per diluted ADS (GAAP), in the third quarter of 2024.

    For the fourth quarter of 2024, net income (non-GAAP) decreased to $30.9 million, or $0.91 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), from net income (non-GAAP) of $31.0 million, or $0.92 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), in the third quarter of 2024.

    All financial numbers are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

    Fourth Quarter of 2024 Review

    “We continued to execute well in the fourth quarter of 2024 despite the challenging consumer market, delivering revenue within our guided range and further expanding of our gross margin,” said Wallace Kou, President and CEO of Silicon Motion. ”For the full-year 2024, revenue rebounded strongly, growing 26% as compared to full-year 2023 and well above our initial expectations at the start of the year. For the full-year 2024, gross margin (non-GAAP) increased to 46.2% from 43.0% in 2023 despite the overall market weakness in the second half of 2024. We successfully launched our industry-leading PCIE Gen 5 controllers in the second half of 2024, winning four of the six flash makers and multiple module maker customers, which are all anticipated to ramp up throughout 2025. While the consumer market remains challenging in the near-term, we remain focused on delivering strong, sustainable long-term growth by broadening our product portfolio, expanding into new markets and growing our market share in the consumer, enterprise, automotive, industrial and commercial storage markets.”

    Key Financial Results

    (in millions, except percentages and per ADS amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP
    4Q 2024 3Q 2024 4Q 2023 4Q 2024 3Q 2024 4Q 2023
    Revenue $191.2 $212.4 $202.4 $191.2 $212.4 $202.4
    Gross profit $89.5 $99.3 $88.5 $89.9 $99.3 $89.3
    Percent of revenue 46.8% 46.7% 43.7% 47.0% 46.8% 44.1%
    Operating expenses $69.9 $74.8 $71.0 $58.3 $65.1 $61.5
    Operating profit $19.7 $24.5 $17.6 $31.6 $34.2 $27.8
    Percent of revenue 10.3% 11.5% 8.7% 16.5% 16.1% 13.8%
    Earnings per diluted ADS $0.68 $0.62 $0.63 $0.91 $0.92 $0.93

    Other Financial Information

    (in millions) 4Q 2024 3Q 2024 4Q 2023
    Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments—end of period $334.3 $368.6 $369.0
    Routine capital expenditures $7.3 $7.4 $3.5
    Dividend payments $16.8 $16.8 $16.7

    During the fourth quarter of 2024, we had $10.8 million of capital expenditures, including $7.3 million for the routine purchases of testing equipment, software, design tools and other items, and $3.5 million for building construction in Hsinchu.

    Business Outlook
    “Longer-term, we expect to continue increasing our market share within the mobile and PC markets through greater outsourcing by the NAND flash makers, which should drive greater revenue and profitability for Silicon Motion,” said Mr. Kou. “This year, we expect to benefit from the introduction of several new products, including our 8-channel PCIe Gen 5 controller that started shipping in the second half of 2024, our new UFS 4.1 controller for the mobile market that will begin to ramp-up in the second half of this year, and our new 4-channel mainstream PCIe Gen 5 that we expect to launch late this year. Additionally, we will benefit from our many automotive controllers that are rapidly expanding across multiple applications and our MonTitan suite of enterprise controllers that just started shipping in the second half of 2024 and are expected to increase in the second half of this year. Consumer demand remains weak in the first half of 2025 and is proving more challenging than we initially anticipated; however, we expect a strong rebound in the second half of this year driven from new product introductions and new project wins with our OEM customers, reaching close to a run-rate of $1 billion in annual revenue in 4Q25.”

    For the first quarter of 2025, management expects:

    (in millions, except percentages) GAAP Non-GAAP Adjustment Non-GAAP
    Revenue $158m to $167m
    -17.5% to -12.5% Q/Q    		 — $158m to $167m
    -17.5% to -12.5% Q/Q
    Gross margin 46.9% to 47.4% Approximately $0.1m* 47.0% to 47.5%
    Operating margin 2.3% to 5.2% Approximately $7.5m to $8.5m** 7.7% to 9.7%

    * Projected gross margin (non-GAAP) excludes $0.1 million of stock-based compensation.
    ** Projected operating margin (non-GAAP) excludes $7.5 million to $8.5 million of stock-based compensation and dispute related expenses.

    Conference Call & Webcast:
    The Company’s management team will conduct a conference call at 8:00 am Eastern Time on February 6, 2025.

    Conference Call Details
    Participants must register in advance to join the conference call using the link provided below. Conference access information (including dial-in information and a unique access PIN) will be provided in the email received upon registration.

    Participant Online Registration:
    https://register.vevent.com/register/BI742c56c62eb0464e9ba0c61a39fa4c91

    A webcast of the call will be available on the Company’s website at www.siliconmotion.com.

    Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    To supplement the Company’s unaudited selected financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), the Company discloses certain non-GAAP financial measures that exclude stock-based compensation and other items, including gross profit (non-GAAP), gross margin (non-GAAP), operating expenses (non-GAAP), operating profit (non-GAAP), operating margin (non-GAAP), non-operating income (expense) (non-GAAP), net income (non-GAAP), and earnings per diluted ADS (non-GAAP). These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with or an alternative to GAAP and may be different from similarly-titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. We believe that these non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all the amounts associated with the Company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and that these measures should only be used to evaluate the Company’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the most directly comparable GAAP measure. We compensate for the limitations of our non-GAAP financial measures by relying upon GAAP results to gain a complete picture of our performance.

    Our non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance the user’s overall understanding of our current financial performance and our prospects for the future. Specifically, we believe the non-GAAP results provide useful information to both management and investors as these non-GAAP results exclude certain expenses, gains and losses that we believe are not indicative of our core operating results and because they are consistent with the financial models and estimates published by many analysts who follow the Company. We use non-GAAP measures to evaluate the operating performance of our business, for comparison with our forecasts, and for benchmarking our performance externally against our competitors. Also, when evaluating potential acquisitions, we exclude the items described below from our consideration of the target’s performance and valuation. Since we find these measures to be useful, we believe that our investors benefit from seeing the results from management’s perspective in addition to seeing our GAAP results. We believe that these non-GAAP measures, when read in conjunction with the Company’s GAAP financials, provide useful information to investors by offering:

    • the ability to make more meaningful period-to-period comparisons of the Company’s on-going operating results;
    • the ability to better identify trends in the Company’s underlying business and perform related trend analysis;
    • a better understanding of how management plans and measures the Company’s underlying business; and
    • an easier way to compare the Company’s operating results against analyst financial models and operating results of our competitors that supplement their GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures.

    The following are explanations of each of the adjustments that we incorporate into our non-GAAP measures, as well as the reasons for excluding each of these individual items in our reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures:

    Stock-based compensation expense consists of non-cash charges related to the fair value of restricted stock units awarded to employees. The Company believes that the exclusion of these non-cash charges provides for more accurate comparisons of our operating results to our peer companies due to the varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types. In addition, the Company believes it is useful to investors to understand the specific impact of share-based compensation on its operating results.

    Restructuring charges relate to the restructuring of our underperforming product lines, principally the write-down of NAND flash, embedded DRAM and SSD inventory valuation and severance payments. 

    M&A transaction expenses consist of legal, financial advisory and other fees related to the transaction.

    Dispute related expenses consist of legal, consultant, other fees and resolution related to the dispute.

    Foreign exchange loss (gain) consists of translation gains and/or losses of non-US$ denominated current assets and current liabilities, as well as certain other balance sheet items which result from the appreciation or depreciation of non-US$ currencies against the US$. We do not use financial instruments to manage the impact on our operations from changes in foreign exchange rates, and because our operations are subject to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, we therefore exclude foreign exchange gains and losses when presenting non-GAAP financial measures.

    Realized/Unrealized loss (gain) on investments relates to the disposal and net change in fair value of long-term investments.

     
    Silicon Motion Technology Corporation
    Consolidated Statements of Income
    (in thousands, except percentages and per ADS data, unaudited)
     
      For Three Months Ended   For the Year Ended
      Dec. 31,     Sep. 30,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,  
      2023     2024     2024     2023     2024  
      ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)  
    Net Sales 202,379     212,412     191,160     639,142     803,552  
    Cost of sales 113,854     113,142     101,635     368,752     432,862  
    Gross profit 88,525     99,270     89,525     270,390     370,690  
    Operating expenses                  
    Research & development 56,432     58,486     54,156     174,357     217,822  
    Sales & marketing 6,205     7,009     7,360     26,920     27,450  
    General & administrative 7,600     9,315     8,350     27,923     31,354  
    Loss from settlement of litigation 720     –     –     1,312     1,250  
    Operating income 17,568     24,460     19,659     39,878     92,814  
    Non-operating income (expense)                  
    Interest income, net 4,221     3,518     3,768     12,246     14,528  
    Foreign exchange gain (loss), net (1,117 )   (488 )   1,046     914     1,391  
    Realized/Unrealized gain(loss) on investments (51 )   (602 )   956     8,002     601  
    Others, net 8     –                    –     8     –  
    Subtotal 3,061     2,428     5,770     21,170     16,520  
    Income before income tax 20,629     26,888     25,429     61,048     109,334  
    Income tax expense (benefit) (464 )   6,045     2,389     8,175     18,614  
    Net income 21,093     20,843     23,040     52,873     90,720  
                       
    Earnings per basic ADS 0.63     0.62     0.68     1.59     2.70  
    Earnings per diluted ADS 0.63     0.62     0.68     1.58     2.69  
                       
    Margin Analysis:                  
    Gross margin 43.7%     46.7%     46.8%     42.3%     46.1%  
    Operating margin 8.7%     11.5%     10.3%     6.2%     11.6%  
    Net margin 10.4%     9.8%     12.1%     8.3%     11.3%  
    　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　
    Additional Data:                  
    Weighted avg. ADS equivalents 33,416     33,687     33,690     33,353     33,642  
    Diluted ADS equivalents 33,587     33,700     33,814     33,470     33,722  
    Silicon Motion Technology Corporation
    Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Operating Results
    (in thousands, except percentages and per ADS data, unaudited)
     
      For Three Months Ended   For the Year Ended
      Dec. 31,     Sep. 30,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,  
    2023     2024     2024     2023     2024  
    ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)  
    Gross profit (GAAP) 88,525     99,270     89,525     270,390     370,690  
    Gross margin (GAAP) 43.7%     46.7%     46.8%     42.3%     46.1%  
    Stock-based compensation (A) 106     63     162     406     311  
    Restructuring charges 648     –     164     3,996     209  
    Gross profit (non-GAAP) 89,279     99,333     89,851     274,792     371,210  
    Gross margin (non-GAAP) 44.1%     46.8%     47.0%     43.0%     46.2%  
                          
    Operating expenses (GAAP) 70,957     74,810     69,866     230,512     277,876  
    Stock-based compensation (A) (5,680 )   (3,595 )   (9,585 )   (17,141 )   (16,645 )
    M&A transaction expenses 288     –     –     (2,606 )   –  
    Dispute related expenses (3,477 )   (6,076 )   (1,999 )   (6,973 )   (13,135 )
    Restructuring charges (638 )   –     –     (5,217 )   –  
    Operating expenses (non-GAAP) 61,450     65,139     58,282     198,575     248,096  
                       
    Operating profit (GAAP) 17,568     24,460     19,659     39,878     92,814  
    Operating margin (GAAP) 8.7%     11.5%     10.3%     6.2%     11.6%  
    Total adjustments to operating profit 10,261     9,734     11,910     36,339     30,300  
    Operating profit (non-GAAP) 27,829     34,194     31,569     76,217     123,114  
    Operating margin (non-GAAP) 13.8%     16.1%     16.5%     11.9%     15.3%  
                       
    Non-operating income (expense) (GAAP) 3,061     2,428     5,770     21,170     16,520  
    Foreign exchange loss (gain), net 1,117     488     (1,046 )   (914 )   (1,391 )
    Realized/Unrealized holding loss (gain) on investments 51     602     (956 )   (8,002 )   (601 )
    Non-operating income (expense) (non-GAAP) 4,229     3,518     3,768     12,254     14,528  
                       
    Net income (GAAP) 21,093     20,843     23,040     52,873     90,720  
    Total pre-tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments 11,429     10,824     9,908     27,423     28,308  
    Income tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments (1,202 )   (649 )   (2,049 )   (4,169 )   (3,064 )
    Net income (non-GAAP) 31,320     31,018     30,899     76,127     115,964  
                       
    Earnings per diluted ADS (GAAP) $0.63     $0.62     $0.68     $1.58     $2.69  
    Earnings per diluted ADS (non-GAAP) $0.93     $0.92     $0.91     $2.27     $3.43  
                       
    Shares used in computing earnings per diluted ADS (GAAP) 33,587     33,700     33,814     33,470     33,722  
    Non-GAAP adjustments 110     109     181     129     84  
    Shares used in computing earnings per diluted ADS (non-GAAP) 33,697     33,809     33,995     33,599     33,806  
                       
    (A) Excludes stock-based compensation as follows:                  
    Cost of sales 106     63     162     406     311  
    Research & development 4,103     2,377     6,670     11,709     11,284  
    Sales & marketing 361     455     978     1,858     1,954  
    General & administrative 1,216   　 763   　 1,937   　 3,574   　 3,407  
    Silicon Motion Technology Corporation
    Consolidated Balance Sheet
    (In thousands, unaudited)
     
      Dec. 31,   Sep. 30,   Dec. 31,
      2023   2024   2024
      ($)   ($)   ($)
    Cash and cash equivalents 314,302   313,924   276,068
    Accounts receivable (net) 194,701   202,726   233,744
    Inventories 216,950   214,574   201,154
    Refundable deposits – current 49,656   51,102   54,645
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets e17,636   38,246   31,187
    Total current assets 793,245   820,572   796,798
    Long-term investments 17,116   16,878   17,326
    Property and equipment (net) 167,417   181,983   188,398
    Other assets 30,183   29,304   30,354
    Total assets 1,007,961   1,048,737   1,032,876
               
    Accounts payable 55,586   30,888   17,773
    Income tax payable 7,544   14,444   13,176
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 149,680   131,143   168,624
    Total current liabilities 212,810   176,475   199,573
    Other liabilities 60,455   62,673   59,548
    Total liabilities 273,265   239,148   259,121
    Shareholders’ equity 734,696   809,589   773,755
    Total liabilities & shareholders’ equity 1,007,961   1,048,737   1,032,876
    Silicon Motion Technology Corporation
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (in thousands, unaudited)
     
      For Three Months Ended   For the Year Ended
        Dec. 31,     Sep. 30,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,     Dec. 31,  
        2023     2024     2024     2023     2024  
        ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)     ($)  
    Net income   21,093     20,843     23,040     52,873     90,720  
    Depreciation & amortization   5,356     6,664     7,256     21,810     25,331  
    Stock-based compensation   5,786     3,658     9,747     17,547     16,956  
    Investment losses (gain) & disposals   (432 )   602     (956 )   (8,217 )   (601 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities   11,582     22,280     (45,245 )   65,070     (55,213 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities   43,385     54,047     (6,158 )   149,083     77,193  
                         
    Purchase of property & equipment   (10,758 )   (12,436 )   (10,836 )   (50,313 )   (44,449 )
    Proceeds from disposal of properties   1,228     –     3     1,228     3  
    Purchase of long-term investments   –     –     (4,173 )   –     (4,173 )
    Disposal of long-term investments   –     –     4,432     –     4,432  
    Net cash used in investing activities   (9,530 )   (12,436 )   (10,574 )   (49,085 )   (44,187 )
                         
    Dividend payments   (16,676 )   (16,812 )   (16,814 )   (16,690 )   (67,254 )
    Net cash used in financing activities   (16,676 )   (16,812 )   (16,814 )   (16,690 )   (67,254 )
                         
    Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents & restricted cash   17,179     24,799     (33,546 )   83,308     (34,248 )
    Effect of foreign exchange changes   1,508     186     (717 )   (1,373 )   (409 )
    Cash, cash equivalents & restricted cash—beginning of period   350,303     343,611     368,596     287,055     368,990  
    Cash, cash equivalents & restricted cash—end of period   368,990     368,596     334,333     368,990     334,333  


    Shareholder Litigation:
    On August 31, 2023, a Silicon Motion ADS holder (the “Plaintiff”) filed a putative class action complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, captioned Water Island Event-Driven Fund v. MaxLinear, Inc., No. 23-cv-01607 (S.D. Cal.), asserting claims against MaxLinear, Inc. (“MaxLinear”) and two of its officers (the “MaxLinear Defendants”) for alleged violations of (i) Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder and (ii) Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act, in connection with alleged false and misleading statements made by the MaxLinear Defendants between June 6, 2023 and July 26, 2023 concerning MaxLinear’s intent to consummate the merger agreement it had entered into with Silicon Motion. On August 28, 2024, the Court dismissed the complaint against the MaxLinear Defendants without prejudice for lack of standing.  On September 18, 2024, the Plaintiff filed an amended complaint against the MaxLinear Defendants, and also added Silicon Motion and two of its officers (the “Silicon Motion Defendants”), asserting substantially similar claims under the Exchange Act. The complaint seeks compensatory damages, including interest, costs and expenses, and such other equitable or injunctive relief that the court deems appropriate. The motion to dismiss the amended complaint is fully briefed. The Silicon Motion Defendants believe that the claims asserted against them are without merit and intend to defend themselves vigorously.

    About Silicon Motion:
    We are the global leader in supplying NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices.  We supply more SSD controllers than any other company in the world for servers, PCs and other client devices and are the leading merchant supplier of eMMC and UFS embedded storage controllers used in smartphones, IoT devices and other applications.  We also supply customized high-performance hyperscale data center and specialized industrial and automotive SSD solutions.  Our customers include most of the NAND flash vendors, storage device module makers and leading OEMs.  For further information on Silicon Motion, visit us at www.siliconmotion.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements:
    This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Although such statements are based on our own information and information from other sources we believe to be reliable, you should not place undue reliance on them. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual market trends or our actual results of operations, financial condition or business prospects may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the unpredictable volume and timing of customer orders, which are not fixed by contract but vary on a purchase order basis; the loss of one or more key customers or the significant reduction, postponement, rescheduling or cancellation of orders from one or more customers; general economic conditions or conditions in the semiconductor or consumer electronics markets; the impact of inflation on our business and customer’s businesses and any effect this has on economic activity in the markets in which we operate; the functionalities and performance of our information technology (“IT”) systems, which are subject to cybersecurity threats and which support our critical operational activities, and any breaches of our IT systems or those of our customers, suppliers, partners and providers of third-party licensed technology; the effects on our business and our customer’s business taking into account the ongoing U.S.-China tariffs and trade disputes; the uncertainties associated with any future global or regional pandemic; the continuing tensions between Taiwan and China including enhanced military activities; decreases in the overall average selling prices of our products; changes in the relative sales mix of our products; changes in our cost of finished goods; supply chain disruptions that have affected us and our industry as well as other industries on a global basis; the payment, or non-payment, of cash dividends in the future at the discretion of our board of directors and any announced planned increases in such dividends; changes in our cost of finished goods; the availability, pricing, and timeliness of delivery of other components and raw materials used in the products we sell given the current raw material supply shortages being experienced in our industry; our customers’ sales outlook, purchasing patterns, and inventory adjustments based on consumer demands and general economic conditions; any potential impairment charges that may be incurred related to businesses previously acquired or divested in the future; our ability to successfully develop, introduce, and sell new or enhanced products in a timely manner; and the timing of new product announcements or introductions by us or by our competitors. For additional discussion of these risks and uncertainties and other factors, please see the documents we file from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30, 2024. Other than as required under the securities laws, we do not intend, and do not undertake any obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Silicon Motion Announces New $50 Million Share Repurchase Program

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TAIPEI, Taiwan and MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NasdaqGS: SIMO) (“Silicon Motion” or the “Company”) today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a new share repurchase program and approved related cash disbursement for the Company to repurchase up to $50 million of its American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) over a six-month period (the “Repurchase Program”), effective immediately.

    “We experienced significant top-and-bottom-line growth in fiscal year 2024 as our strategy to capture greater market share and diversify our product portfolio and addressable markets is delivering results,” said Wallace Kou, President & CEO of Silicon Motion. “We are confident that our opportunities are expanding over the long-term as we enter the enterprise market with our new MonTitan platform and expand our presence in automotive, IoT, gaming, wearables and other emerging growth markets. We remain confident in our strategy, growth prospects and strong financial position and are committed to opportunistically repurchasing our shares when we believe the current equity value may not accurately reflect the strength of our business longer-term.”

    Repurchases made under the Repurchase Program will be made in the open market or according to other methods in compliance with the safe harbor provisions of Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), subject to market conditions, applicable legal requirements and other factors. The Company expects to use cash on hand to fund the ADS repurchases. The Repurchase Program does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of ADSs, and it may be suspended at any time at the Company’s discretion.

    As of December 31, 2024, the Company had approximately $334.3 million of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments.

    About Silicon Motion:

    We are the global leader in supplying NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices.  We supply more SSD controllers than any other company in the world for servers, PCs and other client devices and are the leading merchant supplier of eMMC and UFS embedded storage controllers used in smartphones, IoT devices and other applications.  We also supply customized high-performance hyperscale data center and specialized industrial and automotive SSD solutions.  Our customers include most of the NAND flash vendors, storage device module makers and leading OEMs.  For further information on Silicon Motion, visit us at www.siliconmotion.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements:

    This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Although such statements are based on our own information and information from other sources we believe to be reliable, you should not place undue reliance on them. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual market trends or our actual results of operations, financial condition or business prospects may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the unpredictable volume and timing of customer orders, which are not fixed by contract but vary on a purchase order basis; the loss of one or more key customers or the significant reduction, postponement, rescheduling or cancellation of orders from one or more customers; general economic conditions or conditions in the semiconductor or consumer electronics markets; the impact of inflation on our business and customer’s businesses and any effect this has on economic activity in the markets in which we operate; the functionalities and performance of our information technology (“IT”) systems, which are subject to cybersecurity threats and which support our critical operational activities, and any breaches of our IT systems or those of our customers, suppliers, partners and providers of third-party licensed technology; the effects on our business and our customer’s business taking into account the ongoing U.S.-China tariffs and trade disputes; the uncertainties associated with any future global or regional pandemic; the continuing tensions between Taiwan and China including enhanced military activities; decreases in the overall average selling prices of our products; changes in the relative sales mix of our products; changes in our cost of finished goods; supply chain disruptions that have affected us and our industry as well as other industries on a global basis; the payment, or non-payment, of cash dividends in the future at the discretion of our board of directors and any announced planned increases in such dividends; changes in our cost of finished goods; the availability, pricing, and timeliness of delivery of other components and raw materials used in the products we sell given the current raw material supply shortages being experienced in our industry; our customers’ sales outlook, purchasing patterns, and inventory adjustments based on consumer demands and general economic conditions; any potential impairment charges that may be incurred related to businesses previously acquired or divested in the future; our ability to successfully develop, introduce, and sell new or enhanced products in a timely manner; and the timing of new product announcements or introductions by us or by our competitors. For additional discussion of these risks and uncertainties and other factors, please see the documents we file from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30, 2024. Other than as required under the securities laws, we do not intend, and do not undertake any obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Africa – Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector Signs the Country Work Program 2025 for Egypt, Unveiling $100 Million Financing Plan

    SOURCE: Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD)

    Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector Signs the Country Work Program 2025 for Egypt, Unveiling $100 Million Financing Plan. The agreement was officially signed by Engineer Hani Salem Sonbol, Acting CEO of ICD, who highlighted the corporation’s ongoing commitment to Egypt’s economic development

    CAIRO, Egypt, February 5, 2025/ — The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) (www.ICD-ps.org), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), has signed it’s the Country Work Program 2025 for Egypt, marking a significant milestone in its strategic partnership with the country.

    The signing ceremony took place in Cairo, in the presence of key government officials, including HE Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, and Governor of Egypt at the Islamic Development Bank; HE Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development, Minister of Industry and Transport; and HE Dr. Sherif Farouk, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade.

    The agreement was officially signed by Engineer Hani Salem Sonbol, Acting CEO of ICD, who highlighted the corporation’s ongoing commitment to Egypt’s economic development.

    The 2025 country work program focuses on strengthening the private sector and driving economic growth in Egypt. Key initiatives include direct financing, investments, and financing tools aimed at boosting key sectors such as industry, infrastructure, energy, and agriculture.

    Additionally, the program seeks to enhance financial inclusion by providing lines of finance to Egyptian banks, particularly to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ICD also plans to raise market awareness about the importance of Islamic finance as a tool for development and to facilitate access to capital markets by forming strategic alliances with international investors.

    One of the key components of the program is ICD’s intention to provide up to $100 million in new financing to support private sector projects in Egypt.

    Engineer Kamel El-Wazir, the Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, said: “The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector has proven, over the past years, its vital role in supporting the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by providing innovative financial solutions and supporting developmental projects that contribute to stimulating economic growth, creating job opportunities, and enhancing the role of the private sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.”

    He added: “We recognize that the private sector plays a pivotal role in the economic development process, and therefore, a large part of this cooperation will focus on empowering entrepreneurs and supporting small and medium-sized industries, which are the cornerstone of any strong economy. Through this program, efforts will be made to provide the necessary financing for these industries, as well as encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. This support will contribute to creating new job opportunities, enhancing sustainable economic growth, and improving competitiveness in regional and international markets.”

    Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, and Egypt’s Governor at the Islamic Development Bank, praised the successful partnership with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). She highlighted the continuation of this fruitful partnership through the ICD’s Country Work Program in the Arab Republic of Egypt for 2025, which includes supporting the private sector in various diverse aspects. The program will allocate $100 million to financial institutions to finance small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as providing funding for large private sector companies operating in strategic sectors that are crucial to economic development. This includes particularly the industrial and agricultural sectors, which are key components of the country’s structural reform plan aimed at enhancing their contribution to GDP.

    Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, Acting CEO of ICD, commented: “We are proud of our long-standing strategic partnership with the Arab Republic of Egypt. In 2025, we aim to deepen this relationship further by supporting the Egyptian government’s development plans. Our focus will be on enhancing the capacity of Egypt’s private sector and financial institutions, especially in supporting SMEs. Additionally, we will leverage our expertise to provide advisory services in the sukuk sector, particularly in assisting Egypt with issuing foreign currency sukuk and attracting new international investments to bolster financial flexibility.”

    He further added, “Our efforts will also include supporting the Arab-African Trade Bridges (AATB) Program, which aims to increase investments in member states, including Egypt.”

    Since its inception, ICD has provided Egypt with a total of $315 million in financing, including support for private sector companies, financial lines for banks, and direct investments in key sectors such as energy, food, and industry. This financing has played a crucial role in boosting economic growth, creating jobs, and fostering the development of Egypt’s private sector.

    About the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector:
    ICD, a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, is a multilateral financial institution established in 1999. ICD promotes economic development in member countries by financing private sector projects, fostering competition and entrepreneurship, offering advisory services, and encouraging cross-border investments. It holds strong credit ratings, including A2 by Moody’s, A+ by Fitch, and A- by S&P. ICD focuses on Shari’ah-compliant financing for projects like infrastructure and private equity funds, aiming to create jobs and boost exports.

    For more information, visit: www.ICD-ps.org.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Risch, Blackburn Introduce Bill to Dismantle Unlawful IRS Direct File Program

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Idaho James E Risch

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) introduced the Fostering Autonomy in Independent Returns by Prohibiting Redundant and Extralegal Programs (FAIR PREP) Act. 

    This legislation would end the Biden-Harris Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) blatant overreach by terminating its unauthorized “Direct File” tax filing program. By barring the agency from unlawfully preparing taxpayer returns without congressional approval, the FAIR PREP Act would establish crucial safeguards to protect American taxpayers and prevent future attempts by the IRS to sidestep Congress.

    “The IRS’ Direct File program is costly, unnecessary, and unconstitutional,” said Risch. “The FAIR PREP Act prevents the IRS from railroading Congressional authority, and allows Idahoans to file their taxes as they see fit.” 

    “By taking on the role of both tax preparer and tax auditor, the IRS created an undeniable conflict of interest when it circumvented Congress to establish the Direct File program,” said Blackburn. “This legislation would right this wrong by stopping the IRS from preparing tax returns without explicit legislative approval and ending this wasteful and misguided program.” 

    This legislation is also co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

    BACKGROUND:  

    • In 2024, the Biden-Harris IRS launched the “Direct File” tax-preparation program without congressional authorization. Roughly 140,000 taxpayers utilized the new filing option – less than 1% of the estimated 19 million eligible taxpayers.

    • Last year, Attorneys General from 13 states sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury suggesting that the IRS’s unilateral decision to create the program was “unnecessary and unconstitutional.” Despite low utilization rates and objections from congressional Republicans, the IRS announced that it would make the program permanent.

    • The IRS estimates the program could cost up to $249 million annually, diverting resources from addressing longstanding agency shortfalls. Last month, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report revealed the agency has already abandoned plans to hire additional staff and is reallocating hundreds of employees from its taxpayer-services account.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Wyden Demands Answers About DOGE’s Illegal Seizure of Americans’ Private Data

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

    February 05, 2025

    WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today demanded White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles answer questions about the acute risks posed to national security by letting unvetted ‘DOGE’ staff rifle through Americans’ private data and classified government materials. 

    Wyden, along with fellow Senate Intelligence Committee members Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), demanded the administration provide details to Congress about how DOGE staff and representatives are being vetted for security clearance; which systems, records and information are being shared; and what steps the administration is taking to safeguard them from misuse or disclosure.

    “According to press reports, DOGE inspectors already have gained access to classified materials, including intelligence reports, at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sensitive government payment systems, including for Social Security and Medicare, at the Treasury Department, and federal personnel data from the Office of Personnel Management. Further, as of today the scope of DOGE’s access only seems to be expanding, as reports indicate DOGE has now entered the Department of Labor and other agencies,” the senators wrote. “No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans’ personal information.”

    “As you know, information is classified to protect the national security interests of the United States. Government employees and contractors only receive access to such information after they have undergone a rigorous background investigation and demonstrated a ‘need to know.’ Circumventing these requirements creates enormous counterintelligence and security risks,” warned the senators. “For example, improper access to facilities and systems containing security clearance files of Intelligence Community personnel puts at risk the safety of the men and women who serve this country. In addition, unauthorized access to classified information risks exposure of our operations and potentially compromises not only our own sources and methods, but also those of our allies and partners. If our sources, allies, and partners stop sharing intelligence because they cannot trust us to protect it, we will all be less safe.”

    The senators added, “Unclassified government systems also contain sensitive data, the unintended disclosure of which could result in significant harm to individuals or organizations, including financial loss, identity theft, and exposure of medical and other private personal information. The U.S. Treasury payment systems, in particular, are used to disburse trillions of dollars each year, and contain everyday Americans’ personal information, such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, and bank accounts. Allowing DOGE access to this information raises unprecedented risks to Americans’ private personal and financial information.”

    “Such unregulated practices with our government’s most sensitive networks render Americans’ personal and financial information, and our classified national secrets, vulnerable to ransomware and cyber-attacks by criminals and foreign adversaries. The recent unprecedented Salt Typhoon and Change Healthcare attacks that affected tens of millions of Americans further underscore the importance of rigorously fortifying our government systems,” the senators cautioned.

    Finally, the senators also noted there are strict cybersecurity controls in place for federal networks which DOGE does not seem to be following, including by reportedly connecting personal devices to sensitive government systems and using personal emails. The senators concluded, “To underscore, DOGE seems to have unimpeded access to some of our nation’s most sensitive information, including classified materials and the private personal and financial information of everyday Americans. In light of such unprecedented risks to our national and economic security, we expect your immediate attention and prompt response.”

    The full text of the letter is here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: RELEASE: Senate Intelligence Members Sound the Alarm about “DOGE” Risk to National Security and American Privacy

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, along with Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), wrote to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about the risks to our national security of allowing unvetted DOGE staff and representatives to access classified and sensitive government materials. The Committee members demanded that the administration provide details to Congress about how DOGE staff and representatives are being vetted, which systems, records and information are being shared, and what steps the administration is taking to safeguard them from misuse or disclosure.

    “According to press reports, DOGE inspectors already have gained access to classified materials, including intelligence reports, at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sensitive government payment systems, including for Social Security and Medicare, at the Treasury Department, and federal personnel data from the Office of Personnel Management. Further, as of today the scope of DOGE’s access only seems to be expanding, as reports indicate DOGE has now entered the Department of Labor and other agencies,” the senators wrote. “No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans’ personal information.”

    The senators added, “As you know, information is classified to protect the national security interests of the United States. Government employees and contractors only receive access to such information after they have undergone a rigorous background investigation and demonstrated a ‘need to know.’ Circumventing these requirements creates enormous counterintelligence and security risks. For example, improper access to facilities and systems containing security clearance files of Intelligence Community personnel puts at risk the safety of the men and women who serve this country. In addition, unauthorized access to classified information risks exposure of our operations and potentially compromises not only our own sources and methods, but also those of our allies and partners. If our sources, allies, and partners stop sharing intelligence because they cannot trust us to protect it, we will all be less safe.”

    The senators also raised alarms about the privacy implications of allowing an unknown number of DOGE staff to access unclassified systems containing information about individual American taxpayers and organizations. 

    Wrote the senators, “Unclassified government systems also contain sensitive data, the unintended disclosure of which could result in significant harm to individuals or organizations, including financial loss, identity theft, and exposure of medical and other private personal information. The U.S. Treasury payment systems, in particular, are used to disburse trillions of dollars each year, and contain everyday Americans’ personal information, such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, and bank accounts. Allowing DOGE access to this information raises unprecedented risks to Americans’ private personal and financial information.”

    Finally, the senators also noted that there are strict cybersecurity controls in place for federal networks which DOGE does not seem to be following, including by reportedly connecting personal devices to sensitive government systems.

    “Such unregulated practices with our government’s most sensitive networks render Americans’ personal and financial information, and our classified national secrets, vulnerable to ransomware and cyber-attacks by criminals and foreign adversaries. The recent unprecedented Salt Typhoon and Change Healthcare attacks that affected tens of millions of Americans further underscore the importance of rigorously fortifying our government systems,” the letter says. 

    The full text of the letter is available here and below. 

    Dear Ms. Wiles,

    We write to express our grave concern with the illegal actions currently being undertaken by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which risk exposure of classified and other sensitive information that jeopardizes national security and violates Americans’ privacy. The January 20 Executive Order establishes DOGE under the Executive Office of the President with DOGE Teams established by Agency Heads within their respective agencies, and requires the Administrator of DOGE to report to the White House Chief of Staff. According to press reports, DOGE inspectors already have gained access to classified materials, including intelligence reports, at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sensitive government payment systems, including for Social Security and Medicare, at the Treasury Department, and federal personnel data from the Office of Personnel Management. Further, as of today the scope of DOGE’s access only seems to be expanding, as reports indicate DOGE has now entered the Department of Labor and other agencies.

    No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans’ personal information.

    As you know, information is classified to protect the national security interests of the United States. Government employees and contractors only receive access to such information after they have undergone a rigorous background investigation and demonstrated a “need to know.”  Circumventing these requirements creates enormous counterintelligence and security risks. For example, improper access to facilities and systems containing security clearance files of Intelligence Community personnel puts at risk the safety of the men and women who serve this country. In addition, unauthorized access to classified information risks exposure of our operations and potentially compromises not only our own sources and methods, but also those of our allies and partners. If our sources, allies, and partners stop sharing intelligence because they cannot trust us to protect it, we will all be less safe.

    Unclassified government systems also contain sensitive data, the unintended disclosure of which could result in significant harm to individuals or organizations, including financial loss, identity theft, and exposure of medical and other private personal information. The U.S. Treasury payment systems, in particular, are used to disburse trillions of dollars each year, and contain everyday Americans’ personal information, such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, and bank accounts. Allowing DOGE access to this information raises unprecedented risks to Americans’ private personal and financial information.

    Moreover, there are strict cybersecurity controls for accessing federal networks, which DOGE does not seem to be following, including by reportedly connecting personal devices to sensitive government systems. Such unregulated practices with our government’s most sensitive networks render Americans’ personal and financial information, and our classified national secrets, vulnerable to ransomware and cyber-attacks by criminals and foreign adversaries. The recent unprecedented Salt Typhoon and Change Healthcare attacks that affected tens of millions of Americans further underscore the importance of rigorously fortifying our government systems.

    The Executive Branch cannot operate without regard to rules, regulations, or Congressional oversight. The American people, and our intelligence officials, deserve to know that their information is being appropriately safeguarded. We therefore respectfully request written responses to the following questions by February 14, 2025:

    1. Provide a list of personnel operating under DOGE, their position or role, and their duties. 
    2. Pursuant to the Executive Order, DOGE teams are to be established by Agency Heads within their respective agencies. Provide a list of each agency that has established a DOGE team, and the agency personnel overseeing such team.
    3. Under what authorities is DOGE conducting its operations?
    4. Who is overseeing DOGE’s operations? 
    5. Provide a list of each agency DOGE has requested information from.
    6. Provide a list of all unclassified systems, records, or other information DOGE has requested and/or gained access to. 
    7. Provide a list of all classified systems, records, or other information DOGE has requested and/or gained access to.
    8. Do DOGE staff or representatives have access to any Intelligence Community systems, networks, or other information? If so, please specify the extent of such access.
    9. Under what authority is DOGE requesting and/or gaining access to classified information?
    10. What security clearances have been provided to DOGE staff or representatives, and who has authorized such clearances?
    11. What processes have been followed prior to granting security clearances to DOGE staff or representatives?
    12. What vetting for potential conflicts of interest has been conducted prior to granting clearances or access to government systems, records, or other information to DOGE staff or representatives?
    13. Provide a list of each DOGE staff or representative who has requested and/or gained access to classified information, what clearance each such individual holds, and who authorized each security clearance. 
    14. Who is supervising and/or monitoring DOGE employee access to classified information?
    15. What processes have been followed prior to granting DOGE staff or representatives access to sensitive government systems and networks, and who has authorized such access?
    16. Who is supervising and/or monitoring DOGE employee access to sensitive government systems and networks?
    17. Has DOGE briefed you, the White House Chief of Staff, on the counterintelligence and other risks of DOGE staff or representatives accessing classified and other sensitive information? If so, please specify the date of the briefing and those in attendance.
    18. Has DOGE briefed you, the White House Chief of Staff, on the counterintelligence and other risks of DOGE staff or representatives accessing government networks and systems? If so, please specify the date of the briefing and those in attendance.
    19. Has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and/or the Central Intelligence Agency been briefed on the counterintelligence and other risks of DOGE staff or representatives accessing Treasury’s payment systems? If so, please specify the date of the briefing and those in attendance.  
    20. Has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and/or the Central Intelligence Agency been briefed on the counterintelligence and other risks of DOGE staff or representatives accessing USAID’s classified and other sensitive information, including security clearance files? If so, please specify the date of the briefing and those in attendance.
    21. What actions if any has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and/or the Central Intelligence Agency taken to ensure DOGE employee access does not create counterintelligence risks?
    22. What actions if any has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and/or the Central Intelligence Agency taken to ensure DOGE employee access does not compromise classified or other sensitive intelligence and/or personal information of intelligence community officials?  

    To underscore, DOGE seems to have unimpeded access to some of our nation’s most sensitive information, including classified materials and the private personal and financial information of everyday Americans. In light of such unprecedented risks to our national and economic security, we expect your immediate attention and prompt response.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Ambarella Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call to be Held February 26, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA), an edge AI semiconductor company, today announced it will hold its third quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings conference call on Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. (Pacific Time). The company will issue its earnings release after the market closes that same day.

    Those interested in asking a question on the call are required to register online in advance. Once registered, the dial-in numbers will be provided with a personal identification number (PIN). When dialing in for the live call, the PIN number must be provided to access the call.

    The live webcast of the conference call, and a webcast replay, will be available at: http://investor.ambarella.com/events.cfm

    About Ambarella

    Ambarella’s products are used in a wide variety of human vision and edge AI applications, including video security, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), electronic mirror, drive recorder, driver/cabin monitoring, autonomous driving and robotics applications. Ambarella’s low-power systems-on-chip (SoCs) offer high-resolution video compression, advanced image and radar processing, and powerful deep neural network processing to enable intelligent perception, fusion and planning. For more information, please visit www.ambarella.com.

    Contact:
    Louis Gerhardy
    VP Corporate Development
    408-636-2310
    lgerhardy@ambarella.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: DR Congo: UN mission offers protection to ‘vulnerable populations’, despite huge challenges

    Source: United Nations 4

    Peace and Security

    Rwanda-backed M23 rebels continued to consolidate their hold over North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday, despite declaring a ceasefire two days earlier and pledging not to continue south, according to the UN’s Deputy Special Representative for Protection and Operations in the country.

    Vivian van de Perre, briefed from the ground in Goma, the regional capital, telling journalists that “the situation is still highly volatile, with persistent risks of escalation”, emphasising that military action alone will not resolve the conflict.

    The hostilities are occurring in a mineral-rich region that has been unstable for decades amid a proliferation of armed groups, which has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes over the years and seek safety in displacement camps.

    Fighting escalated sharply in late January, as the largely-Tutsi M23 fighters seized control of parts of North Kivu, including areas near Goma, and advanced towards South Kivu and the eastern DRC’s second city of Bukavu.

    She warned that the peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) – where she serves as deputy head – was operating in an increasingly challenging environment.

    “The mission’s key infrastructures in Goma are overwhelmed, with both UN personnel and Congolese seeking shelter within our premises,” said Ms. Van de Perre. Pressure on space is growing – some 2,000 people are on site – and on “critical resources” like water, food and sanitation.

    Humanitarian crisis deepens  

    MONUSCO has confirmed that Goma airport continues to be under M23 control after their takeover last week and has suffered significant damage, including to the control tower.

    UN personnel have been denied access to the site, which is a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid, limiting their ability to assess the full extent of the destruction.

    She said the mission was “gravely concerned” over Kavumu airport and the potential it could be taken by rebel forces. Losing both airports “in the midst of an ongoing humanitarian and IDP crisis will be untenable” for the population of the region.

    Although some water and electricity services have been partially restored in the city of Goma, much more is needed to ensure that people have access to adequate services.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) now warns of potential disease outbreaks as bodies continue to be recovered across the city. Over 2,000 bodies have already been buried, while 900 remain in morgues fuelling fears of a potential epidemic.

    Political and regional dimensions

    While the UN continues to advocate for dialogue, peace efforts remain stalled.

    The Luanda and Nairobi processes – the two main diplomatic initiatives aimed at resolving the conflict – have yet to yield tangible results.

    Meanwhile, the African Union summit scheduled for later this month is seen as a crucial opportunity to reinvigorate regional engagement.

    Ms. van de Perre also confirmed the presence of Rwandan forces in eastern DR Congo, despite denials from Kigali.

    The UN has restricted movement, limiting verification capabilities, she said, but multiple reports have cited Rwandan military involvement alongside M23.

    Uncertain future for MONUSCO

    Amid mounting insecurity, MONUSCO has ceased joint operations with Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and withdrawn from South Kivu, following Security Council mandates.

    The mission now awaits further instructions, with discussions on the next steps expected in the coming days.

    Ms. van de Perre explained that the mission needs “clear guidance” from the Security Council, as the fluid situation is “changing literally every hour”.

    UN News

    Traffic on the streets of Goma, following recent insecurity.

    Aid operations threatened

    In addition to escalating violence, the US government’s decision to halt USAID funding for certain humanitarian programs is expected to cripple UN relief efforts.

    The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other key UN agencies are already affected by stop-work orders, compounding the crisis.

    Meanwhile, reports indicate that M23 has instructed NGOs to halt operations in areas under its control, further limiting humanitarian access.

    A plea for peace

    “We reiterate our call for the urgent reopening of Goma airport, as we need to evacuate wounded people and bring in humanitarian supplies and staff in,” said Mr. Dujarric.

    As MONUSCO continues its efforts to protect civilians, de-escalate hostilities, and facilitate humanitarian access, Ms. van de Perre underscored the urgent need for a political solution.

    “The people of the DRC deserve peace, security and stability,” she said, calling on all parties to “put an end to hostilities, prioritise dialogue and work towards a peaceful resolution.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI: BerAIs.land: A Million Transactions on Berachain is Facilitated by AI Agents

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SINGAPORE, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BerAIs.land is set to launch in February 2025, backed by Holdstation, a leading name in AI and DeFi, with a proven track record of launching 1,000+ AI Agents on ZKsync.

    The numbers speak for themselves:

    • AIWS went 1000x to $20M, proving the demand for AI Agent adoption.
    • ClipAI scaled to $3.6M, growing 360x, highlighting the appetite for AI-driven content creation.
    • Holdstation’s $2M AI Innovation Program has funded developers, DAOs, and creators, accelerating AI and blockchain adoption—momentum that’s now being brought to BerAIs.land.

    BerAIs.land is pioneering DEFAI (Decentralized Finance AI), a new wave of AI-powered DeFi automation on BeraChain. The platform enables users to create, trade, co-own, and collaborate with Multi-AI Agents—autonomous blockchain-driven entities designed to optimize liquidity, automate trading, and revolutionize financial interactions.

    At BerAIs.land, creating an AI Agent is straightforward. Users can set their preferences, pay a small fee in HOLD, and deploy their AI Agent —no coding required. These agents operate autonomously and interact seamlessly within the ecosystem. Participants also gain access to exclusive rewards and whitelist opportunities, enhancing their engagement within the platform.

    Company of AI – The Autonomous DeFi Revolution

    BerAIs.land introduces the Company of AI, a network of autonomous AI-driven entities designed to function as independent businesses on-chain. These AI-powered companies execute DeFi strategies in real-time, adapting to market conditions and operating without direct human control.

    Unlike traditional protocols, AI Companies collaborate, strategize, and evolve, forming a decentralized system where AI Agents continuously optimize and manage financial structures within the ecosystem.

    “BerAIs.land is not simply putting AI into DeFi, it’s creating an economy where AI agents work together like co-workers, building the future of decentralized finance with intelligence, efficiency, and autonomy,” said a spokesperson for BerAIs.land.

    The All-in-One AI Solution on BeraChain

    BerAIs.land is the biggest unified platform for harnessing AI on Berachain. By combining AI with decentralized infrastructure, it introduces an ecosystem where AI Agents can:

    • Interact Seamlessly: Multi-AI Agents collaborate with each other, improving operational efficiency and creating a highly interconnected AI ecosystem on BeraChain.
    • Deliver Adaptability: AI Agents adapt to specific DeFi challenges like liquidity management with Proof of Liquidity, real-time trading optimizations, and risk mitigation.
    • Scale Dynamically: As more projects and users adopt BerAIs.land, the platform’s modular design allows for rapid scaling and integration, further enhancing its capabilities.

    These elements come together to provide a one-stop solution for AI-driven decentralized finance, giving users a comprehensive toolkit for navigating and optimizing DeFi opportunities.

    Leveraging BeraChain’s Innovation

    BerAIs.land is powered by BeraChain, the rapidly emerging blockchain ecosystem that has captured the market’s attention with over $3 Billion TVL in Boyco pre-market. With BeraChain’s unique Proof of Liquidity (POL) mechanism, BerAIs.land seamlessly integrates AI Agents into a blockchain environment optimized for scalability, efficiency, and user-friendly interactions.

    “BeraChain’s commitment to fostering groundbreaking technologies aligns perfectly with our vision for BerAIs.land. Together, we are redefining what’s possible at the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence,” the spokesperson added.

    Unlocking the DEFAI Advantage

    BerAIs.land is designed to empower users by offering:

    • Creation: Design your own AI Agents tailored to specific DeFi tasks.
    • Tokenization: Turn AI Agents into blockchain assets for easy trading.
    • Co-ownership: Share the benefits of AI-powered strategies with others.
    • Automation: Let AI Agents optimize your DeFi activities 24/7.

    With these capabilities, BerAIs.land is set to lower entry barriers and enhance the efficiency of DeFi ecosystems, making advanced financial strategies accessible to users of all experience levels.

    Exclusive Feature for Partners

    BerAIs.land is launching a Liquidity Token Lock for Whitelist Access, a feature designed to empower partners and reward engaged users. By locking liquidity tokens (LP tokens), users can earn exclusive whitelist spots for bonding curve token, fostering deeper collaboration within the ecosystem and driving liquidity for partner projects.

    Example: As part of its integration with BerAIs.land, Holdstation allows users to lock top liquidity tokens paired with BERA, granting them exclusive whitelist access to upcoming Holdstation-affiliated projects.

    This initiative fuels a mutually beneficial cycle—partners gain deeper liquidity, users unlock exclusive rewards, and BerAIs.land strengthens its ecosystem. With 60+ Bera partners already integrated within Holdstation Ecosystem, this partnership paves the way for unprecedented growth and adoption for BerAIs.land on BeraChain.

    Looking Ahead

    While BerAIs.land is currently operational on testnet, the platform is preparing for its full launch on the BeraChain mainnet, anticipated to redefine the DEFAI landscape. Early adopters can already interact with AI Agents, test the platform’s functionality, and position themselves at the forefront of this technological shift.

    About BerAIs.land

    BerAIs.land is an AI-driven platform redefining decentralized finance. By integrating Multi-AI Agents into blockchain ecosystems, BerAIs.land empowers users to seamlessly create, trade, and optimize their DeFi strategies. Built on the innovative infrastructure of BeraChain, BerAIs.land represents the next frontier of Web3 innovation.

    Useful links

    Website | X | Discord | Telegram

    Contact:
    Nam Le
    legal@holdstation.com

    Disclaimer: This content is provided by BerAIs.land. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the content provider. The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities. Please conduct your own research and invest at your own risk.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6ffdabdc-edba-4700-aa31-89be1d4aaf9c

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Lantronix Announces Departure of Board Member Philip Brace, Who Is Joining Skyworks Solutions Inc. as CEO

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lantronix Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: LTRX), a global leader of compute and connectivity for IoT solutions enabling AI Edge Intelligence, today announced that Philip Brace will be departing the Lantronix Board of Directors as of Feb. 5, 2025. He is leaving the Lantronix Board to join Skyworks Solutions Inc. as its chief executive officer.

    “We greatly appreciate Phil’s many contributions to Lantronix during his tenure on the Board. We have benefited greatly from his extensive experience in all areas of technology. We wish him all the best in his new role as CEO of Skyworks Solutions Inc.,” said Saleel Awsare, president and CEO of Lantronix.

    Brace served as a member of the Lantronix Board since August 2023. He has 30 years of experience in the semiconductor, server, IoT and storage industries and has served in multiple roles across various disciplines, including software, hardware, engineering, marketing and sales. Prior to joining the Lantronix Board, he served as president and CEO of Sierra Wireless Inc. from July 2021 to January 2023.

    “Phil’s expertise in corporate governance helped the Lantronix Board of Directors successfully navigate complex issues,” stated Hoshi Printer, Chairman of the Board at Lantronix. “We will miss his counsel on the board and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

    “I’d like to thank Lantronix’s CEO Saleel Awsare and its Chairman of the Board Hoshi Printer and everyone at Lantronix for their warm reception during my time serving on the Lantronix Board. With Saleel’s guidance and the exceptional leadership team at Lantronix, I am confident that the company will continue to build its global presence in compute and connectivity for IoT solutions,” said Brace.

    About Lantronix

    Lantronix Inc. is a global leader of compute and connectivity IoT solutions that target high-growth markets, including Smart Cities, Enterprise and Transportation. Lantronix’s products and services empower companies to succeed in the growing IoT markets by delivering customizable solutions that enable AI Edge Intelligence. Lantronix’s advanced solutions include Intelligent Substations infrastructure, Infotainment systems and Video Surveillance, supplemented with advanced Out-of-Band Management (OOB) for Cloud and Edge Computing.

    For more information, visit the Lantronix website.

    Lantronix Media Contact:
    Gail Kathryn Miller
    Corporate Marketing &
    Communications Manager
    media@lantronix.com

    Lantronix Analyst and Investor Contact:
    investors@lantronix.com

    © 2025 Lantronix Inc. All rights reserved. Lantronix is a registered trademark, and SLB and SLC are trademarks of Lantronix Inc. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed & Whitehouse: Trump’s Shutdown of USAID Will Cause Human Suffering Abroad & Weaken U.S. National Security

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Recognizing that diplomacy and development play a key role alongside defense when it comes to U.S. national security, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Tim Kaine (D-VA) and 34 of their colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing their deep concern regarding the growing chaos and dysfunction at the U.S. Department of State and the Trump Administration’s illegal attempt to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

    USAID is a critical pillar of U.S. national security strategy, providing lifesaving aid and development support around the world to help ensure stability. Yesterday, personnel at USAID were not permitted to enter the agency’s headquarters, and Elon Musk announced that President Donald Trump agreed to close the agency and move it under the State Department – which Trump has no legal authority to do. The Trump Administration, led by Mr. Musk, has also furloughed thousands of senior career civil servants, including two top security officials who denied Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency access to classified documents and systems.

    “…We are deeply concerned by reports of not only growing chaos and dysfunction at the Department of State, but the Administration’s brazen and illegal attempts to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Mass personnel furloughs of dubious legality and abrupt, blanket stop-work orders without regard to relevant appropriations laws are causing immediate harm to U.S. national security, placing U.S. citizens at risk, disrupting life-saving work and breaking the U.S. government’s contractual obligations to private sector partners,” wrote the 37 U.S. Senators.

    The senators continued, “The Administration’s failure to consult with Congress prior to taking these steps violates the law and impedes Congress’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight of funding, personnel and the nation’s foreign policy. The Administration’s failure to expend funds appropriated on a bipartisan basis by Congress would violate the Impoundment Control Act.”

    “Foreign assistance is critical to supporting U.S. strategic interests around the world. Foreign assistance protects U.S. national security, advances U.S. values, and ensures the U.S. is the partner of choice for everything from defense procurement to cutting edge scientific research. China, Russia and Iran are already moving rapidly to exploit the vacuum and instability left by the U.S.’s sudden global retreat,” wrote the senators.

    They continued, “Every Administration has the right to review and adjust ongoing assistance programming. However, attempting to arbitrarily turn off core functions of a critical U.S. national security agency, without Congressional consideration or any metric-based review and absent legal authority to do so, is unprecedented and deeply disturbing.”

    In addition to Kaine, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Angus S. King (I-ME), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA).

    The full text of the letter follows.

    Dear Secretary Rubio:

    The effective administration of U.S. foreign assistance is critical to advancing core U.S. national security priorities, including countering the influence of China, Russia and Iran. As you acknowledged at your confirmation hearing, pushing back on China in particular is a top bipartisan priority. 

    As such, we are deeply concerned by reports of not only growing chaos and dysfunction at the Department of State, but the Administration’s brazen and illegal attempts to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Mass personnel furloughs of dubious legality and abrupt, blanket stop-work orders without regard to relevant appropriations laws are causing immediate harm to U.S. national security, placing U.S. citizens at risk, disrupting life-saving work and breaking the U.S. government’s contractual obligations to private sector partners.

    The Administration’s failure to consult with Congress prior to taking these steps violates the law and impedes Congress’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight of funding, personnel and the nation’s foreign policy. The Administration’s failure to expend funds appropriated on a bipartisan basis by Congress would violate the Impoundment Control Act.

    Foreign assistance is critical to supporting U.S. strategic interests around the world. Foreign assistance protects U.S. national security, advances U.S. values, and ensures the U.S. is the partner of choice for everything from defense procurement to cutting edge scientific research. China, Russia and Iran are already moving rapidly to exploit the vacuum and instability left by the U.S.’s sudden global retreat.

    Every Administration has the right to review and adjust ongoing assistance programming. However, attempting to arbitrarily turn off core functions of a critical U.S. national security agency, without Congressional consideration or any metric-based review and absent legal authority to do so, is unprecedented and deeply disturbing.

    We request immediate clarification on the following:

    Status of USAID:

    1.         Confirmation of your understanding that any effort to abolish USAID or merge USAID into the Department of State absent Congressional consultation and approval is illegal.

    2.         Confirmation of your understanding that adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran are quickly moving into the vacuum left by suspended USAID programs. 

    3.         The Department of State’s assessment of Mr. Elon Musk’s financial ties to China and the impact of these ties to the decision-making process of Mr. Musk and his employees.

    4.         Confirmation that neither you nor any member of your leadership team are taking direction from Mr. Musk with regards to the work of the Department of State or USAID, personnel or financial decisions for either agency, or any other matters relevant to U.S. national security. 

    5.         Confirmation of the names and employment status of individuals directed by Mr. Musk to engage with USAID staff, the qualifications of these individuals, and the level of their security clearances – if any.

    Personnel:

    1.         Confirmation of your understanding that any unauthorized access by or disclosure of classified information to individuals without appropriate security clearance could be considered a criminal offense.

    2.         The legal authority and rationale under which, on January 28, more than 50 senior career civil and foreign service USAID officials were placed on administrative leave. This move was not only unprecedented, but also inconsistent with the Office of Personnel Management’s own guidelines for the use of administrative leave.

    3.         The legal authority under which, on January 28, approximately 390 USAID Institutional Support Contractors (ISCs) were given stop-work orders, and clarification of which Administration official directed the implementation of this termination.

    4.         Whether any Department of State career civil and foreign service or contractors have been placed on administrative leave or removed from their roles as a result of or relating to the assistance freeze or any directives from the Office of Foreign Assistance.

    5.         Clarification of which Administration official directed the implementation of this mass furlough.

    6.         Clarification of whether these individuals were directed to be terminated without cause.

    7.         Confirmation that personnel will not face retaliation or retribution for performing their duties under the previous Administration’s policy direction.

    8.         Under what authorities and by which official’s directive career civil service, foreign service, and Personal Services Contractors (PSC), and those under other hiring authorities have been removed from their roles or limited in their ability to execute their work.

    9.         Confirmation that further career civil service, foreign service and USAID contractors will not be removed from their roles without cause or receive stop work orders.

    10.       Whether, upon full resumption of legally mandated foreign assistance activities, the Administration intends to re-hire contractors who have been removed from their roles.

    11.       Any additional guidance provided to State and USAID staff regarding the foreign assistance freeze, including confirmation of whether direct hires, contractors, or implementing organizations have been directed not to speak publicly about the foreign assistance freeze.

    12.       Public identification of the individual currently serving as the Director or Acting Director of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance and as Acting Deputy Administrator of USAID, and the dates upon which this individual was appointed to each position.

    13.       Confirmation of your understanding that the State Department’s Director of Foreign Assistance has no authority to issue personnel directives for USAID.

    Resumption of Foreign Assistance:

    1.         The specific process and anticipated timeframe for activities to receive exemptions or waivers, as referenced in your January 28, 2025 directive to State and USAID staff.

    2.         The mechanisms and metrics established for this waiver process.

    3.         The timeline for full resumption of legally mandated foreign assistance activities.

    4.         Clarification of what risk assessment or analysis of potential risk to U.S. national security interests were conducted prior to the decision to freeze foreign assistance activities.

    5.         Confirmation of the Department of State’s obligation to comply with U.S. contract law and your responsibility as Secretary of State ensure the Department honors its commitments to contracting partners.

    We welcome your urgent attention to these questions. We and our staff stand ready to work with you to ensure U.S. foreign assistance funding continues to be deployed effectively to protect American citizens, at home and abroad.

    Respectfully,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Paycor Announces Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Paychex, Inc.
    • Q2 Total revenues of $180.4 million, an increase of 13% year-over-year, while expanding operating margins
    • Q2 Recurring revenues of $167.4 million, an increase of 14% year-over-year

    CINCINNATI, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Paycor HCM, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYCR) (“Paycor” or the “Company”), a leading provider of human capital management (“HCM”) software, today announced financial results for the second quarter fiscal year 2025, which ended December 31, 2024.

    Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Highlights

    • Total revenues were $180.4 million, an increase of 13% from the second quarter of FY 2024.
    • Operating profit was $1.2 million, compared to an operating loss of $26.2 million from the second quarter of FY 2024 or 1% of Total revenues compared to (16%) in the second quarter of FY 2024.
    • Adjusted operating income* was $31.8 million, compared to $23.3 million or an increase of 36% from the second quarter of FY 2024, or 18% of Total revenues compared to 15% in the second quarter of FY 2024.
    • Net loss was $2.0 million, compared to $26.2 million for the second quarter of FY 2024.
    • Adjusted net income* was $25.0 million, compared to $18.7 million for the second quarter of FY 2024.
    • Net cash provided by operating activities improved to $37.1 million from $26.2 million for the second quarter of FY 2024.
    • Adjusted free cash flow* improved to $28.5 million from $14.8 million for the second quarter of FY 2024.

    *Adjusted operating income, adjusted net income and adjusted free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see the discussion below under the heading “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and the reconciliations at the end of this press release for information concerning these and other non-GAAP financial measures referenced in this press release.

    Pending Merger with Paychex, Inc.

    On January 7, 2025, we announced that we had entered into a definitive agreement (“Merger Agreement”) to be acquired by Paychex, Inc. (“Paychex”) in an all-cash transaction structured as a merger and valued at approximately $4.1 billion, or $22.50 per share. The per-share merger consideration represents a premium of approximately 19% over Paycor’s 30-day volume weighted average trading price as of the unaffected trading date of January 3, 2025. The Merger Agreement has been unanimously approved by Company’s Board of Directors, as well as the holders of a majority of the Company’s outstanding common stock. The merger is expected to close in the first half of calendar 2025, subject to satisfaction of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the merger, we will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paychex, and our common stock will be delisted from Nasdaq.

    Given the pending transaction, we will not be hosting an earnings conference call, are suspending financial guidance for fiscal year 2025, and will not provide financial guidance for the third quarter ending March 31, 2025. For further detail and discussion of our financial performance, please refer to our Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2024.

    Additional Information and Where to Find It

    We intend to file relevant materials with the SEC, including a preliminary and definitive information statement relating to the proposed transaction. The definitive information statement will be mailed to Paycor’s stockholders. STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE INFORMATION STATEMENT REGARDING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.

    A free copy of the information statement and other related documents (when available) filed by the Company with the SEC may be found on the “SEC Filings” section of Paycor’s investor relations website at https://www.investors.paycor.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

    No Offer

    No person has commenced soliciting proxies in connection with the proposed transaction referenced in this release, and this release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell securities.

    About Paycor

    Paycor’s HR, payroll, and talent platform connects leaders to people, data, and expertise. We help leaders drive engagement and retention by giving them tools to coach, develop, and grow employees. We give them unprecedented insights into their operational data with a unified HCM experience that can seamlessly connect to other mission-critical technology. By providing expert guidance and consultation, we help them achieve business results and become an extension of their teams. Learn more at paycor.com.​

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, our business outlook, our business strategy and plans, our objectives for future operations, and any statements of a general economic or industry specific nature, are forward-looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “can have,” “likely,” “outlook,” “potential,” “targets,” “contemplates,” or the negative or plural of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

    These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to the Merger Agreement. We believe that these risks include, but are not limited to: the risk that the merger may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect our business and the price of our common stock; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance or condition that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement; potential litigation relating to the merger that could be instituted against the parties to the Merger Agreement or their respective directors or officers, including the effects of any outcomes related thereto; certain restrictions during the pendency of the merger that may impact our ability to pursue certain business opportunities or strategic transactions; uncertainty as to timing of completion of the merger; risks that the benefits of the merger are not realized when and as expected; our ability to manage our growth effectively; the potential unauthorized access to our customers’ or their employees’ personal data as a result of a breach of our or our vendors’ security measures; the expansion and retention of our direct sales force with qualified and productive persons and the related effects on the growth of our business; the impact on customer expansion and retention if implementation, user experience, customer service, or performance relating to our solutions is not satisfactory; the timing of payments made to employees and taxing authorities relative to the timing of when a customer’s electronic funds transfers are settled to our account; future acquisitions of other companies’ businesses, technologies, or customer portfolios; the continued service of our key executives; our ability to innovate and deliver high-quality, technologically advanced products and services; risks specifically associated with our development and use of artificial intelligence in our solutions; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; the proper operation of our software; our relationships with third parties that provide financial and other functionality integrated into our HCM platform; the extent to which negative macroeconomic conditions persist or worsen in the markets in which we or our customers operate; and the impact of an economic downturn or recession in the United States or global economy. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur. Although we believe that the expectations and assumptions reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement after the date of this report, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, or to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as may be required by law.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    To supplement our financial information presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”), we present the following non-GAAP financial measures in this press release: adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross profit margin, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating income margin, adjusted sales and marketing expense, adjusted general and administrative expense, adjusted research and development expense, adjusted net income, adjusted net income per share, adjusted free cash flow and adjusted free cash flow margin. Management believes these non-GAAP measures are useful in evaluating our core operating performance and trends to prepare and approve our annual budget, and to develop short-term and long-term operating plans. Management believes that non-GAAP financial information, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance and assists in comparisons with other companies, some of which use similar non-GAAP financial information to supplement their GAAP results. We define (i) adjusted gross profit as gross profit before amortization of intangible assets and stock-based compensation expense, in each case that are included in costs of revenues, (ii) adjusted gross profit margin as adjusted gross profit divided by total revenues, (iii) adjusted operating income as income (loss) from operations before amortization of acquired intangible assets and naming rights, stock-based compensation expense, exit costs due to exiting leases of certain facilities and other certain corporate expenses, such as costs related to secondary offerings, professional, consulting and other costs and acquisition costs, (iv) adjusted operating income margin as adjusted operating income divided by total revenues, (v) adjusted sales and marketing expense as sales and marketing expenses before amortization of naming rights and stock-based compensation expense, (vi) adjusted general and administrative expense as general and administrative expenses before amortization of acquired intangible assets, stock-based compensation expense, exit costs due to exiting leases of certain facilities and other certain corporate expenses, such as costs related to secondary offerings, professional, consulting and other costs and acquisition costs, (vii) adjusted research and development expense as research and development expenses before stock-based compensation expense, (viii) adjusted net income as income (loss) before expense (benefit) for income taxes after adjusting for amortization of acquired intangible assets and naming rights, accretion expense associated with the naming rights, change in fair value of contingent consideration, stock-based compensation expense, exit costs due to exiting leases of certain facilities and other certain corporate expenses, such as costs related to secondary offerings, professional, consulting and other costs and acquisition costs, all of which are tax effected by applying an adjusted effective income tax rate, (ix) adjusted net income per share as adjusted net income divided by adjusted shares outstanding, which includes potentially dilutive securities excluded from the GAAP dilutive net income (loss) per share calculation, (x) adjusted free cash flow as cash provided (used) by operating activities less the purchase of property and equipment and internally developed software costs, excluding other certain corporate expenses, which are included in cash provided (used) by operating activities and (xi) adjusted free cash flow margin as adjusted free cash flow divided by total revenues.

    The non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered a substitute for gross profit, gross margin, income (loss) from operations, operating income margin, sales and marketing expense, general and administrative expense, research and development expense, net income (loss), diluted net income (loss) per share and cash provided (used) by operating activities. Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools, and when assessing our operating performance, you should not consider them in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures that we present may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. A reconciliation is provided below under “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to GAAP Measures,” for each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP.

    Investor Relations:
    Rachel White
    513-954-7388
    IR@paycor.com

    Media Relations:
    Carly Pennekamp
    513-954-7282
    PR@paycor.com

     

    Paycor HCM, Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (in thousands, except share amounts)
      December 31,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024
    Assets (Unaudited)    
    Current assets:      
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 114,569     $ 117,958  
    Accounts receivable, net allowance for credit losses   58,252       48,164  
    Deferred contract costs   75,440       70,377  
    Prepaid expenses   13,284       12,749  
    Other current assets   9,397       3,458  
    Current assets before funds held for clients   270,942       252,706  
    Funds held for clients   1,333,368       1,109,136  
    Total current assets   1,604,310       1,361,842  
    Property and equipment, net   34,087       35,220  
    Operating lease right-of-use assets   14,308       14,417  
    Goodwill   765,904       766,653  
    Intangible assets, net   137,327       171,493  
    Capitalized software, net   72,046       67,376  
    Long-term deferred contract costs   199,450       189,826  
    Other long-term assets   2,770       2,566  
    Total assets $ 2,830,202     $ 2,609,393  
    Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity      
    Current liabilities:      
    Accounts payable $ 21,327     $ 27,309  
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities   24,851       26,450  
    Accrued payroll and payroll related expenses   36,190       44,923  
    Deferred revenue   13,395       13,600  
    Current liabilities before client fund obligations   95,763       112,282  
    Client fund obligations   1,333,944       1,111,373  
    Total current liabilities   1,429,707       1,223,655  
    Deferred income taxes   10,726       16,019  
    Long-term operating leases   12,765       13,447  
    Other long-term liabilities   67,986       69,346  
    Total liabilities   1,521,184       1,322,467  
    Commitments and contingencies      
    Stockholders’ equity:      
    Common stock $0.001 par value per share, 500,000,000 shares authorized, 181,251,037 shares outstanding at December 31, 2024 and 178,210,263 shares outstanding at June 30, 2024   181       178  
    Treasury stock, at cost, 10,620,260 shares at December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024   (245,074)       (245,074)  
    Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized, — shares outstanding at December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024   —       —  
    Additional paid-in capital   2,111,961       2,081,668  
    Accumulated deficit   (557,769)       (548,437)  
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss   (281)       (1,409)  
    Total stockholders’ equity   1,309,018       1,286,926  
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 2,830,202     $ 2,609,393  
    Paycor HCM, Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
    (in thousands, except share amounts)
      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
      December 31,   December 31,
        2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Revenues:              
    Recurring and other revenue $ 167,388     $ 147,232     $ 321,387     $ 279,940  
    Interest income on funds held for clients   13,050       12,309       26,527       23,189  
    Total revenues   180,438       159,541       347,914       303,129  
    Cost of revenues   62,186       55,125       121,403       106,503  
    Gross profit   118,252       104,416       226,511       196,626  
    Operating expenses:              
    Sales and marketing   60,137       57,753       116,926       110,531  
    General and administrative   38,554       56,173       86,850       104,922  
    Research and development   18,369       16,665       35,797       30,720  
    Total operating expenses   117,060       130,591       239,573       246,173  
    Income (loss) from operations   1,192       (26,175)       (13,062)       (49,547)  
    Other (expense) income:              
    Interest expense   (1,135)       (1,153)       (2,273)       (2,397)  
    Other   780       (1,745)       2,450       (814)  
    Income (loss) before benefit for income taxes   837       (29,073)       (12,885)       (52,758)  
    Income tax expense (benefit)   2,885       (2,824)       (3,553)       (5,913)  
    Net loss $ (2,048)     $ (26,249)     $ (9,332)     $ (46,845)  
    Basic and diluted net loss per share $ (0.01)     $ (0.15)     $ (0.05)     $ (0.26)  
    Weighted average common shares outstanding:              
    Basic and diluted   179,592,666       177,567,397       179,161,188       177,260,396  

     

    Paycor HCM, Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
    (in thousands)
      Six Months Ended
      December 31,
        2024       2023  
    Cash flows from operating activities:      
    Net loss $ (9,332)     $ (46,845)  
    Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:      
    Depreciation   2,848       2,997  
    Amortization of intangible assets and software   57,533       68,312  
    Amortization of deferred contract costs   38,638       29,876  
    Stock-based compensation expense   28,806       35,964  
    Deferred tax benefit   (6,040)       (5,937)  
    Bad debt expense   3,301       2,870  
    Loss on sale of investments   147       142  
    Loss on foreign currency exchange   442       4  
    Gain on lease exit   —       (29)  
    Naming rights accretion expense   2,012       2,061  
    Change in fair value of deferred consideration   (112)       2,816  
    Other   44       44  
    Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisitions:      
    Accounts receivable   (11,689)       (17,003)  
    Prepaid expenses and other assets   (6,055)       (7,487)  
    Accounts payable   (5,824)       (3,207)  
    Accrued liabilities and other   (12,757)       (10,892)  
    Deferred revenue   112       255  
    Deferred contract costs   (53,325)       (53,904)  
    Net cash provided by operating activities   28,749       37  
    Cash flows from investing activities:      
    Purchases of client funds available-for-sale securities   (114,162)       (151,939)  
    Proceeds from sale and maturities of client funds available-for-sale securities   106,052       103,453  
    Purchase of property and equipment   (1,756)       (2,068)  
    Acquisition of intangible assets   (1,553)       (4,133)  
    Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired   —       (28)  
    Internally developed software costs   (26,484)       (25,308)  
    Net cash used in investing activities   (37,903)       (80,023)  
    Cash flows from financing activities:      
    Net change in cash and cash equivalents held to satisfy client funds obligations   221,962       270,540  
    Payment of contingent consideration   (1,329)       —  
    Payment of capital expenditure financing   —       (3,689)  
    Repayments of debt and finance lease obligations   (597)       (536)  
    Withholding taxes paid related to net share settlements   (1,957)       (1,829)  
    Proceeds from employee stock purchase plan   3,444       4,172  
    Net cash provided by financing activities   221,523       268,658  
    Impact of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents   21       11  
    Net change in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments, and funds held for clients   212,390       188,683  
    Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments, and funds held for clients, beginning of period   910,580       879,046  
    Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments, and funds held for clients, end of period $ 1,122,970     $ 1,067,729  
    Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing, financing and other cash flow information:      
    Capital expenditures in accounts payable $ 54     $ 39  
    Cash paid for interest $ —     $ 145  
    Capital lease asset obtained in exchange for capital lease liabilities $ —      $ 3,393  
    Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments, and funds held for clients to the Consolidated Balance Sheets      
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 114,569     $ 61,719  
    Funds held for clients   1,008,401       1,006,010  
    Total cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments, and funds held for clients $ 1,122,970     $ 1,067,729  

    Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to GAAP Measures

    Adjusted Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Profit Margin (Unaudited)

      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023   December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
    Gross Profit* $ 118,252     $ 104,416     $ 226,511     $ 196,626  
    Gross Profit Margin   65.5%       65.4%       65.1%       64.9%  
    Amortization of intangible assets   914       634       1,789       2,009  
    Stock-based compensation expense   1,954       2,404       3,456       3,999  
    Corporate adjustments   —       —       21       —  
    Adjusted Gross Profit* $ 121,120     $ 107,454     $ 231,777     $ 202,634  
    Adjusted Gross Profit Margin   67.1%       67.4%       66.6%       66.8%  

    * Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Profit were burdened by depreciation expense of $0.5 million and $0.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $1.1 million and $1.2 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Profit were burdened by amortization of capitalized software of $11.2 million and $9.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $21.8 million and $17.6 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Profit are burdened by amortization of deferred contract costs of $11.4 million and $8.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $22.2 million and $17.0 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

    Adjusted Operating Income (Unaudited)

      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023   December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
    Income (Loss) from Operations $ 1,192     $ (26,175)     $ (13,062)     $ (49,547)  
    Operating Margin   0.7%       (16.4)%       (3.8)%       (16.3)%  
    Amortization of intangible assets   12,023       24,963       35,719       50,673  
    Stock-based compensation expense   16,141       23,049       28,806       35,964  
    (Gain) loss on lease exit*   (6)       115       —       (29)  
    Corporate adjustments**   2,442       1,345       3,129       2,156  
    Adjusted Operating Income $ 31,792     $ 23,297     $ 54,592     $ 39,217  
    Adjusted Operating Income Margin   17.6%       14.6%       15.7%       12.9%  

    * Represents exit costs due to exiting leases of certain facilities.
    ** Corporate adjustments for the three and six months ended December 31, 2024 relate to professional costs associated with the Paychex merger of $1.7 million for both periods and professional, consulting, and other costs associated with strategic initiatives of $0.7 million and $1.4 million, respectively. Corporate adjustments for the three and six months ended December 31, 2023 relate to costs associated with the secondary offering completed in December 2023 (“December 2023 Secondary Offering”) of $0.6 million and $0.6 million, respectively, and professional, consulting, and other costs of $0.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

    Adjusted Operating Expenses (Unaudited)

      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023   December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
    Sales and Marketing expenses $ 60,137     $ 57,753     $ 116,926     $ 110,531  
    Amortization of intangible assets   (1,058)       (1,058)       (2,117)       (2,117)  
    Stock-based compensation expense   (5,330)       (7,224)       (9,515)       (11,542)  
    Adjusted Sales and Marketing expenses $ 53,749     $ 49,471     $ 105,294     $ 96,872  
    General and Administrative expenses $ 38,554     $ 56,173     $ 86,850     $ 104,922  
    Amortization of intangible assets   (10,051)       (23,272)       (31,813)       (46,548)  
    Stock-based compensation expense   (6,051)       (9,951)       (10,837)       (15,023)  
    Gain (loss) on lease exit*   6       (115)       —       29  
    Corporate adjustments**   (2,442)       (1,345)       (3,108)       (2,156)  
    Adjusted General and Administrative expenses $ 20,016     $ 21,490     $ 41,092     $ 41,224  
    Research and Development expenses $ 18,369     $ 16,665     $ 35,797     $ 30,720  
    Stock-based compensation expense   (2,806)       (3,470)       (4,998)       (5,400)  
    Adjusted Research and Development expenses $ 15,563     $ 13,195     $ 30,799     $ 25,320  

    * Represents exit costs due to exiting leases of certain facilities.        
    ** Corporate adjustments for the three and six months ended December 31, 2024 relate to professional costs associated with the Paychex merger of $1.7 million for both periods and professional, consulting, and other costs associated with strategic initiatives of $0.7 million and $1.4 million, respectively. Corporate adjustments for the three and six months ended December 31, 2023 relate to costs associated with the secondary offering completed in December 2023 (“December 2023 Secondary Offering”) of $0.6 million and $0.6 million, respectively, and professional, consulting, and other costs of $0.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

    Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income Per Share (Unaudited)

      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023   December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
    Net gain (loss) before benefit for income taxes $ 837     $ (29,073)     $ (12,885)     $ (52,758)  
    Amortization of intangible assets   12,023       24,963       35,719       50,673  
    Naming rights accretion expense   1,006       1,031       2,012       2,061  
    Change in fair value of deferred consideration   —       2,816       (112)       2,816  
    Stock-based compensation expense   16,141       23,049       28,806       35,964  
    (Gain) loss on lease exit*   (6)       115       —       (29)  
    Corporate adjustments**   2,442       1,345       3,129       2,156  
    Non-GAAP adjusted income before applicable income taxes   32,443       24,246       56,669       40,883  
    Income tax effect on adjustments***   (7,462)       (5,577)       (13,034)       (9,403)  
    Adjusted Net Income $ 24,981     $ 18,669     $ 43,635     $ 31,480  
                   
    Adjusted Net Income Per Share $ 0.14     $ 0.11     $ 0.24     $ 0.18  
    Adjusted shares outstanding****   180,681,049       177,740,047       179,772,462       177,537,308  

    * Represents exit costs due to exiting leases of certain facilities.
    ** Corporate adjustments for the three and six months ended December 31, 2024 relate to professional costs associated with the Paychex merger of $1.7 million for both periods and professional, consulting, and other costs associated with strategic initiatives of $0.7 million and $1.4 million, respectively. Corporate adjustments for the three and six months ended December 31, 2023 relate to costs associated with the secondary offering completed in December 2023 (“December 2023 Secondary Offering”) of $0.6 million and $0.6 million, respectively, and professional, consulting, and other costs of $0.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively.
    *** Non-GAAP adjusted income before applicable income taxes is tax effected using an adjusted effective income tax rate of 23.0% for each of the three and six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
    **** Adjusted shares outstanding for the three and six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 are based on the if-converted method and include potentially dilutive securities that are excluded from the U.S. GAAP dilutive net income per share calculation because including them in the computation of net income per share would have an anti-dilutive effect.

    Adjusted Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow Margin (Unaudited)

      Three Months Ended   Six Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023   December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 37,060     $ 26,166     $ 28,749     $ 37  
    Purchase of property and equipment*   (418)       (633)       (1,587)       (2,068)  
    Internally developed software costs   (13,043)       (12,054)       (26,484)       (25,308)  
    Corporate adjustments**   4,885       1,345       5,572       2,156  
    Adjusted Free Cash Flow $ 28,484     $ 14,824     $ 6,250     $ (25,183)  
    Adjusted Free Cash Flow Margin   15.8%       9.3%       1.8%       (8.3)%  

    * Represents purchases of property & equipment, net of $0.2 million of leasehold improvements related to the new Headquarters lease for the three and six months ended December 31, 2024.
    ** Corporate adjustments for the three and six months ended December 31, 2024 relate to contingent consideration of $4.2 million for both periods and professional, consulting, and other costs associated with strategic initiatives of $0.7 million and $1.4 million, respectively. Corporate adjustments for the three and six months ended December 31, 2023 relate to costs associated with the secondary offering completed in December 2023 (“December 2023 Secondary Offering”) of $0.6 million and $0.6 million, respectively, and professional, consulting, and other costs of $0.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Symbotic Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WILMINGTON, Mass., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Symbotic Inc. (Nasdaq: SYM), a leader in A.I.-enabled robotics technology for the supply chain, announced financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2025, ended December 28, 2024. Symbotic posted revenue of $487 million, a net loss of $19 million and adjusted EBITDA1 of $18 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, Symbotic had revenue of $360 million, a net loss of $19 million and adjusted EBITDA1 of $8 million. Cash and cash equivalents increased by $176 million from the prior quarter to $903 million at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

    “In the first quarter, we continued to deliver high growth while enhancing our technology position,” said Rick Cohen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Symbotic. “With our recent acquisition of Walmart’s Advanced Systems and Robotics business now completed, we look forward to enhancing an already strong position to drive exceptional results for our stakeholders.”

    “First quarter revenue grew over 35% year-over-year driven by solid progress across our 44 systems in the process of deployment,” said Symbotic Chief Financial Officer, Carol Hibbard. “Looking forward to the fiscal second quarter of 2025, we expect another quarter of at least 30% year-over-year revenue growth with expanding margins.”

    OUTLOOK

    For the second quarter of fiscal 2025, Symbotic expects revenue of $510 million to $530 million, and adjusted EBITDA2 of $26 million to $30 million.

    WEBCAST INFORMATION

    Symbotic will host a webcast today at 5:00 pm ET to discuss its first quarter of fiscal year 2025 results. The webcast link is: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/go/Symbotic-Q1-2025.

    _______________________________
    1 Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) is a non-GAAP financial measure as defined below under “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information.” See the tables below for reconciliations to net loss, the most comparable GAAP measure.
    2 Symbotic is not providing guidance for net loss, which is the most comparable GAAP financial measure to adjusted EBITDA, because information reconciling forward-looking adjusted EBITDA to net loss is unavailable to it without unreasonable effort. Symbotic is not able to provide reconciliations of adjusted EBITDA to GAAP financial measures because certain items required for such reconciliations are outside of Symbotic’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted, such as the provision for stock-based compensation.

    ABOUT SYMBOTIC

    Symbotic is an automation technology leader reimagining the supply chain with its end-to-end, A.I.-powered robotic and software platform. Symbotic reinvents the warehouse as a strategic asset for the world’s largest retail, wholesale, and food & beverage companies. Applying next-generation technology, high-density storage and machine learning to solve today’s complex distribution challenges, Symbotic enables companies to move goods with unmatched speed, agility, accuracy and efficiency. As the backbone of commerce, Symbotic transforms the flow of goods and the economics of the supply chain for its customers. For more information, visit www.symbotic.com.

    USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION

    Symbotic reports its financial results in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). This press release contains financial measures that are not recognized under U.S. GAAP (“non-GAAP financial measures”), including adjusted EBITDA, adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross profit margin, and free cash flow. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as an analytical tool as they do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures Symbotic uses may not be the same non-GAAP financial measures, and may not be calculated in the same manner, as that of other companies and, therefore, are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these non-GAAP financial measures are provided as a supplement to corresponding U.S. GAAP measures to provide additional information regarding the results of operations from management’s perspective. Accordingly, non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for, in isolation from, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. All non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release are reconciled to their closest reported U.S. GAAP financial measures. Symbotic recommends that investors review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures provided in the financial statement tables included below in this press release, and not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate its business.

    Symbotic defines adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, as GAAP net income or loss excluding the following items: interest income; income taxes; depreciation and amortization; stock-based compensation; business combination transaction expenses; joint venture formation fees; internal control remediation; equity method investment; and other non-recurring items that may arise from time to time. Symbotic defines adjusted gross profit, a non-GAAP financial measure, as GAAP gross profit excluding the following items: depreciation and stock-based compensation. Symbotic defines adjusted gross profit margin, a non-GAAP financial measure, as adjusted gross profit divided by revenue. Symbotic defines free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, as net cash provided by or used in operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and capitalization of internal use software development costs. In addition to Symbotic’s financial results determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, Symbotic believes that adjusted EBITDA, adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross profit margin, and free cash flow non-GAAP financial measures, are useful in evaluating the performance of Symbotic’s business because they highlight trends in its core business.

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, but not limited to, Symbotic’s expectations or predictions of future financial or business performance or conditions. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning our possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events, backlog or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “plans,” “scheduled,” “anticipates” or “intends” or similar expressions.

    Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the ability of or expectations regarding Symbotic to:

    • meet the technical requirements of existing or future supply agreements with its customers, including with respect to existing backlog;
    • expand its target customer base and maintain its existing customer base;
    • realize the benefits expected from the acquisition of Walmart’s Advanced Systems and Robotics business, the GreenBox joint venture, the Commercial Agreement with GreenBox, Symbotic’s acquisitions of developed technology intangible assets, and the commercial agreement with Walmart de México y Centroamérica;
    • realize its outlook, including its system gross margin;
    • anticipate industry trends;
    • maintain and enhance its system;
    • maintain the listing of the Symbotic Class A Common Stock on Nasdaq;
    • execute its growth strategy;
    • develop, design and sell systems that are differentiated from those of competitors;
    • execute its research and development strategy;
    • acquire, maintain, protect and enforce intellectual property;
    • attract, train and retain effective officers, key employees or directors;
    • comply with laws and regulations applicable to its business;
    • stay abreast of modified or new laws and regulations applying to its business;
    • successfully defend litigation;
    • issue equity securities in connection with future transactions;
    • meet future liquidity requirements and, if applicable, comply with restrictive covenants related to long-term indebtedness;
    • timely and effectively remediate any material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting;
    • anticipate rapid technological changes; and
    • effectively respond to general economic and business conditions.

    Forward-looking statements also include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to:

    • the future performance of Symbotic’s business and operations;
    • expectations regarding revenues, expenses, adjusted EBITDA and anticipated cash needs;
    • expectations regarding cash flow, liquidity and sources of funding;
    • expectations regarding capital expenditures;
    • the anticipated benefits of Symbotic’s leadership structure;
    • the effects of pending and future legislation;
    • business disruption;
    • disruption to the business due to Symbotic’s dependency on certain customers;
    • increasing competition in the warehouse automation industry;
    • any delays in the design, production or launch of Symbotic’s systems and products;
    • the failure to meet customers’ requirements under existing or future contracts or customer’s expectations as to price or pricing structure;
    • any defects in new products or enhancements to existing products;
    • the fluctuation of operating results from period to period due to a number of factors, including the pace of customer adoption of Symbotic’s new products and services and any changes in its product mix that shift too far into lower gross margin products; and
    • any consequences associated with joint ventures and legislative and regulatory actions and reforms.

    Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. Certain of these risks are identified and discussed in Symbotic’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on December 4, 2024. These risk factors will be important to consider in determining future results and should be reviewed in their entirety. These forward-looking statements are expressed in good faith, and Symbotic believes there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that the events, results or trends identified in these forward-looking statements will occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of assisting the reader in understanding our financial performance, financial position and cash flows as of and for periods ended on certain dates and to present information about management’s current expectations and plans relating to the future, and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because of their inherent uncertainty and to appreciate the limited purposes for which they are being used by management. While we believe that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information currently available to management, there is no assurance that such assumptions and expectations will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and are based on the beliefs, estimates, expectations and opinions of management on that date. Symbotic is not under any obligation, and expressly disclaims any obligation to update, alter or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports that Symbotic has filed or will file from time to time with the SEC.

    In addition to factors previously disclosed in Symbotic’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024 filed with the SEC on December 4, 2024 and those identified elsewhere in this press release, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: failure to realize the benefits expected from the acquisition of Walmart’s Advanced Systems and Robotics business and risks related to the acquisition.

    Any financial projections in this press release or discussed in the webcast are forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond Symbotic’s control. While all projections are necessarily speculative, Symbotic believes that the preparation of prospective financial information involves increasingly higher levels of uncertainty the further out the projection extends from the date of preparation. The assumptions and estimates underlying the projected results are inherently uncertain and are subject to a wide variety of significant business, economic and competitive risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the projections. The inclusion of projections in this communication should not be regarded as an indication that Symbotic, or its representatives, considered or considers the projections to be a reliable prediction of future events.

    Annualized, projected and estimated numbers are not forecasts and may not reflect actual results.

    This communication is not intended to be all-inclusive or to contain all the information that a person may desire in considering an investment in Symbotic and is not intended to form the basis of an investment decision in Symbotic. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release and other reports we file with, or furnish to, the SEC and other regulatory agencies and made by our directors, officers, other employees and other persons authorized to speak on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.

    INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT

    Charlie Anderson
    Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development
    ir@symbotic.com

    MEDIA INQUIRIES
    mediainquiry@symbotic.com

     
    Symbotic Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Consolidated Statements of Operations
       
      Three Months Ended
    (in thousands, except share and per share information) December 28, 2024   September 28, 2024   December 30, 2023
    Revenue:          
    Systems $ 464,059     $ 536,447     $ 347,705  
    Software maintenance and support   5,525       5,893       2,169  
    Operation services   17,109       22,226       10,069  
    Total revenue   486,693       564,566       359,943  
    Cost of revenue:          
    Systems   381,819       442,009       283,946  
    Software maintenance and support   1,884       2,748       1,726  
    Operation services   22,951       23,392       10,214  
    Total cost of revenue   406,654       468,149       295,886  
    Gross profit   80,039       96,417       64,057  
    Operating expenses:          
    Research and development expenses   43,592       40,130       42,144  
    Selling, general, and administrative expenses   61,076       45,399       47,012  
    Total operating expenses   104,668       85,529       89,156  
    Operating income (loss)   (24,629 )     10,888       (25,099 )
    Other income, net   7,823       9,416       6,199  
    Income (loss) before income tax   (16,806 )     20,304       (18,900 )
    Income tax expense   (150 )     (4,110 )     (172 )
    Loss from equity method investment   (1,564 )     (240 )     —  
    Net income (loss)   (18,520 )     15,954       (19,072 )
    Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests   (15,044 )     13,118       (16,236 )
    Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ (3,476 )   $ 2,836     $ (2,836 )
               
    Income (loss) per share of Class A Common Stock:          
    Basic and Diluted(1) $ (0.03 )   $ 0.03     $ (0.03 )
    Weighted-average shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding:          
    Basic   106,098,566       104,146,479       83,320,943  
    Diluted(2) n/a     108,646,977     n/a
                   
    (1) For the three months ended September 28, 2024, basic and diluted EPS were calculated as the same value and as such presented on the same line.
     
    (2) Periods in which the Company was in a net loss position, diluted weighted-average shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding is the same as basic and as such indicated with “n/a”.
     
     
    Symbotic Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
     
    The following table reconciles GAAP net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA:
       
      Three Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 28, 2024   September 28, 2024   December 30, 2023
    Net income (loss) $ (18,520 )   $ 15,954     $ (19,072 )
    Interest income   (7,769 )     (9,353 )     (6,149 )
    Income tax expense   150       4,110       172  
    Depreciation and amortization   6,860       5,780       2,565  
    Stock-based compensation   28,741       26,100       29,462  
    Business Combination transaction expenses   3,802       324       —  
    Joint venture formation fees   —       —       1,089  
    Internal controls remediation   3,076       —       —  
    Restructuring charges   —       (775 )     —  
    Equity method investment   1,564       240       —  
    Adjusted EBITDA $ 17,904     $ 42,380     $ 8,067  
    The following table reconciles GAAP gross profit to Adjusted gross profit:
       
      Three Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 28, 2024   September 28, 2024   December 30, 2023
    Gross profit $ 80,039     $ 96,417     $ 64,057  
    Depreciation   2,469       2,208       93  
    Stock-based compensation   3,709       3,260       3,431  
    Restructuring charges   —       (775 )     —  
    Adjusted gross profit $ 86,217     $ 101,110     $ 67,581  
                           
    Gross profit margin   16.4 %     17.1 %     17.8 %
    Adjusted gross profit margin   17.7 %     17.9 %     18.8 %
    The following table reconciles GAAP net cash provided by (used in) operating activities to free cash flow:
       
      Three Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 28, 2024   September 28, 2024   December 30, 2023
               
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities $ 205,027     $ (99,383 )   $ (30,150 )
    Purchases of property and equipment   (7,357 )     (20,730 )     (2,173 )
    Capitalization of internal use software development costs   —       (637 )     (820 )
    Free cash flow $ 197,670     $ (120,750 )   $ (33,143 )
                           
     
    Symbotic Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Supplemental Common Share Information
     
    Total Common Shares issued and outstanding:
               
      December 28, 2024     September 28, 2024  
    Class A Common Shares issued and outstanding 106,521,915     104,689,377  
    Class V-1 Common Shares issued and outstanding 76,588,618     76,965,386  
    Class V-3 Common Shares issued and outstanding 404,309,196     404,309,196  
      587,419,729     585,963,959  
               
     
    Symbotic Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Consolidated Balance Sheets
           
    (in thousands, except share data) December 28, 2024   September 28, 2024
    ASSETS
    Current assets:      
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 903,034     $ 727,310  
    Accounts receivable   134,391       201,548  
    Unbilled accounts receivable   223,349       218,233  
    Inventories   108,691       106,136  
    Deferred expenses   3,221       1,058  
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets   85,740       101,252  
    Total current assets   1,458,426       1,355,537  
    Property and equipment, net   105,079       97,109  
    Intangible assets, net   14,949       3,664  
    Equity method investment   85,946       81,289  
    Other assets   51,222       40,953  
    Total assets $ 1,715,622     $ 1,578,552  
    LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
    Current liabilities:      
    Accounts payable $ 206,324     $ 175,188  
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities   203,353       165,644  
    Deferred revenue   787,174       676,314  
    Total current liabilities   1,196,851       1,017,146  
    Deferred revenue   76,712       129,233  
    Other liabilities   48,134       42,043  
    Total liabilities   1,321,697       1,188,422  
    Commitments and contingencies   —       —  
    Equity:      
    Class A Common Stock, 3,000,000,000 shares authorized, 106,521,915 and 104,689,377 shares issued and outstanding at December 28, 2024 and September 28, 2024, respectively   13       13  
    Class V-1 Common Stock, 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 76,588,618 and 76,965,386 shares issued and outstanding at December 28, 2024 and September 28, 2024, respectively   7       7  
    Class V-3 Common Stock, 450,000,000 shares authorized, 404,309,196 shares issued and outstanding at December 28, 2024 and September 28, 2024   40       40  
    Additional paid-in capital   1,526,573       1,523,692  
    Accumulated deficit   (1,327,401 )     (1,323,925 )
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss   (2,696 )     (2,594 )
    Total stockholders’ equity   196,536       197,233  
    Noncontrolling interest   197,389       192,897  
    Total equity   393,925       390,130  
    Total liabilities and equity $ 1,715,622     $ 1,578,552  
                   
     
    Symbotic Inc. and Subsidiaries
    Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
       
      Three Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 28, 2024   September 28, 2024   December 30, 2023
    Cash flows from operating activities:          
    Net income (loss) $ (18,520 )   $ 15,954     $ (19,072 )
    Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:          
    Depreciation and amortization   7,645       6,432       3,197  
    Foreign currency (gains) losses, net   (32 )     —       22  
    Loss on disposal of assets   201       337       —  
    Provision for excess and obsolete inventory   688       (775 )     70  
    Stock-based compensation   26,773       25,350       29,462  
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:          
    Accounts receivable   67,376       (101,010 )     (83,789 )
    Inventories   (10,425 )     30,202       (1,567 )
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets   10,317       (114,889 )     (32,653 )
    Deferred expenses   (2,164 )     5,690       (7,152 )
    Other assets   (1,079 )     (3,848 )     (5,906 )
    Accounts payable   31,145       47,399       (7,261 )
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities   45,540       (6,209 )     15,716  
    Deferred revenue   58,336       6,309       69,966  
    Other liabilities   (10,774 )     (10,325 )     8,817  
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities   205,027       (99,383 )     (30,150 )
    Cash flows from investing activities:          
    Purchases of property and equipment   (7,357 )     (20,730 )     (2,173 )
    Capitalization of internal use software development costs   —       (637 )     (820 )
    Proceeds from maturities of marketable securities   —       —       150,000  
    Purchases of marketable securities   —       —       (48,317 )
    Acquisitions of strategic investments   (17,992 )     (23,996 )     —  
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities   (25,349 )     (45,363 )     98,690  
    Cash flows from financing activities:          
    Payment for taxes related to net share settlement of stock-based compensation awards   (3,012 )     —       (56 )
    Net proceeds from issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan   —       2,308       —  
    Distributions to or on behalf of Symbotic Holdings LLC partners   (850 )     (561 )     —  
    Proceeds from exercise of warrants   —       —       158,702  
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities   (3,862 )     1,747       158,646  
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash   (84 )     21       (2 )
    Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash   175,732       (142,978 )     227,184  
    Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash – beginning of period   730,354       873,332       260,918  
    Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash – end of period $ 906,086     $ 730,354     $ 488,102  
               
               
      Three Months Ended
    (in thousands) December 28, 2024   September 28, 2024   December 30, 2023
    Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash:          
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 903,034     $ 727,310     $ 485,952  
    Restricted cash   3,052       3,044       2,150  
    Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash $ 906,086     $ 730,354     $ 488,102  
                           

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: FormFactor, Inc. Reports 2024 Fourth Quarter Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FY24 revenue of $764 million, up 15.2% from $663 million in FY23, driven by growth in HBM revenue;
    Announces acquisition of minority interest in FICT Limited, a key supplier of industry-leading, high-performance advanced probe card components

    LIVERMORE, Calif., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FormFactor, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORM) today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 ended December 28, 2024. Quarterly revenues were $189.5 million, a decrease of 8.9% compared to $207.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2024, and an increase of 12.7% from $168.2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. For fiscal 2024, FormFactor recorded revenues of $764 million, up 15.2% from $663 million in fiscal 2023.

    • High Bandwidth Memory grew fourfold in fiscal 2024 compared to the prior year, driven by adoption of Generative AI, overcoming persistent lackluster demand in important high-unit-volume markets like PCs and mobile handsets.
    • DRAM probe-card revenue during the fourth quarter set third consecutive quarterly record.
    • Continued focus on expanding and diversifying FormFactor’s market position in enabling advanced packaging, through new customer qualifications in client PCs and server applications and new high-performance-compute applications.
    • FICT acquisition with MBK Partners solidifies FormFactor’s access to FICT’s technologies and products, which are an important component of advanced probe cards.

    “As expected, FormFactor reported sequentially lower fourth-quarter revenue, gross margin, and non-GAAP earnings per share, driven by the forecasted reduction in Foundry & Logic probe-card revenue,” said Mike Slessor, CEO of FormFactor, Inc. “This was partially offset by growth in DRAM probe-card revenue, with HBM increasing to approximately half of DRAM revenue.”

    FormFactor also announced today that together with MBK Partners (“MBKP”), the largest private equity firm in North Asia, it is acquiring FICT Limited (“FICT”) from Advantage Partners Inc. FICT, headquartered in Nagano, Japan, has been providing the semiconductor test and high-performance computing industries with complex multi-layer organic substrates, printed circuit boards, and related leading-edge technologies and services since its inception as a Fujitsu business unit in 1967. This acquisition is designed to strengthen and grow FICT’s business, and the FormFactor+MBKP consortium is committed to advancing FICT’s mission to serve its entire customer base.

    With this transaction, FormFactor invests approximately US$60M into the consortium. FormFactor will hold a minority, non-controlling stake of 20% and will be granted a seat on the company’s board of directors. All required regulatory and third-party approvals and conditions have been satisfied and the transaction is expected to close within the current quarter. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on FormFactor’s results of operations.

    “The semiconductor industry’s rapidly accelerating adoption of advanced packaging requires increased investment and stronger collaboration across the test and assembly supply chain,” said Mike Slessor, FormFactor’s CEO. “FormFactor’s investment in FICT builds on our long-term collaboration with them as a supplier of the industry-leading, high-performance components we use in our advanced probe cards, and provides a platform for accelerated development of tomorrow’s test and packaging consumables.”

    “We’ve built a partnership with MBKP, North Asia’s leading private equity firm, with a shared vision to enhance FICT’s long-term value by fully serving all of FICT’s existing and potential customers,” Slessor concluded.

    Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2024 Highlights

    On a GAAP basis, net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $9.7 million, or $0.12 per fully-diluted share, compared to net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 of $18.7 million, or $0.24 per fully-diluted share, and net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 of $75.8 million, or $0.97 per fully-diluted share. Net income for fiscal 2024 was $69.6 million, or $0.89 per fully-diluted share, compared to net income for fiscal 2023 of $82.4 million, or $1.05, per fully-diluted share. Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 38.8%, compared with 40.7% in the third quarter of 2024, and 40.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Gross margin for fiscal 2024 was 40.3%, compared to 39.0% for fiscal 2023. The GAAP financial results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and fiscal 2023 include a $73.0 million gain from the sale of FRT that has been excluded from FormFactor’s fourth quarter and fiscal 2023 non-GAAP results. The GAAP financial results for fiscal 2024 include a $20.3 million gain from the sale of our China operations that has been excluded from FormFactor’s fiscal 2024 non-GAAP results.

    On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $21.3 million, or $0.27 per fully-diluted share, compared to net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 of $27.2 million, or $0.35 per fully-diluted share, and net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 of $15.7 million, or $0.20 per fully-diluted share. Non-GAAP net income for fiscal 2024 was $90.2 million, or $1.15 per fully-diluted share, compared to net income of $56.8 million, or $0.73 per fully-diluted share for fiscal 2023. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 40.2%, compared with 42.2% in the third quarter of 2024, and 42.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Non-GAAP gross margin for fiscal 2024 was 41.7%, compared to 40.7% for fiscal 2023.

    A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures is provided in the schedules included below.

    GAAP net cash provided by operating activities for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $35.9 million, compared to $26.7 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2024, and $9.3 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Free cash flow for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $28.8 million, compared to free cash flow for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 of $20.0 million, and free cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2023 of negative $0.3 million. GAAP net cash provided by operating activities for fiscal 2024 was $117.5 million, compared to $64.6 million for fiscal 2023. Free cash flow for fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023 was $82.8 million and $11.4 million, respectively. A reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to non-GAAP free cash flow is provided in the schedules included below.

    Outlook

    Dr. Slessor added, “We continue to see slow demand in important high-unit-volume markets, like client PCs and mobile handsets, through the first quarter, with anticipated sequential reductions in demand for both non-HBM DRAM probe cards and Systems. That notwithstanding, as we move through 2025, we expect an overall increase in demand for FormFactor’s products.”

    For the first quarter ending March 29, 2025, FormFactor is providing the following outlook*:

        GAAP   Reconciling Items**   Non-GAAP
    Revenue   $170 million +/- $5 million   —   $170 million +/- $5 million
    Gross Margin   36.5% +/- 1.5%   $3 million   38% +/- 1.5%
    Net income per diluted share   $0.07 +/- $0.04   $0.12   $0.19 +/- $0.04

    *This outlook assumes consistent foreign currency rates.
    **Reconciling items are stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets and fixed asset fair value adjustments due to acquisitions, and restructuring charges, net of applicable income tax impacts.

    We posted our revenue breakdown by geographic region, by market segment and with customers with greater than 10% of total revenue on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.formfactor.com. We will conduct a conference call at 1:25 p.m. PT, or 4:25 p.m. ET, today.

    The public is invited to listen to a live webcast of FormFactor’s conference call on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.formfactor.com. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call. The replay will be available on the Investor Relations section of our website, www.formfactor.com.

    Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information:

    To supplement our condensed consolidated financial results prepared under generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, we disclose certain non-GAAP measures of non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per basic and diluted share, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating income and free cash flow, that are adjusted from the nearest GAAP financial measure to exclude certain costs, expenses, gains and losses. Reconciliations of the adjustments to GAAP results for the three and twelve months ended months ended December 28, 2024, and for outlook provided before, as well as for the comparable periods of fiscal 2023, are provided below, and on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.formfactor.com. Information regarding the ways in which management uses non-GAAP financial information to evaluate its business, management’s reasons for using this non-GAAP financial information, and limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial information, is included under “About our Non-GAAP Financial Measures” following the tables below.

    About FormFactor:

    FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM), is a leading provider of essential test and measurement technologies along the full semiconductor product life cycle – from characterization, modeling, reliability, and design de-bug, to qualification and production test. Semiconductor companies rely upon FormFactor’s products and services to accelerate profitability by optimizing device performance and advancing yield knowledge. The Company serves customers through its network of facilities in Asia, Europe, and North America. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.formfactor.com.

    Forward-looking Statements:

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the federal securities laws, including with respect to the Company’s future financial and operating results, and the Company’s plans, strategies and objectives for future operations. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs as of the date of this release, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future financial and operating results, including under the heading “Outlook” above, customer demand, conditions in the semiconductor industry, the timing of completion of the FICT acquisition, the expected benefit thereof and other statements regarding the Company’s business. Forward-looking statements may contain words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “forecast,” and “continue,” the negative or plural of these words and similar expressions, and include the assumptions that underlie such statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: changes in demand for the Company’s products; customer-specific demand; market opportunity; anticipated industry trends; delays in the consummation of the FICT acquisition; the potential impact on the business of FormFactor and FICT due to uncertainties in connection with the acquisition; the retention of employees of FICT following acquisition; the ability of FormFactor to achieve expected benefits from the FICT acquisition; the availability, benefits, and speed of customer acceptance or implementation of new products and technologies; manufacturing, processing, and design capacity, goals, expansion, volumes, and progress; difficulties or delays in research and development; industry seasonality; risks to the Company’s realization of benefits from acquisitions, investments in capacity and investments in new electronic data systems and information technology; reliance on customers or third parties (including suppliers); changes in macro-economic environments; events affecting global and regional economic and market conditions and stability such as military conflicts, political volatility, infectious diseases and pandemics, and similar factors, operating separately or in combination; and other factors, including those set forth in the Company’s most current annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, there are varying barriers to international trade, including restrictive trade and export regulations such as the US-China restrictions, dynamic tariffs, trade disputes between the U.S. and other countries, and national security developments or tensions, that may substantially restrict or condition our sales to or in certain countries, increase the cost of doing business internationally, and disrupt our supply chain. No assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements within this press release will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what impact they will have on the results of operations or financial condition of the Company. Unless required by law, the Company is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or revise its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

     
    FORMFACTOR, INC. 
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    (Unaudited)
     
      Three Months Ended   Twelve Months Ended
      December 28,
    2024    		   September 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023    		   December 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023
    Revenues $ 189,483     $ 207,917     $ 168,163     $ 763,599     $ 663,102  
    Cost of revenues   115,903       123,212       100,229       455,676       404,522  
    Gross profit   73,580       84,705       67,934       307,923       258,580  
    Operating expenses:                  
    Research and development   30,504       31,243       28,166       121,938       115,765  
    Selling, general and administrative   35,226       35,607       31,451       141,786       133,012  
    Total operating expenses   65,730       66,850       59,617       263,724       248,777  
    Gain on sale of business   —       —       72,953       20,581       72,953  
    Operating income   7,850       17,855       81,270       64,780       82,756  
    Interest income, net   3,472       3,650       2,376       13,693       6,796  
    Other income (expense), net   617       (558 )     (1,546 )     939       (285 )
    Income before income taxes   11,939       20,947       82,100       79,412       89,267  
    Provision for income taxes   2,234       2,211       6,254       9,798       6,880  
    Net income $ 9,705     $ 18,736     $ 75,846     $ 69,614     $ 82,387  
    Net income per share:                  
    Basic $ 0.13     $ 0.24     $ 0.98     $ 0.90     $ 1.06  
    Diluted $ 0.12     $ 0.24     $ 0.97     $ 0.89     $ 1.05  
    Weighted-average number of shares used in per share calculations:                
    Basic   77,267       77,406       77,684       77,340       77,370  
    Diluted   77,982       78,439       78,410       78,437       78,159  
     
    FORMFACTOR, INC. 
    NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURE RECONCILIATIONS
    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    (Unaudited)
     
      Three Months Ended   Twelve Months Ended
      December 28,
    2024    		   September 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023    		   December 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023
    GAAP Gross Profit $ 73,580     $ 84,705     $ 67,934     $ 307,923     $ 258,580  
    Adjustments:                  
    Amortization of intangibles, inventory and fixed asset fair value adjustments due to acquisitions   555       530       756       2,216       4,336  
    Stock-based compensation   1,944       1,934       2,053       7,738       6,854  
    Restructuring charges   32       524       —       639       357  
    Non-GAAP Gross Profit $ 76,111     $ 87,693     $ 70,743     $ 318,516     $ 270,127  
                       
    GAAP Gross Margin   38.8 %     40.7 %     40.4 %     40.3 %     39.0 %
    Adjustments:                  
    Amortization of intangibles, inventory and fixed asset fair value adjustments due to acquisitions   0.4 %     0.3 %     0.5 %     0.3 %     0.6 %
    Stock-based compensation   1.0 %     0.9 %     1.2 %     1.0 %     1.0 %
    Restructuring charges   — %     0.3 %     — %     0.1 %     0.1 %
    Non-GAAP Gross Margin   40.2 %     42.2 %     42.1 %     41.7 %     40.7 %
                       
    GAAP operating expenses $ 65,730     $ 66,850     $ 59,617     $ 263,724     $ 248,777  
    Adjustments:                  
    Amortization of intangibles and other   (191 )     (191 )     (518 )     (764 )     (4,081 )
    Stock-based compensation   (8,269 )     (7,002 )     (7,230 )     (32,025 )     (31,762 )
    Restructuring charges   (371 )     (298 )     —       (767 )     (1,183 )
    Costs related to sale and acquisition of businesses   (1,689 )     (13 )     (268 )     (2,391 )     (2,407 )
    Non-GAAP operating expenses $ 55,210     $ 59,346     $ 51,601     $ 227,777     $ 209,344  
                       
    GAAP operating income $ 7,850     $ 17,855     $ 81,270     $ 64,780     $ 82,756  
    Adjustments:                  
    Amortization of intangibles, inventory and fixed asset fair value adjustments due to acquisitions, and other   746       721       1,274       2,980       8,417  
    Stock-based compensation   10,213       8,936       9,283       39,763       38,616  
    Restructuring charges   403       822       —       1,406       1,540  
    Gain on sale of business, net of cost related to sale and acquisition of businesses   1,689       13       (72,685 )     (18,190 )     (70,546 )
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 20,901     $ 28,347     $ 19,142     $ 90,739     $ 60,783  
     
    FORMFACTOR, INC. 
    NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURE RECONCILIATIONS
    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    (Unaudited)
     
      Three Months Ended   Twelve Months Ended
      December 28,
    2024    		   September 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023    		   December 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023
    GAAP net income $ 9,705     $ 18,736     $ 75,846     $ 69,614     $ 82,387  
    Adjustments:                  
    Amortization of intangibles, inventory and fixed asset fair value adjustments due to acquisitions, and other   746       721       1,274       2,980       8,417  
    Stock-based compensation   10,213       8,936       9,283       39,763       38,616  
    Restructuring charges   415       822       —       1,418       1,540  
    Gain on sale of business, net of cost related to sale and acquisition of businesses   1,689       13       (72,685 )     (18,190 )     (70,546 )
    Income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments   (1,445 )     (2,002 )     2,026       (5,368 )     (3,624 )
    Non-GAAP net income $ 21,323     $ 27,226     $ 15,744     $ 90,217     $ 56,790  
                       
    GAAP net income per share:                  
    Basic $ 0.13     $ 0.24     $ 0.98     $ 0.90     $ 1.06  
    Diluted $ 0.12     $ 0.24     $ 0.97     $ 0.89     $ 1.05  
                       
    Non-GAAP net income per share:                  
    Basic $ 0.28     $ 0.35     $ 0.20     $ 1.17     $ 0.73  
    Diluted $ 0.27     $ 0.35     $ 0.20     $ 1.15     $ 0.73  
     
    FORMFACTOR, INC. 
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
     
      Twelve Months Ended
      December 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023
    Cash flows from operating activities:      
    Net income $ 69,614     $ 82,387  
    Selected adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:      
    Depreciation   30,321       30,603  
    Amortization   2,582       6,850  
    Stock-based compensation expense   39,763       38,616  
    Provision for excess and obsolete inventories   12,342       15,003  
    Gain on sale of business   (20,581 )     (72,953 )
    Non-cash restructuring charges   428       —  
    Other activity impacting operating cash flows   (16,507 )     (35,904 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities   117,534       64,602  
    Cash flows from investing activities:      
    Acquisition of property, plant and equipment   (38,436 )     (56,027 )
    Proceeds from sale of business   21,585       101,785  
    Purchases of marketable securities, net   (15,129 )     (16,709 )
    Purchase of promissory note receivable   (1,500 )     —  
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities   (33,480 )     29,049  
    Cash flows from financing activities:      
    Purchase of common stock through stock repurchase program   (53,302 )     (19,801 )
    Proceeds from issuances of common stock   9,748       8,822  
    Principal repayments on term loans   (1,075 )     (1,045 )
    Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of equity awards   (19,983 )     (10,687 )
    Net cash used in financing activities   (64,612 )     (22,711 )
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash   (3,509 )     (2,649 )
    Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash   15,933       68,291  
    Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period   181,273       112,982  
    Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period $ 197,206     $ 181,273  
     
    FORMFACTOR, INC. 
    RECONCILIATION OF CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES TO NON-GAAP FREE CASH FLOW
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
     
      Three Months Ended   Twelve Months Ended
      December 28,
    2024    		   September 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023    		   December 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 35,913     $ 26,731     $ 9,250     $ 117,534     $ 64,602  
    Adjustments:                  
    Sale of business and acquisition related payments in working capital   506       2,134       268       3,317       2,407  
    Cash paid for interest   93       97       105       391       422  
    Capital expenditures   (7,663 )     (8,939 )     (9,933 )     (38,436 )     (56,027 )
    Free cash flow $ 28,849     $ 20,023     $ (310 )   $ 82,806     $ 11,404  

     

     
    FORMFACTOR, INC.
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
     
        December 28,
    2024    		   September 28,
    2024    		   December 30,
    2023
    ASSETS            
    Current assets:            
    Cash and cash equivalents   $ 190,728     $ 184,506     $ 177,812  
    Marketable securities     169,295       169,961       150,507  
    Accounts receivable, net of allowance for credit losses     104,294       116,866       102,957  
    Inventories, net     101,676       105,374       111,685  
    Restricted cash     3,746       3,773       1,152  
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets     35,389       34,302       29,667  
    Total current assets     605,128       614,782       573,780  
    Restricted cash     2,732       2,210       2,309  
    Operating lease, right-of-use-assets     22,579       25,034       30,519  
    Property, plant and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation     210,230       204,108       204,399  
    Goodwill     199,171       200,137       201,090  
    Intangibles, net     10,355       11,017       12,938  
    Deferred tax assets     92,012       92,826       78,964  
    Other assets     4,008       3,669       2,795  
    Total assets   $ 1,146,215     $ 1,153,783     $ 1,106,794  
                 
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY            
    Current liabilities:            
    Accounts payable   $ 62,287     $ 52,086     $ 63,857  
    Accrued liabilities     43,742       46,508       41,037  
    Current portion of term loan, net of unamortized issuance costs     1,106       1,098       1,075  
    Deferred revenue     15,847       20,972       16,704  
    Operating lease liabilities     8,363       8,512       8,422  
    Total current liabilities     131,345       129,176       131,095  
    Term loan, less current portion, net of unamortized issuance costs     12,208       12,488       13,314  
    Long-term operating lease liabilities     17,550       19,731       25,334  
    Deferred grant     18,000       18,000       18,000  
    Other liabilities     19,344       19,378       10,247  
    Total liabilities     198,447       198,773       197,990  
                 
    Stockholders’ equity:            
    Common stock     77       77       77  
    Additional paid-in capital     837,586       845,466       861,448  
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss     (10,840 )     (1,773 )     (4,052 )
    Accumulated income     120,945       111,240       51,331  
    Total stockholders’ equity     947,768       955,010       908,804  
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity   $ 1,146,215     $ 1,153,783     $ 1,106,794  

    About our Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

    We believe that the presentation of non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per basic and diluted share, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating income and free cash flow provides supplemental information that is important to understanding financial and business trends and other factors relating to our financial condition and results of operations. Non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per basic and diluted share, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, and non-GAAP operating income are among the primary indicators used by management as a basis for planning and forecasting future periods, and by management and our board of directors to determine whether our operating performance has met certain targets and thresholds. Management uses non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per basic and diluted share, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, and non-GAAP operating income when evaluating operating performance because it believes that the exclusion of the items indicated herein, for which the amounts or timing may vary significantly depending upon our activities and other factors, facilitates comparability of our operating performance from period to period. We use free cash flow to conduct and evaluate our business as an additional way of viewing our liquidity that, when viewed with our GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our cash flows. Many investors also prefer to track free cash flow, as opposed to only GAAP earnings. Free cash flow has limitations due to the fact that it does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures, and therefore it is important to view free cash flow as a complement to our entire consolidated statements of cash flows. We have chosen to provide this non-GAAP information to investors so they can analyze our operating results closer to the way that management does, and use this information in their assessment of our business and the valuation of our Company. We compute non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per basic and diluted share, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, and non-GAAP operating income, by adjusting GAAP net income, GAAP net income per basic and diluted share, GAAP gross profit, GAAP gross margin, GAAP operating expenses, and GAAP operating income to remove the impact of certain items and the tax effect, if applicable, of those adjustments. These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, GAAP, and may be materially different from other non-GAAP measures, including similarly titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies. The presentation of this additional information should not be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to, net income, net income per basic and diluted share, gross profit, gross margin, operating expenses, or operating income in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in that they do not reflect certain items that may have a material impact upon our reported financial results. We may expect to continue to incur expenses of a nature similar to the non-GAAP adjustments described above, and exclusion of these items from our non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per basic and diluted share, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, and non-GAAP operating income should not be construed as an inference that these costs are unusual, infrequent or non-recurring. For more information on the non-GAAP adjustments, please see the table captioned “Non-GAAP Financial Measure Reconciliations” and “Reconciliation of Cash Provided by Operating Activities to non-GAAP Free Cash Flow” included in this press release.

    Source: FormFactor, Inc.
    FORM-F

    Investor Contact:
    Stan Finkelstein
    Investor Relations
    (925) 290-4273
    ir@formfactor.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ATIF Holdings Limited Announces Closing of $2.5 Million Registered Direct Offering and Private Placement

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LAKE FOREST, Calif., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ATIF Holdings Limited (Nasdaq: ZBAI) (the “Company”), a Lake Forest-based business consulting company that specializes in providing professional IPO, M&A advisory and post-IPO compliance services to small and medium-sized companies seeking to go public on a stock exchange in the United States, today announced the closing of its previously announced registered direct offering and concurrent private placement with an institutional investor. The Company issued ordinary shares and pre-funded warrants (“Pre-Funded Warrants”) in a registered direct offering. In a concurrent private placement, the Company also issued to the same investor warrants to purchase ordinary shares (the “Warrants”). Aggregate gross proceeds to the Company from both transactions were approximately $2.5 million. The transactions closed on February 5, 2025.

    The transactions consisted of the sale of 1,580,000 ordinary shares (each a “Share”) Pre-Funded Warrants to purchase 887,553 Shares, each of which was sold together with one Warrant to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $1.20. The offering price per Share was $1.00 (or $0.99 for each Pre-Funded Warrant, which is equal to the offering price per Share minus an exercise price of $0.01 per Pre-Funded Warrant). The Pre-Funded Warrants are immediately exercisable and may be exercised at any time until exercised in full.

    The Company expects to use the net proceeds from the offerings, together with its existing cash, for general corporate purposes and working capital.

    R. F. Lafferty & Co., Inc. acted as exclusive placement agent for the offerings. Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC acted as counsel to the Company. Lucosky Brookman LLP acted as counsel to R. F. Lafferty & Co., Inc.

    The registered direct offering was made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-268927) previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and declared effective by the SEC on March 21, 2023. A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus describing the terms of the proposed offering was filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC’s website located at www.sec.gov. Electronic copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained, when available, by contacting R. F. Lafferty & Co., Inc by email at offerings@rflafferty.com or via standard mail to R. F. Lafferty & Co., Inc, 40 Wall Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY10005.

    The offer and sale of the securities in the private placement were made in a transaction not involving a public offering and have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the securities may not be reoffered or resold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and such applicable state securities laws. The securities were offered only to accredited investors. Pursuant to the securities purchase agreement with the investor, the Company has agreed to file one or more registration statements with the SEC covering the resale of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants.

    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

    About ZBAI

    ATIF Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: ZBAI) is a Lake Forest-based business consulting company that specializes in providing professional IPO, M&A advisory and post-IPO compliance services to small and medium-sized companies seeking to go public on a stock exchange in the United States. The company has a proven track record in successfully delivering comprehensive U.S. IPO consulting services to clients primarily in the United States but also internationally. The mission of ZBAI is to provide one-stop, comprehensive consulting services that guide clients through the complex and often challenging process of going public. ZBAI recognizes the complexity and challenges associated with the process of going public, and endeavors to simplify it while ensuring optimal outcomes for its clients through its comprehensive consulting services. ZBAI has been awarded the “Golden Bauhinia Award”, the highest award in the financial and securities industry in Hong Kong, for “Top 10 Best Listed Companies”. 

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Certain statements in this press release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe Harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, “estimated,” “projected,” Words such as “expect”, “anticipate”, “predict”, “plan”, “intend”, “believe”, “seek”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “future”, “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the opposite of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance, conditions or results and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside the Company’s control and may cause actual results or achievements to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors include future financial and operating results, including revenues, income, expenses, cash balances and other financial items; Ability to manage growth and expansion; Current and future economic and political conditions; The ability to compete in industries with low barriers to entry; The ability to obtain additional financing to fund capital expenditure in the future. Ability to attract new customers and further enhance brand awareness; Ability to hire and retain qualified management and key staff; Trends and competition in the financial advisory services industry; Pandemic or epidemic disease; Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, the Company cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions you that actual results may differ materially from the expected results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements we make. You should not interpret forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements represent only the beliefs and assumptions of our management as of the date such statements are made. The above forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release.

    Contact Information
    kenny@atifchina.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: LPL Financial to present at the Bank of America Securities Financial Services Conference

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN DIEGO, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LPL Financial LLC today announced that Rich Steinmeier, Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Bank of America Securities Financial Services Conference on February 12.

    The presentation takes place at 11:20 a.m. ET. A live audio webcast of the presentation will be accessible at investor.lpl.com, with a replay available on the website after the presentation.

    Contacts

    Investor Relations
    investor.relations@lplfinancial.com

    Media Relations
    media.relations@lplfinancial.com

    About LPL Financial

    LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) is among the fastest growing wealth management firms in the U.S. As a leader in the financial advisor-mediated marketplace, LPL supports nearly 29,000 financial advisors and the wealth management practices of approximately 1,200 financial institutions, servicing and custodying approximately $1.7 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets on behalf of approximately 6 million Americans. The firm provides a wide range of advisor affiliation models, investment solutions, fintech tools and practice management services, ensuring that advisors and institutions have the flexibility to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run thriving businesses. For further information about LPL, please visit www.lpl.com.

    Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial LLC (“LPL Financial”) or its affiliate LPL Enterprise, LLC (“LPL Enterprise”), both registered investment advisors and broker-dealers. Member FINRA/SIPC. LPL Financial serves as the clearing and carrying firm for accounts LPL Enterprise introduces to it.

    LPL Financial and LPL Enterprise provide financial services only from the United States.

    Throughout this communication, the terms “financial advisors” and “advisors” are used to refer to registered representatives and/or investment advisor representatives affiliated with LPL Financial.

    We routinely disclose information that may be important to shareholders in the “Investor Relations” or “Press Releases” section of our website.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Tenable Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Fourth quarter revenue of $235.7 million, up 11% year-over-year; full year revenue of $900.0 million, up 13% year-over-year.
    • Fourth quarter calculated current billings of $302.2 million, up 11% year-over-year; full year calculated current billings of $969.5 million, up 11% year-over-year.
    • Full year net cash provided by operating activities of $217.5 million; full year unlevered free cash flow of $237.8 million.

    COLUMBIA, Md., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tenable Holdings, Inc. (“Tenable”) (Nasdaq: TENB), the exposure management company, today announced financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2024.

    “We are very pleased with the results for the quarter as we delivered better-than-expected CCB, revenue, operating income, EPS and unlevered free cash flow,” said Steve Vintz, Co-CEO and CFO of Tenable. “Our outperformance was driven by strong traction in cloud and Tenable One as customers look to secure cloud and get a holistic view of their environment.”

    “We continue to drive incredible value for our customers resulting in a strong quarter for six-figure additions, many of which were Tenable One deals,” said Mark Thurmond, Co-CEO and COO of Tenable. “We are winning marquee, large deals with our exposure management products and are laser focused on continuing to deliver on our customer-driven roadmap.”

    Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights

    • Revenue was $235.7 million, an 11% increase year-over-year.
    • Calculated current billings was $302.2 million, an 11% increase year-over-year.
    • GAAP income from operations was $13.0 million, compared to a loss of $14.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Non-GAAP income from operations was $59.4 million, compared to $36.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • GAAP net income was $1.9 million, compared to a loss of $21.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.02, compared to a loss per share of $0.19 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Non-GAAP net income was $50.7 million, compared to $30.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.41, compared to $0.25 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Net cash provided by operating activities was $81.1 million, compared to $38.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Unlevered free cash flow was $85.7 million, compared to $43.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Repurchased 1.2 million shares of our common stock for $50.0 million.

    Full Year 2024 Financial Highlights

    • Revenue was $900.0 million, a 13% increase year-over-year.
    • Calculated current billings was $969.5 million, an 11% increase year-over-year.
    • GAAP loss from operations was $6.9 million, compared to $52.2 million in 2023.
    • Non-GAAP income from operations was $184.1 million, compared to $121.0 million in 2023.
    • GAAP net loss was $36.3 million, compared to $78.3 million in 2023.
    • GAAP net loss per share was $0.31, compared to $0.68 in 2023.
    • Non-GAAP net income was $158.6 million, compared to $97.2 million in 2023.
    • Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $1.29, compared to $0.80 in 2023.
    • Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $577.2 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $474.0 million at December 31, 2023.
    • Net cash provided by operating activities was $217.5 million, compared to $149.9 million in 2023.
    • Unlevered free cash flow was $237.8 million, compared to $175.4 million in 2023.
    • Repurchased 2.3 million shares of our common stock for $100.0 million.

    Recent Business Highlights

    • Added 485 new enterprise platform customers and 135 net new six-figure customers.
    • Announced our intent to acquire exposure management company Vulcan Cyber Ltd., whose capabilities will augment our industry-leading Exposure Management platform, adding enhanced visibility, extended third-party data flows, superior risk prioritization, and optimized remediation.
    • Launched Tenable Patch Management, an autonomous patch management solution built to quickly and effectively close vulnerability exposures.
    • Integrated Tenable Vulnerability Intelligence into Tenable Security Center and enhanced the solution’s risk prioritization and web application scanning features to streamline vulnerability analysis and response.
    • Published the 2024 Tenable Cloud Risk Report examining the critical risks at play in modern cloud environments. The report reflects findings by the Tenable Cloud Research team based on telemetry from millions of cloud resources across multiple public cloud repositories.

    Financial Outlook

    Our financial outlook excludes the impact of the potential acquisition of Vulcan Cyber, which we expect to close shortly.

    For the first quarter of 2025, we currently expect:

    • Revenue in the range of $232.0 million to $234.0 million.
    • Non-GAAP income from operations in the range of $42.0 million to $44.0 million.
    • Non-GAAP net income in the range of $35.0 million to $37.0 million, assuming interest income of $5.2 million, interest expense of $7.0 million and a provision for income taxes of $3.6 million.
    • Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.28 to $0.30.
    • 124.0 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding.

    For the year ending December 31, 2025, we currently expect:

    • Calculated current billings in the range of $1.040 billion to $1.055 billion.
    • Revenue in the range of $971.0 million to $981.0 million.
    • Non-GAAP income from operations in the range of $213.0 million to $223.0 million.
    • Non-GAAP net income in the range of $189.0 million to $199.0 million, assuming interest income of $21.0 million, interest expense of $28.3 million and a provision for income taxes of $13.4 million.
    • Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $1.52 to $1.60.
    • 124.5 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding.
    • Unlevered free cash flow in the range of $285.0 million to $295.0 million.

    Conference Call Information

    Tenable will host a conference call today, February 5, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial results. The conference call can be accessed at 877-407-9716 (U.S.) and 201-493-6779 (international). A live webcast of the event will be available on the Tenable Investor Relations website at https://investors.tenable.com. An archived replay of the live broadcast will be available on the Investor Relations page of the website following the call.

    About Tenable

    Tenable® is the exposure management company, exposing and closing the cybersecurity gaps that erode business value, reputation and trust. The company’s AI-powered exposure management platform radically unifies security visibility, insight and action across the attack surface, equipping modern organizations to protect against attacks from IT infrastructure to cloud environments to critical infrastructure and everywhere in between. By protecting enterprises from security exposure, Tenable reduces business risk for approximately 44,000 customers around the globe. Learn more at tenable.com.

    Contact Information

    Investor Relations
    investors@tenable.com

    Media Relations
    tenablepr@tenable.com

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, our platform’s ability to help protect enterprises from security exposure and streamline vulnerability analysis and response, business strategy and plans and objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements and represent our views as of the date of this press release. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions and risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control that could affect our financial results. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and other filings that we make from time to time with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in any forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we are under no obligation to update these forward-looking statements subsequent to the date of this press release, or to update the reasons if actual results differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, as described below, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures, which may be different than similarly titled measures used by other companies, are presented to enhance the overall understanding of our financial performance and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

    We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information about our financial performance, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allow for greater transparency with respect to important metrics used by management for financial and operational decision-making. We include these non-GAAP financial measures to present our financial performance using a management view and because we believe that these measures provide an additional comparison of our core financial performance over multiple periods with other companies in our industry.

    Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in the financial tables accompanying this press release.

    Calculated Current Billings: We define calculated current billings, a non-GAAP financial measure, as total revenue recognized in a period plus the change in current deferred revenue in the corresponding period. We believe that calculated current billings is a key metric to measure our periodic performance. Given that most of our customers pay in advance (including multi-year contracts), but we generally recognize the related revenue ratably over time, we use calculated current billings to measure and monitor our ability to provide our business with the working capital generated by upfront payments from our customers. We believe that calculated current billings, which excludes deferred revenue for periods beyond twelve months in a customer’s contractual term, more closely correlates with annual contract value and that the variability in total billings, depending on the timing of large multi-year contracts and the preference for annual billing versus multi-year upfront billing, may distort growth in one period over another.

    Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow: We define free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs. We believe free cash flow is an important liquidity measure of the cash that is available (if any), after purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs, for investment in our business and to make acquisitions. We believe that free cash flow is useful as a liquidity measure because it measures our ability to generate cash. We define unlevered free cash flow as free cash flow plus cash paid for interest and other financing costs. We believe unlevered free cash flow is useful as a liquidity measure as it measures the cash that is available to invest in our business and meet our current debt obligations and future financing needs. However, given our debt obligations, non-cancelable commitments and other contractual obligations, unlevered free cash flow does not represent residual cash flow available for discretionary expenses.

    Non-GAAP Income from Operations and Non-GAAP Operating Margin: We define these non-GAAP financial measures as their respective GAAP measures, excluding the effect of stock-based compensation, acquisition-related expenses, restructuring expenses, costs related to the intra-entity asset transfers resulting from the internal restructuring of legal entities, and amortization of acquired intangible assets. Acquisition-related expenses include transaction and integration expenses, as well as costs related to the intercompany transfer of acquired intellectual property. Restructuring expenses include non-ordinary course severance, employee related benefits, and other charges to reorganize business operations. We believe that the exclusion of these expenses provides for a useful comparison of our operating results to prior periods and to our peer companies, which commonly exclude restructuring expenses.

    Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share: We define non-GAAP net income as GAAP net income (loss), excluding the effect of stock-based compensation, acquisition-related expenses, restructuring expenses and amortization of acquired intangible assets, including the applicable tax impacts. In addition, we exclude the tax impact and related costs of intra-entity asset transfers resulting from the internal restructuring of legal entities as well as deferred income tax benefits recognized in connection with acquisitions. We use non-GAAP net income to calculate non-GAAP earnings per share.

    Non-GAAP Gross Profit and Non-GAAP Gross Margin: We define non-GAAP gross profit as GAAP gross profit, excluding the effect of stock-based compensation and amortization of acquired intangible assets. Non-GAAP gross margin is defined as non-GAAP gross profit as a percentage of revenue.

    Non-GAAP Sales and Marketing Expense, Non-GAAP Research and Development Expense and Non-GAAP General and Administrative Expense: We define these non-GAAP measures as their respective GAAP measures, excluding stock-based compensation, acquisition-related expenses and costs related to intra-entity asset transfers resulting from the internal restructuring of legal entities.

    TENABLE HOLDINGS, INC.
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
    (unaudited)
     
      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (in thousands, except per share data) 2024   2023   2024   2023
    Revenue $ 235,731     $ 213,306     $ 900,021     $ 798,710  
    Cost of revenue(1)   51,439       48,803       199,668       183,577  
    Gross profit   184,292       164,503       700,353       615,133  
    Operating expenses:              
    Sales and marketing(1)   95,348       103,700       395,385       393,450  
    Research and development(1)   44,728       40,083       181,624       153,163  
    General and administrative(1)   31,241       30,567       124,130       116,181  
    Restructuring   —       4,499       6,070       4,499  
    Total operating expenses   171,317       178,849       707,209       667,293  
    Income (loss) from operations   12,975       (14,346 )     (6,856 )     (52,160 )
    Interest income   5,738       5,377       23,325       24,700  
    Interest expense   (7,587 )     (8,131 )     (31,920 )     (31,339 )
    Other expense, net   (2,577 )     (609 )     (3,435 )     (8,602 )
    Income (loss) before income taxes   8,549       (17,709 )     (18,886 )     (67,401 )
    Provision for income taxes   6,681       3,939       17,415       10,883  
    Net income (loss) $ 1,868     $ (21,648 )   $ (36,301 )   $ (78,284 )
                   
    Net earnings (loss) per share:              
    Basic $ 0.02     $ (0.19 )   $ (0.31 )   $ (0.68 )
    Diluted $ 0.02     $ (0.19 )   $ (0.31 )   $ (0.68 )
                   
    Weighted-average shares used to compute net earnings (loss) per share:              
    Basic   119,748       116,717       118,789       115,408  
    Diluted   123,853       116,717       118,789       115,408  
                                   

    _______________

    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:

      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
      2024   2023   2024   2023
    Cost of revenue $ 3,191   $ 2,705   $ 12,677   $ 11,247
    Sales and marketing   15,210     14,700     62,727     61,322
    Research and development   12,261     9,354     47,656     37,225
    General and administrative   10,052     9,756     40,455     35,533
    Total stock-based compensation $ 40,714   $ 36,515   $ 163,515   $ 145,327
                           
    TENABLE HOLDINGS, INC.
    CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (unaudited)
     
      December 31,
    (in thousands, except per share data)   2024       2023  
    Assets      
    Current assets:      
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 328,647     $ 237,132  
    Short-term investments   248,547       236,840  
    Accounts receivable (net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $525 and $470 at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively)   258,734       220,060  
    Deferred commissions   51,791       49,559  
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets   53,026       61,882  
    Total current assets   940,745       805,473  
    Property and equipment, net   39,265       45,436  
    Deferred commissions (net of current portion)   67,914       72,394  
    Operating lease right-of-use assets   45,139       34,835  
    Acquired intangible assets, net   94,461       107,017  
    Goodwill   541,292       518,539  
    Other assets   13,303       23,177  
    Total assets $ 1,742,119     $ 1,606,871  
           
    Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity      
    Current liabilities:      
    Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 19,981     $ 16,941  
    Accrued compensation   55,784       66,492  
    Deferred revenue   650,372       580,779  
    Operating lease liabilities   6,801       5,971  
    Other current liabilities   5,154       5,655  
    Total current liabilities   738,092       675,838  
    Deferred revenue (net of current portion)   182,815       169,718  
    Term loan, net of issuance costs (net of current portion)   356,705       359,281  
    Operating lease liabilities (net of current portion)   56,224       48,058  
    Other liabilities   8,329       7,632  
    Total liabilities   1,342,165       1,260,527  
    Stockholders’ equity:      
    Common stock (par value: $0.01; 500,000 shares authorized, 122,371 and 117,504 shares issued at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively)   1,224       1,175  
    Additional paid-in capital   1,374,659       1,185,100  
    Treasury stock (at cost: 2,673 and 356 shares at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively)   (114,911 )     (14,934 )
    Accumulated other comprehensive income   318       38  
    Accumulated deficit   (861,336 )     (825,035 )
    Total stockholders’ equity   399,954       346,344  
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 1,742,119     $ 1,606,871  
                   
    TENABLE HOLDINGS, INC.
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
    (unaudited)
     
      Year Ended December 31,
    (in thousands)   2024       2023  
    Cash flows from operating activities:      
    Net loss $ (36,301 )   $ (78,284 )
    Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:      
    Depreciation and amortization   33,209       27,108  
    Stock-based compensation   163,515       145,327  
    Net accretion of discounts and amortization of premiums on short-term investments   (7,595 )     (8,323 )
    Amortization of debt issuance costs   1,353       1,267  
    (Gain) loss on other investments   (1,452 )     5,617  
    Restructuring   4,528       —  
    Other   6,507       2,179  
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:      
    Accounts receivable   (38,730 )     (30,042 )
    Prepaid expenses and other assets   26,170       1,689  
    Accounts payable, accrued expenses and accrued compensation   (8,257 )     7,071  
    Deferred revenue   82,581       81,755  
    Other current and noncurrent liabilities   (8,052 )     (5,509 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities   217,476       149,855  
           
    Cash flows from investing activities:      
    Purchases of property and equipment   (4,247 )     (1,704 )
    Capitalized software development costs   (6,451 )     (7,052 )
    Purchases of short-term investments   (287,797 )     (278,209 )
    Sales and maturities of short-term investments   283,964       317,651  
    Proceeds from other investments   3,512       —  
    Purchases of other investments   (1,250 )     —  
    Business combinations, net of cash acquired   (29,162 )     (243,301 )
    Net cash used in investing activities   (41,431 )     (212,615 )
           
    Cash flows from financing activities:      
    Payments on term loan   (3,750 )     (3,750 )
    Proceeds from stock issued in connection with the employee stock purchase plan   16,262       16,224  
    Proceeds from the exercise of stock options   8,064       3,501  
    Purchase of treasury stock   (99,977 )     (14,934 )
    Other financing activities   —       210  
    Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities   (79,401 )     1,251  
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash   (5,129 )     (2,225 )
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash   91,515       (63,734 )
    Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of year   237,132       300,866  
    Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of year $ 328,647     $ 237,132  
                   
    TENABLE HOLDINGS, INC.
    REVENUE COMPONENTS AND RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
    (unaudited)
     
    Revenue Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (in thousands)   2024     2023     2024     2023
    Subscription revenue $ 215,932   $ 193,880   $ 824,659   $ 725,013
    Perpetual license and maintenance revenue   11,833     12,194     47,774     48,729
    Professional services and other revenue   7,966     7,232     27,588     24,968
    Revenue(1) $ 235,731   $ 213,306   $ 900,021   $ 798,710
                           

    _______________

    (1) Recurring revenue, which includes revenue from subscription arrangements for software (both recognized ratably over the subscription term and upon delivery) and cloud-based solutions and maintenance associated with perpetual licenses, represented 95% and 96% of revenue, respectively, in the three months and year ended December 31, 2024 and 95% of revenue in the three months and year ended December 31, 2023.

    Calculated Current Billings Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (in thousands)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Revenue $ 235,731     $ 213,306     $ 900,021     $ 798,710  
    Deferred revenue (current), end of period   650,372       580,779       650,372       580,779  
    Deferred revenue (current), beginning of period(1)   (583,940 )     (522,449 )     (580,887 )     (506,192 )
    Calculated current billings $ 302,163     $ 271,636     $ 969,506     $ 873,297  
                                   

    _______________

    (1) Deferred revenue (current), beginning of period for the three months ended December 31, 2023 and years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 includes $4.1 million, $0.1 million and $4.1 million, respectively, related to acquired deferred revenue.

    Remaining Performance Obligations At December 31,
    (in thousands)   2024     2023
    Remaining performance obligations, short-term $ 660,647   $ 595,053
    Remaining performance obligations, long-term   206,879     179,955
    Remaining performance obligations $ 867,526   $ 775,008
               
    Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (in thousands)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 81,119     $ 38,505     $ 217,476     $ 149,855  
    Purchases of property and equipment   (2,323 )     (405 )     (4,247 )     (1,704 )
    Capitalized software development costs   (521 )     (2,345 )     (6,451 )     (7,052 )
    Free cash flow   78,275       35,755       206,778       141,099  
    Cash paid for interest and other financing costs   7,472       7,537       30,977       34,323  
    Unlevered free cash flow $ 85,747     $ 43,292     $ 237,755     $ 175,422  
                                   

    Free cash flow and unlevered free cash flow for the periods presented were impacted by:

      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (in thousands)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Employee stock purchase plan activity $ 5,267     $ 3,584     $ (1,016 )   $ 1,077  
    Acquisition-related expenses   (170 )     (8,506 )     (1,496 )     (9,336 )
    Restructuring   —       —       (5,911 )     —  
    Tax payment on intra-entity asset transfer(1)   (1,232 )     —       (1,232 )     —  
                                   

    ________________

    (1) The tax payment on intra-entity asset transfer includes $0.3 million of interest that is included in cash paid for interest and other financing costs.

    Non-GAAP Income from Operations and Non-GAAP Operating Margin Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (dollars in thousands)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Income (loss) from operations $ 12,975     $ (14,346 )   $ (6,856 )   $ (52,160 )
    Stock-based compensation   40,714       36,515       163,515       145,327  
    Acquisition-related expenses   648       4,744       1,932       9,472  
    Restructuring   —       4,499       6,070       4,499  
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets   5,014       4,651       19,457       13,859  
    Non-GAAP income from operations $ 59,351     $ 36,063     $ 184,118     $ 120,997  
    Operating margin   6 %     (7) %     (1) %     (7) %
    Non-GAAP operating margin   25 %     17 %     20 %     15 %
                                   
    Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (in thousands, except per share data)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Net income (loss) $ 1,868     $ (21,648 )   $ (36,301 )   $ (78,284 )
    Stock-based compensation   40,714       36,515       163,515       145,327  
    Tax impact of stock-based compensation(1)   1,219       971       2,845       2,017  
    Acquisition-related expenses(2)   648       4,744       1,932       9,472  
    Restructuring(2)   —       4,499       6,070       4,499  
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets(3)   5,014       4,651       19,457       13,859  
    Tax impact of acquisitions   (31 )     426       (161 )     265  
    Tax impact of intra-entity asset transfer(4)   1,232       —       1,232       —  
    Non-GAAP net income $ 50,664     $ 30,158     $ 158,589     $ 97,155  
                   
    Net earnings (loss) per share, diluted $ 0.02     $ (0.19 )   $ (0.31 )   $ (0.68 )
    Stock-based compensation   0.33       0.31       1.38       1.25  
    Tax impact of stock-based compensation(1)   0.01       0.01       0.03       0.02  
    Acquisition-related expenses(2)   —       0.04       0.02       0.08  
    Restructuring(2)   —       0.04       0.05       0.04  
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets(3)   0.04       0.04       0.16       0.11  
    Tax impact of acquisitions   —       —       —       —  
    Tax impact of intra-entity asset transfer(4)   0.01       —       0.01       —  
    Adjustment to diluted earnings per share(5)   —       —       (0.05 )     (0.02 )
    Non-GAAP earnings per share, diluted $ 0.41     $ 0.25     $ 1.29     $ 0.80  
                   
    Weighted-average shares used to compute GAAP net earnings (loss) per share, diluted   123,853       116,717       118,789       115,408  
                   
    Weighted-average shares used to compute non-GAAP earnings per share, diluted   123,853       122,023       123,370       120,714  
                                   

    ________________

    (1) The tax impact of stock-based compensation is based on the tax treatment for the applicable tax jurisdictions.

    (2) The tax impact of acquisition-related expenses and restructuring charges are not material.

    (3) The tax impact of the amortization of acquired intangible assets is included in the tax impact of acquisitions.

    (4) The tax impact of the intra-entity asset transfer is additional tax incurred related to the 2021 internal restructuring of Indegy.

    (5) An adjustment to reconcile GAAP net loss per share, which excludes potentially dilutive shares, to non-GAAP earnings per share, which includes potentially dilutive shares, when applicable.

    Non-GAAP Gross Profit and Non-GAAP Gross Margin Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (dollars in thousands)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Gross profit $ 184,292     $ 164,503     $ 700,353     $ 615,133  
    Stock-based compensation   3,191       2,705       12,677       11,247  
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets   5,014       4,651       19,457       13,859  
    Non-GAAP gross profit $ 192,497     $ 171,859     $ 732,487     $ 640,239  
    Gross margin   78 %     77 %     78 %     77 %
    Non-GAAP gross margin   82 %     81 %     81 %     80 %
                                   
    Non-GAAP Sales and Marketing Expense Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (dollars in thousands)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Sales and marketing expense $ 95,348     $ 103,700     $ 395,385     $ 393,450  
    Less: Stock-based compensation   15,210       14,700       62,727       61,322  
    Less: Acquisition-related expenses   —       512       52       512  
    Non-GAAP sales and marketing expense $ 80,138     $ 88,488     $ 332,606     $ 331,616  
    Non-GAAP sales and marketing expense % of revenue   34 %     41 %     37 %     42 %
                                   
    Non-GAAP Research and Development Expense Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (dollars in thousands)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    Research and development expense $ 44,728     $ 40,083     $ 181,624     $ 153,163  
    Less: Stock-based compensation   12,261       9,354       47,656       37,225  
    Less: Acquisition-related expenses   —       2,880       (20 )     2,880  
    Non-GAAP research and development expense $ 32,467     $ 27,849     $ 133,988     $ 113,058  
    Non-GAAP research and development expense % of revenue   14 %     13 %     15 %     14 %
                                   
    Non-GAAP General and Administrative Expense Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		   Year Ended
    December 31,
    (dollars in thousands)   2024       2023       2024       2023  
    General and administrative expense $ 31,241     $ 30,567     $ 124,130     $ 116,181  
    Less: Stock-based compensation   10,052       9,756       40,455       35,533  
    Less: Acquisition-related expenses   648       1,352       1,900       6,080  
    Non-GAAP general and administrative expense $ 20,541     $ 19,459     $ 81,775     $ 74,568  
    Non-GAAP general and administrative expense % of revenue   9 %     9 %     9 %     9 %
                                   

    The following adjustments to reconcile forecasted non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per share, free cash flow and unlevered free cash flow are subject to a number of uncertainties and assumptions, each of which are inherently difficult to forecast. As a result, actual adjustments and GAAP results may differ materially.

    Forecasted Non-GAAP Income from Operations Three Months Ending
    March 31, 2025    		   Year Ending
    December 31, 2025
    (in millions) Low   High   Low   High
    Forecasted (loss) income from operations $ (18.0 )   $ (16.0 )   $ 3.0   $ 13.0
    Forecasted stock-based compensation   55.0       55.0       190.0     190.0
    Forecasted amortization of acquired intangible assets   5.0       5.0       20.0     20.0
    Forecasted non-GAAP income from operations $ 42.0     $ 44.0     $ 213.0   $ 223.0
                               
    Forecasted Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share Three Months Ending
    March 31, 2025    		   Year Ending
    December 31, 2025
    (in millions, except per share data) Low   High   Low   High
    Forecasted net loss(1) $ (26.0 )   $ (24.0 )   $ (26.0 )   $ (16.0 )
    Forecasted stock-based compensation   55.0       55.0       190.0       190.0  
    Forecasted tax impact of stock-based compensation   1.0       1.0       5.0       5.0  
    Forecasted amortization of acquired intangible assets   5.0       5.0       20.0       20.0  
    Forecasted non-GAAP net income $ 35.0     $ 37.0     $ 189.0     $ 199.0  
                   
    Forecasted net loss per share, diluted(1) $ (0.22 )   $ (0.20 )   $ (0.21 )   $ (0.13 )
    Forecasted stock-based compensation   0.46       0.46       1.57       1.57  
    Forecasted tax impact of stock-based compensation   0.01       0.01       0.04       0.04  
    Forecasted amortization of acquired intangible assets   0.04       0.04       0.16       0.16  
    Adjustment to diluted earnings per share(2)   (0.01 )     (0.01 )     (0.04 )     (0.04 )
    Forecasted non-GAAP earnings per share, diluted $ 0.28     $ 0.30     $ 1.52     $ 1.60  
                   
    Forecasted weighted-average shares used to compute GAAP net loss per share, diluted   120.5       120.5       121.0       121.0  
    Forecasted weighted-average shares used to compute non-GAAP earnings per share, diluted   124.0       124.0       124.5       124.5  
                                   

    ________________
    (1) The forecasted GAAP net loss assumes income tax expense of $4.6 million and $18.4 million in the three months ending March 31, 2025 and year ending December 31, 2025, respectively.

    (2) Adjustment to reconcile GAAP net loss per share, which excludes potentially dilutive shares, to non-GAAP earnings per share, which includes potentially dilutive shares.

    Forecasted Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow Year Ending
    December 31, 2025
    (in millions) Low   High
    Forecasted net cash provided by operating activities $ 278.0     $ 288.0  
    Forecasted purchases of property and equipment   (17.0 )     (17.0 )
    Forecasted capitalized software development costs   (3.0 )     (3.0 )
    Forecasted free cash flow   258.0       268.0  
    Forecasted cash paid for interest and other financing costs   27.0       27.0  
    Forecasted unlevered free cash flow $ 285.0     $ 295.0  
                   

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Welcome to IADC’s 2025 Executive Committee!

    Source: International Association of Drilling Contractors – IADC

    Headline: Welcome to IADC’s 2025 Executive Committee!

    KEVIN NEVEU, CHAIR

    Precision Drilling Corporation

    Kevin Neveu is President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Precision Drilling Corporation and has held these positions since joining the company in 2007. Mr. Neveu has 43 years of experience in the oilfield services sector holding various technical, marketing, and management positions over his career. Mr. Neveu holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a graduate of the University of Alberta and is a registered Professional Engineer in the province of Alberta. He has also completed the Harvard Advanced Management Program in Boston, Massachusetts.

    RODDIE MACKENZIE, VICE CHAIR

    Transocean

    Named to his current position in February 2022, Mr. Mackenzie is responsible for identifying innovative technologies that create demonstrable value for Transocean’s customers and differentiate Transocean from its competitors in addition to leading Transocean’s Marketing organization. Mr. Mackenzie served previously as Senior Vice President, Marketing, Innovation and Industry Relations; Vice President, Marketing and Contracts; Managing Director, Business Development and Strategic Accounts, and as a Marketing Director with increasing roles of responsibility in the United States, France, and Dubai. He brings over 20 years of industry experience and prior to his time in Marketing, Mr. Mackenzie served in various operational and project roles around the globe, starting his career at Transocean as a rig-based engineer in 1997. He has worked on all manner of drilling rigs in Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Brazil, and the US Gulf of Mexico.

    Mr. Mackenzie currently serves as Vice President for Offshore Division of the International Association of Drilling Contractors and on various committees for the Offshore Energy Center.

    Mr. Mackenzie graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2016 and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Strathclyde in Civil Engineering with Environmental Studies in 1997.

    BRAD JAMES, IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR

    Enterprise Offshore Drilling

    Mr. James has served as founding President, CEO and Board Member of Enterprise Offshore Drilling LLC since 2016. He previously served as Sr. Vice President – Marketing of Hercules Offshore from 2006 through 2016 and was responsible for managing worldwide marketing activity for Hercules drilling divisions. Prior to that he held various leadership roles at Transocean Offshore (including R&B Falcon and Cliffs Drilling), was founding President of Field Drilling Company and Vice President of Southland Drilling. He currently serves on the IADC Executive Committee and is a board member of IADC Drillers PAC and is a former Chairman of the IADC Houston Chapter. Mr. James obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southwest Texas State University in 1981.

    JENNIFER YEUNG, SECRETARY/TREASURER

    Noble Corporation

    Ms. Yeung was named Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of Noble in November 2023. Prior to joining Noble, she served at Ernst & Young LLP, an accounting and professional services firm, in various roles of increasing responsibility since January 2007. Most recently, Ms. Yeung served as Audit Managing Director from October 2020 through September 2023, and as Audit Senior Manager from July 2014 through October 2020, serving clients across a range of industries including offshore drilling.

    Ms. Yeung is a certified public accountant and received a Bachelor of Accountancy and a Bachelor of Business Administration, Finance from Loyola University.

    LEE WOMBLE, DIVISION VP DRILLING SERVICES

    SLB

    Lee Womble is Vice President and Global Accounts Director for SLB with global responsibility for drilling contractor accounts over all SLB divisions and basins.

    He joined Cameron Iron Works in 1988 as a Product Design Engineer after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Lee received his registered Professional Engineer license from the State of Texas in 1993 and obtained his first patent in 1994. He has since managed engineering, repair operations, manufacturing, field service and sales.

    Mr. Womble has since held numerous positions throughout his 36-year career such as Design Engineer, Repair and Sales Mgr., Regional Manager, Director and now Vice President since 2007. He has lived in locations such as the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Lee has served on committees for API, AADE, IADC and The Joint Industry Task Force. He is currently focused on help SLB lead in technology, performance, and customer centricity.

    GENE STAHL, DIVISION VP NORTH AMERICA ONSHORE

    Precision Drilling Corporation

    Gene Stahl was appointed as President, North American Drilling in 2023 and previously held the position of Chief Marketing Officer since 2019. Since joining Precision Drilling in 1993, Mr. Stahl has progressed his way through the organization holding several positions with increasing responsibility, including Contracts, Investor Relations, Engineering, Manufacturing, Rig Construction, Procurement, Field Training and Development, and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE). Mr. Stahl holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Calgary and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, Advanced Management Program.

    JON RICHARDS, DIVISION VP OFFSHORE

    Noble Corporation

    Jon Richards currently serves as Vice President Operations for Noble Corporation. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations for Diamond Offshore. Mr. Richards joined Diamond Offshore in 1997 and has over 27 years of experience in the offshore drilling industry.

    Jon started his career as an Operations Development Trainee with Diamond and has since held various leadership roles and responsibilities managing operations in the United States, United Kingdom, West Africa, and Brazil. Jon holds a degree in Business Management from Texas Tech University and participates in various roles as a member of the IADC. In his free time, Jon enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and volunteering with youth sports.

    JIM NOWOTNY, DIVISION VP INTERNATIONAL ONSHORE

    Helmerich & Payne

    Jim Nowotny is the Vice President International and Offshore Business Development at Helmerich & Payne.  He has extensive domestic and international leadership experience in multiple areas of the offshore and land drilling industry, including marketing and business development, commercial and technical contracts, operations, manufacturing, and engineering.  He has worked in the energy industry since 1995.

    Prior to joining Helmerich & Payne, he worked for an international oil field equipment manufacturer.  There he was responsible for four manufacturing business units within Canada and the USA.  He oversaw all aspects of business operations, including the manufacturing, engineering, and business development groups. Jim also worked for over 16 years in various roles for Atwood Oceanics, an international offshore drilling contractor.  He worked in increasing roles of responsibility in the areas of engineering, operations, marketing, and business development.

    Jim has a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University and has completed several executive education courses at Columbia Business School, Harvard Law School and Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons, Representative Chu reintroduce bill to prevent Muslim bans

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) reintroduced the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, which would prevent future bans by the Trump administration on Muslims or any other religious group by strengthening the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion. The bill would also require that any suspension of entry into the United States be narrowly tailored, backed by credible evidence, and subject to appropriate consultation with Congress.

    “President Trump’s Muslim ban during his first term was un-American, unjust, and weakened our standing in the world,” said Senator Coons. “Now, as the country enters President Trump’s second term, fear and prejudice are once again guiding immigration policy, and his flurry of executive orders have laid the groundwork for another attempt at a Muslim ban. The NO BAN Act is needed now more than ever to ensure that the Trump administration cannot implement discriminatory measures and to reaffirm our nation’s commitment to religious freedom and equality under the law.”

    “A hateful stain on our nation’s history, the Muslim Ban that President Trump instituted in his first term was fueled by bigotry and Islamophobia and did lasting damage to the families it separated,” said Representative Chu. “Distressingly, President Trump has already started the process to fulfill his campaign promise to reinstate a ban, signing an Executive Order on his first day back in office that lays the groundwork for a future, and potentially expanded, Muslim Ban. That’s why I am joining Senator Coons and my Democratic colleagues to once again introduce the NO BAN Act to make certain that no president can ever ban people from entering the country solely because of their religion.”

    Additionally, Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Access to Counsel Act, which Senator Coons cosponsored. This bill ensures that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status are able to consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested parties to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports. As a result of President Trump’s Muslim Ban in 2017, individuals were held for long periods of time, often without access to legal counsel.

    The NO BAN Act was initially introduced in the 116th Congress in response to President Trump’s attempts in 2017 to introduce a Muslim ban. Courts initially struck down the bans, but a conservative Supreme Court upheld a version of the ban in a 5-4 decision. As a result, families were separated, couples were forced to live apart, and communities were unable to reunite for milestones of joy and grief. While former President Biden rescinded the bans, President Trump has signaled intent to issue a new travel ban in the coming months.

    The NO BAN Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in both 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the Biden administration issued a statement in support of the legislation, noting that the prior “bans were a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths.”   

    An executive order issued by President Trump on his first day of his second term requires government departments to identify over the course of 60 days nations whose migration and screening processes are “so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” The order lays the groundwork for another ban on migration from predominantly Muslim countries.

    The NO BAN Act would push back on Trump’s Muslim ban or any other travel ban by:

    • Providing that the Immigration and Nationality Act nondiscrimination provisions apply to religion, as well as to the issuance of non-immigrant visas and benefits;
    • Requiring that any travel restriction imposed under Immigration and Nationality Act be based on specific and credible facts, and in a way narrowly tailored to address a compelling government interest; and
    • Establishing procedural requirements, including notice to Congress within 48 hours, and periodic reporting.

    The NO BAN Act has received endorsements from numerous immigrants’ rights organizations, faith-based organizations, and civil rights organizations, including Care in Action, 18 Million Rising, Afghans For A Better Tomorrow, African Public Affairs Committee, America Indivisible, American Humanist Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Americans for Immigrant Justice, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, ANAR, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Church World Service, Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Emgage Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Global Refuge, Hindus for Human Rights, Human Rights First, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Immigrants Act Now, Interfaith Alliance, International Refugee Assistance Project, League of Conservation Voters, Muslims for Just Futures, National Council of Jewish Women, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Law Center, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, National Partnership for New Americans, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Poligon Education Fund, Queer Crescent, Quixote Center, Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), Refugees International, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), Social Workers for Immigration Justice, South Asian Legal Defense Fund, South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA), The Advocates for Human Rights, The Sikh Coalition, Union for Reform Judaism, Win Without War, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, Arab American Civic Council, ASATA Power, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), CAIR Washington, California Immigrant Policy Center, Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, Civic Ark, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Education Law Center-PA, Estrella del Paso, Family Action Network Movement, Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Indo-American Center, Islamic Society of Central Jersey, Malikah, Muslim Justice League, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center, Womankind, and Concerned Christian Citizen.

    “As President Trump fulfills his racist campaign promises by indefinitely blocking all vulnerable refugees and by preparing a potential resurrection of categorical bans on people who come to the U.S. from African, Muslim-majority, or other countries, we welcome the timely reintroduction of an essential policy rooted in the highest American aspirations of equality, religious freedom, and refuge from tyrannical leaders,” said Sumayyah Waheed, Senior Policy Counsel, Muslim Advocates. “With the reintroduction of the NO BAN Act, we hope to check discriminatory and cruel abuses of presidential power at our borders. We remember clearly the hate, chaos, and family separation resulting from President Trump’s first-term Muslim and African bans – effects that remain unresolved to this day. Meanwhile, people seeking safety at our borders are forced to face unlawful, dehumanizing, debilitating, and even lethal barriers to doing so. We thank Rep. Chu and Sen. Coons for their leadership and urge Members in both houses to swiftly pass this bill.”

    “The first time President Trump was in the White House, as we all watched his xenophobic Muslim ban wreak havoc on families in airports and communities across the country, the ACLU took to the courts for relief. This time around, the landscape includes the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Trump’s previous ban to go into effect. We can’t sit back as Trump again seeks to inflict cruelty. The NO BAN Act is an important effort to uphold our fundamental values and ensure our laws prevent discriminatory bans from being enacted in the future,” said Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs with the ACLU Equality Division. 

    “Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban was a stain on America’s conscience and President Biden’s Executive Order rescinding the various versions of the ban was an important first step,” said Yasmine Taeb, Legislative and Political Director at MPower Change Action Fund. “During the campaign trail, Trump vowed not only to reinstate the Muslim Ban but to expand it, and has made good on that promise by previewing a travel ban on his first day back in office. To ensure our communities do not face the threat of family separation, xenophobia, and Islamophobia through the implementation of another unconstitutional and unconscionable ban by Trump, Congress needs to take action and pass the NO BAN Act. We’re grateful for the leadership of Representative Chu and Senator Coons in reintroducing the NO BAN Act and urge Congress to pass the bill swiftly.”

    “Trump’s discriminatory Muslim and African bans inflicted unthinkable cruelty and separated families. The policy was met with widespread resistance, with thousands of people making their voices heard in protests at airports across the country. With Trump’s return to office, and his day-one executive order signaling another forthcoming ban, we must all do everything in our power to ensure these harmful bans do not return. We commend Senator Coons’ and Representative Chu’s leadership on this issue and call on Congress to pass the NO BAN Act today to protect communities from lasting harm,” said Raha Wala, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy at the National Immigration Law Center.

    “Thousands of American families will soon be separated and America’s economic competitiveness will be damaged if President Trump reimposes the so-called travel ban. The scars of the first ban have not yet fully healed, and some who were denied entry under the first ban are staring down more than four years of separation from their families. As members of Trump’s own coalition have noted, U.S. innovation and economic strength are fueled by immigrants from Iran and other countries that will potentially be banned. It is not stable or secure or fair to American families for the U.S. to impose and repeal such policies every four years by executive fiat — Congress must act as a co-equal branch and establish guardrails that protect the rights, security, and economy for all Americans by passing the NO BAN Act,” said Jamal Abdi, President of National Iranian American Council Action.

    “The reintroduction of the NO BAN Act in the 119th Congress is a crucial step in reaffirming America’s historic role as a beacon of hope and opportunity for immigrants. For generations, the United States has stood as a nation that values diversity, equity, and justice. This legislation ensures that the executive power cannot be misused to undermine these principles or to close our doors to those seeking opportunity and refuge. We extend our gratitude to Representative Judy Chu, Senator Chris Coons, and the original co-sponsors of this critical bill and urge Congress to act swiftly to pass it, preserving the ideals that have long defined and strengthened our nation,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action. 

    The text of the bill is available here. 

    A section-by-section summary of the bill is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons, Foreign Relations Committee Democrats push Secretary Rubio for answers on national security risks stemming from pauses to USAID programs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and the rest of the Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an explanation of recent developments at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This includes recent reports that individuals who identified themselves as working for the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) requested unauthorized access to USAID’s main headquarters, American citizens’ data and classified spaces, and illegally demanded access to classified documents, creating a national security risk. 
    Senator Coons has long advocated to strengthen USAID given its vital role in advancing U.S. national security and global stability. He introduced the bipartisan Locally Led Development and Humanitarian Response Act last year, aiming to increase and improve USAID’s collaboration with local partners when implementing humanitarian and development programs around the world. Until recently, he was the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS), responsible for overseeing USAID and our nation’s entire foreign aid spending.
    “Congress established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency, separate from the Department of State, to ensure that we can deploy development expertise and U.S. foreign assistance quickly, particularly in times of crisis, to meet our national security goals,” the senators wrote. “For this reason, any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress.” 
    “We received reports that individuals who identified themselves as working for the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE) accessed USAID’s main headquarters, including classified spaces,” the senators continued. “The potential access of sensitive, even classified, files which may include the personally identifiable information of Americans working with USAID, and this incident as a whole raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to U.S. national security.” 
    “We request an immediate update about the access of USAID’s headquarters, including whether the individuals who accessed the headquarters were authorized to be there and by whom, whether all individuals who accessed classified spaces have active security clearances at the appropriate level, what they were seeking to access, if any [personally identifiable information] of American citizens was breached, and whether any review is underway regarding potential unauthorized access to sensitive personnel information and classified materials,” concluded the senators. 
    You can read the full letter here and below.
    Dear Secretary Rubio:
    Congress established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency, separate from the Department of State, to ensure that we can deploy development expertise and U.S. foreign assistance quickly, particularly in times of crisis, to meet our national security goals. For this reason, any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress. Congress has also made clear that any attempt to reorganize or redesign USAID requires advance consultation with, and notification to, Congress.
    Consistent with past precedent, we expect and welcome the Department of State’s and USAID’s engagement on any proposed organizational reforms, and other matters implicating congressional requirements.
    While we continue to welcome such engagement, we write with deep concern about this weekend’s developments at USAID’s headquarters.
    We received reports that individuals who identified themselves as working for the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) accessed USAID’s main headquarters, including classified spaces. While some of the individuals purported to have security clearances, it is unclear whether those who accessed secure classified facilities had proper clearance or what they were seeking to access. We understand that the security guards present at the facility were threatened when they raised questions. As members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, we had not been notified of any such visit to USAID by DOGE or other agency officials. Following this incident, the senior management of the Office of Security, which secures USAID personnel and facilities and safeguards national security information, were placed on administrative leave. The potential access of sensitive, even classified, files, which may include the personally identifiable information (PII) of Americans working with USAID, and this incident as a whole, raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to U.S. national security.
    We request an immediate update about the access of USAID’s headquarters, including whether the individuals who accessed the headquarters were authorized to be there and by whom, whether all individuals who accessed classified spaces have active security clearances at the appropriate level, what they were seeking to access, if any PII of American citizens was breached, and whether any review is underway regarding potential unauthorized access to sensitive personnel information and classified materials.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: From bottlenecks to breakthroughs: Obeikan’s AI‑powered journey

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: From bottlenecks to breakthroughs: Obeikan’s AI‑powered journey

    Al-Obeikan hired Tarik Taman, an American with a long history of executive management in software companies, to be general manager of the new O3ai startup. What convinced Taman to take the job was that he could not find anything else like it on the market: a complete smart factory platform underpinned by a guiding philosophy – the Lean management system.

    “Lean transformations drive value, always,” he said. “Automated lean transformations drive even more value, because it’s easier to adopt, easier to track, easier to sustain and easier to optimize because it’s all digital.”

    He said that was evident in the results O3ai achieved at Obeikan – in four years it went from a $750 million company to a $1 billion company with a greatly improved bottom line and better employee engagement.

    Taman said that even though O3ai emerged from a long-established family company, it has many of the virtues of a startup, thanks to the vision of Al-Obeikan.

    “We really have had the good fortune to have something called last-mover advantage,” he said. “We’re one of the first software platforms in our space where the first line of code was written in the 2020s, so we don’t have 10- and 20-year-old legacy code that we’re trying to rewrite the logic of constantly.”

    He credits the partnership with Microsoft for providing an extra competitive advantage.

    “Because we partnered with Microsoft from day one, because we’ve used all of the infrastructure and service that Azure has to offer, we get to move at higher speed as compared to legacy software.”

    Taman said that O3ai started by using machine learning in Azure, but it quickly adopted Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Copilot when they became available. O3ai created its own chatbot that digests and interprets all the data that is constantly being produced by the machines on production lines. Each machine is equipped with a system of sensors that feeds data into O3ai — that system is known as IoT, or the Internet of Things.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: How real-world businesses are transforming with AI – with 50 new stories

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: How real-world businesses are transforming with AI – with 50 new stories

    Updated February 5, 2025: The post contains 50 new customer stories, which appear at the beginning of each section of customer lists. The post will be updated regularly with new stories.

    One of the highlights of my career has always been connecting with customers and partners across industries to learn how they are using technology to drive their businesses forward. In the past 30 years, we’ve seen four major platform shifts, from client server to internet and the web to mobile and cloud to now — the next major platform shift to AI.  

    As today’s platform shift to AI continues to gain momentum, Microsoft is working to understand just how organizations can drive lasting business value. We recently commissioned a study with IDC, The Business Opportunity of AI, to uncover new insights around business value and help guide organizations on their journey of AI transformation. The study found that for every $1 organizations invest in generative AI, they’re realizing an average of $3.70 in return — and uncovered insights about the future potential of AI to reshape business processes and drive change across industries.

    Check out the top 5 AI trends to watch from IDC and Microsoft

    Today, more than 85% of the Fortune 500 are using Microsoft AI solutions to shape their future. In working with organizations large and small, across every industry and geography, we’ve seen that most transformation initiatives are designed to achieve one of four business outcomes:  

    1. Enriching employee experiences: Using AI to streamline or automate repetitive, mundane tasks can allow your employees to dive into more complex, creative and ultimately more valuable work.
    2. Reinventing customer engagement: AI can create more personalized, tailored customer experiences, delighting your target audiences while lightening the load for employees.
    3. Reshaping business processes: Virtually any business process can be reimagined with AI, from marketing to supply chain operations to finance, and AI is even allowing organizations to go beyond process optimization and discover exciting new growth opportunities.
    4. Bending the curve on innovation: AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development, reducing the time to market and allowing companies to differentiate in an often crowded field.

    In this blog, we’ve collected more than 300 of our favorite real-life examples of how organizations are embracing Microsoft’s proven AI capabilities to drive impact and shape today’s platform shift to AI. Today, we’ve added new stories of customers using our AI capabilities at the beginning of each section. We’ll regularly update this story with more. We hope you find an example or two that can inspire your own transformation journey.

    Enriching employee experiences

    Generative AI is truly transforming employee productivity and wellbeing. Our customers tell us that by automating repetitive, mundane tasks, employees are freed up to dive into more complex and creative work. This shift not only makes the work environment more stimulating but also boosts job satisfaction. It sparks innovation, provides actionable insights for better decision-making and supports personalized training and development opportunities, all contributing to a better work-life balance. Customers around the world have reported significant improvements in employee productivity with these AI solutions:

    New Stories:

    1. Acentra Health created MedScribe using Azure OpenAI Service. The solution has saved 11,000 nursing hours and nearly $800,000. It also helped each nurse process 20 to 30 letters daily, while achieving a 99% approval rate for MedScribe-generated letters.
    2. Brisbane Catholic Education provides Microsoft 365 Copilot to 12,500 educators, and uses Microsoft Copilot Studio to create a generative AI tool to help educators integrate Catholic traditions and values into the classroom.
    3. Crediclub saves 96% per month in auditing expenses and analyzes 150 meetings per hour with Azure AI, freeing up time for 800 sales advisors and 150 branch managers to interact directly with customers.
    4. eClinicalWorks developed a tool using Azure AI services and Azure AI Document Intelligence to help healthcare workers scan, sort and match thousands of faxes each year to match the faxed data with current patient files.
    5. Education Authority of Northern Ireland (EANI) introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce admin work, allowing teachers to focus on students. The Microsoft partnership ensures secure and ethical AI use, while teacher training focuses on prompt writing and effective tool adoption.
    6. Ma’aden uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, saving up to 2,200 hours monthly. Tasks like drafting emails, creating documents and data analysis have become more efficient, helping Ma’aden achieve its growth goals.
    7. Marketing org mci group uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance the use of AI and other technological advances to boost employee efficiency.
    8. Michelin deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot and a generative AI in-house chatbot based on Azure OpenAI Service called “Aurora” designed to help employees optimize work and team performance, boosting productivity tenfold.
    9. Raiffeisen Bank International built its own ChatGPT using Azure OpenAI Service to automate repetitive tasks like documenting intelligence and more rapidly summarize legal, regulation and banking documents.
    10. Sanabil Investments deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees reduce the time spent on manual everyday tasks that diverted focus from more strategic and valuable work. Within two months, approximately 70% of employees regularly used Copilot.
    11. Sensei rolled out Microsoft 365 to reduce the number of internal apps and better connect systems for easier collaboration, and is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to increase efficiency.
    12. Sikshana Foundation is working with Microsoft Research India to introduce an AI copilot for teachers that shortens preparation time for lessons from an hour or more to just minutes.
    13. The University of Hong Kong adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity by automating administrative tasks and providing intelligent assistance, allowing faculty to focus more on teaching.
    1. Accenture and Avanade launched a Copilot business transformation practice, supported by Microsoft, and co-invested in new capabilities, solutions and training to help organizations securely and responsibly reinvent their business functions with generative and agentic AI and Copilot technologies.
    2. Access Holdings Plc adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, integrating generative AI into daily tools and, as a result, writing code now takes two hours instead of eight, chatbots launch in 10 days instead of three months and presentations are prepared in 45 minutes instead of six hours.
    3. Adobe is connecting Adobe Experience Cloud workflows and insights with Microsoft 365 Copilot to deliver generative-AI powered capabilities that enable marketers to increase collaboration, efficiency and creativity.
    4. Amadeus empowers its teams to focus their time and skills on value-added tasks with Microsoft 365 Copilot, by summarizing email threads, chat or transcripts and summing up information from diverse sources.
    5. ANZ has invested in Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot and Copilot in Microsoft Edge to boost productivity and innovation across its workforce.
    6. Asahi Europe & International (AEI) has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, saving employees potentially 15% of time previously spent on administrative tasks.
    7. AXA developed AXA Secure GPT, a platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service that empowers employees to leverage the power of generative AI while targeting the highest level of data safety and responsible use of the tool.
    8. Axon Enterprise developed a new AI tool with Azure OpenAI Service called Draft One, resulting in an 82% decrease in time spent on reports, which freed up officers to engage more with their community.
    9. Aztec Group enhanced productivity and client experience by trialing Microsoft 365 Copilot with 300 staff, uncovering “unlimited” use cases and plans for a wider rollout.
    10. Bader Sultan & Bros. Co. W.L.L. implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance employee productivity and speed up customer response times.
    11. Bancolombia is using GitHub Copilot to empower its technical team, achieving a 30% increase in code generation, boosting automated application changes to an average of 18,000 per year, with a rate of 42 productive daily deployments.
    12. Bank of Queensland Group is using Microsoft 365 Copilot, with 70% of users saving two-and-a-half to five hours per week.
    13. BaptistCare Community Services is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to save employees time as they navigate workforce shortage challenges allowing them to focus more on the people they care for.
    14. Barnsley Council was recognized as “Double Council of the Year in 2023” for its implementation of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which modernized operations and reduced administrative tasks, leading to improved job satisfaction and increased creativity.
    15. BlackRock purchased more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees, functions and locations, helping improve the Copilot experience, including codeveloping new features and functions.
    16. British Heart Foundation is testing Microsoft 365 Copilot and in its initial test, users estimate that Microsoft 365 Copilot could save them up to 30 minutes per day.
    17. Buckinghamshire Council deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot with staff reporting productivity improvements, quality enhancements and time savings which are enabling the different teams to do more with less.
    18. Campari Group adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees integrate it into their workflow, resulting in time savings of about two hours a week from the support of routine activities such as email management, meeting preparation, content creation and skill acquisition.
    19. Canadian Tire Corporation moved its data from on-premises systems to Microsoft Azure and built digital assistants using Azure OpenAI Service, and now more than 3,000 corporate employees save 30 to 60 minutes a day using its ChatCTC digital assistant.
    20. Capita is using GitHub Copilot for productivity improvements as well as improvements in developer satisfaction, recruitment and retention.
    21. Cathay leverages Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings and manage information more effectively, reducing time-consuming tasks and fostering creativity.
    22. CDW used Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve work quality for 88% of users, enabling 77% to complete tasks faster, and increasing productivity for 85% of users.
    23. Chi Mei Medical Center is lightening workloads for doctors, nurses and pharmacists with a generative AI assistant built on Azure OpenAI Service.
    24. Clifford Chance adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline tasks, automate processes and enhance collaboration. Lawyers use it to draft and manage emails and ensure compliance, allowing them to focus on complex legal work and improve productivity.
    25. DLA Piper chose Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity for operational and administrative teams, saving up to 36 hours weekly on content generation and data analysis.
    26. Eaton adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate the creation of 1,000 standard operating procedures to streamline customer service operations and improve data access across teams, cutting creation time from one hour to 10 minutes.
    27. E.ON is focused on Germany’s energy transition, leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to manage the complex grid in real-time, increasing productivity and efficiency for its workforce.
    28. Enerijisa Uretim has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meeting summaries, reformat documents and compile reports, enabling employees to concentrate on more strategic and fulfilling activities instead of spending six hours in meetings.
    29. EPAM is deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to consolidate information and generate content and documents.
    30. Farm Credit Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot which resulted in time savings on routine tasks for 78% of users, with 30% saving 30 to 60 minutes per week and 35% saving over an hour per week, allowing employees to focus on more value-added tasks.
    31. Finastra used Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate tasks, enhance content creation, improve analytics and personalize customer interactions, with employees citing a 20%-50% time savings.
    32. Four Agency Worldwide increased employee productivity using Microsoft 365 Copilot to generate ideas for creative work and support administrative-heavy processes, data analysis and report generation, allowing staff to focus on outreach and less time doing paperwork.
    33. Goodwill of Orange County developed an AI-powered app using Azure AI capabilities to help more people, including those with developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities, work in unfilled e-commerce positions.
    34. Harvey uses Azure OpenAI to simplify routine tasks across hundreds of law firms and legal teams, with one corporate lawyer saying he saved 10 hours of work per week.
    35. Honeywell employees are saving 92 minutes per week — that’s 74 hours a year! Disclaimer: Statistics are from an internal Honeywell survey of 5,000 employees where 611 employees responded.
    36. Insight employees using Copilot are seeing four hours of productivity gained per week from data summarization and content creation.
    37. Joos uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to grow its brand with worldwide collaboration by streamlining meetings, optimizing presentations and improving communications.
    38. Kantar is harnessing the power of Microsoft 365 Copilot by reducing costly, time-consuming IT processes and boosting productivity for employees.
    39. KMS Lighthouse enhanced its knowledge management platform with Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365 integration, enabling users to leverage KMS Lighthouse without having to switch applications. And with Azure OpenAI Service, companies can create relevant content more quickly within the KMS Lighthouse application.
    40. KPMG Australia is using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search and Microsoft Copilot 365 to perform advanced text analysis of dozens of client source documents to identify full or partial compliance, or noncompliance, in a fraction of the time required for manual assessments.
    41. LGT is launching Microsoft Copilot LGT to improve efficiency, showing users save an average of an hour a week even in the pilot phase.
    42. Localiza&Co, a leader in the mobility industry in Latin America, implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate processes and improve efficiency, and reduced 8.3 working hours per employee per month.
    43. Lotte Hotels & Resorts has been creating a new work culture that allows employees to work more efficiently and focus on the nature of the work by adopting Microsoft Power Platform for automation.
    44. MAIRE is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate routine tasks, saving over 800 working hours per month, freeing up engineers and professionals for strategic activities while supporting MAIRE’s green energy transition by reducing their carbon footprint.
    45. McDonald’s China chose Microsoft Azure AI, GitHub Copilot and Azure AI Search to transform its operations, resulting in a significant increase in AI adoption, consumption and retention from 2,000 to 30,000 employee transactions monthly.
    46. McKnight Foundation adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot for all staff, saving time, increasing productivity and freeing space to focus on strategic priorities.
    47. Medigold Health uses Azure OpenAI Service to significantly reduce the time that clinicians spend writing reports during their consultation and administrative time.
    48. Morula Health is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, streamline medical writing tasks and ensure data security, ultimately improving efficiency and client satisfaction.
    49. Motor Oil Group is achieving remarkable efficiency gains by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot into its workflows, with staff spending minutes on tasks that used to take weeks.
    50. Nagel-Group uses Azure OpenAI Service to help employees quickly access information which saves time, creates efficiency and transparency and leads to higher-quality answers overall.
    51. National Australia Bank is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot for daily productivity and data analysis and insights and Microsoft Copilot for Security to quickly analyze millions of security event logs and allow engineers to focus on more important areas.
    52. NFL Players Association integrated Azure AI Services and Azure App Service into their video review process, reducing review time by up to 73%, significantly increasing efficiency and enhancing player safety through consistent rule enforcement.
    53. O2 Czech Republic boosts productivity and streamlines meetings with Microsoft 365 Copilot, revolutionizing how information is shared and making automation a part of daily work.
    54. Onepoint developed a secure conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI which delivers productivity gains of between 10% and 15% across all business lines.
    55. Orange Group has over 40 use cases with Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot across business functions to support employees in their day-to-day tasks, enabling them to concentrate on higher value-added activities.
    56. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve staff report productivity by saving one to two hours a week, or simple formatting tasks down to a matter of seconds, enabling more resources to deliver frontline services.
    57. PA Consulting transformed its sales operations with Microsoft 365 Copilot, so its people can invest more time on the activities that have the biggest impact for clients and maximize the strategic value they provide.
    58. Petrobras used Azure OpenAI Service to create ChatPetrobras, which is streamlining workflows, reducing manual tasks and summarizing reports for its 110,000 employees.
    59. Petrochemical Industries Company automates work processes to save time with Microsoft 365 Copilot from weeks to days, hours to seconds.
    60. PIMCO built ChatGWM with Azure AI Studio, a comprehensive platform that provides the ability to ask questions, receive responses and verify answers all in one place, so teams can spend more time engaging clients and having deeper conversations.
    61. PKSHA Technology is optimizing their time on critical work by increasing efficiency in meeting preparations, data analytics and ideation with the help of Microsoft 365 Copilot.
    62. Providence has collaborated with Nuance and Microsoft to accelerate development and adoption of generative AI-powered applications, helping improve care quality and access, and reduce physician’s administrative workloads.
    63. RTI International adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to gain productivity wherever possible, allowing staff to focus on their areas of expertise, delivering even better science-backed solutions for clients.
    64. SACE, an Italian finance and insurance firm, is using Microsoft 365 Copilot and Viva to boost productivity and unlock employee potential while enhancing overall well-being — and productivity improvement data from the first nine months of implementation shows a 23% increase.
    65. Sandvik Coromant is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to drive efficiency and accuracy, shaving at least one minute off each transaction, allowing sellers and account managers to focus their expertise on responding to customers’ needs with analysis, creativity and adaptability.
    66. Sasfin Bank built a solution on Microsoft Azure that centralized 20,000 documents to analyze contract clauses and provide real-time snapshots, moving guesswork into data-driven decision-making.
    67. Scottish Water implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot reducing mundane tasks to a minimum, and thus freeing up time for employees to work on the more meaningful tasks.
    68. Shriners Children’s developed an AI platform allowing clinicians to easily and securely navigate patient data in a singular location, enhancing patient care, and improving the efficiency of their healthcare services.
    69. Siemens is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to improve efficiency, cut downtime and address labor shortages.
    70. Softchoice employees are experiencing firsthand how Microsoft 365 Copilot can transform daily workflows, realizing productivity gains of 97% reduction in time spent summarizing technical meetings and up to 70% less time spent on content creation.
    71. Syensqo utilized Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service to develop a custom AI chatbot in three months, which improved their internal data management, decision-making and overall efficiency.
    72. Teladoc Health uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to revolutionize its telehealth operations, automating routine tasks, boosting efficiency and increasing productivity.
    73. Telstra developed two cutting-edge generative AI tools based on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service: 90% of employees are using the One Sentence Summary tool which resulted in 20% less follow-up customer contact and 84% of customer service agents using the Ask Telstra solution.
    74. Topsoe achieved 85% AI adoption among office employees in seven months, significantly enhancing productivity and business processes.
    75. Torfaen County Borough Council utilized Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline back-office processes, resulting in significant time savings and enhanced productivity for both business and children’s services teams, with further rollouts planned.
    76. Trace3 leveraged Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline and enhance processes across the business and with clients, such as reducing the time it takes HR recruiting managers to respond to applicants within a couple of days instead of several weeks.
    77. Unilever is reinventing their marketing process with Copilot, saving time on briefing tasks, automatically pulling in relevant market data, content and insights to accelerate campaign launches.
    78. Uniper SE implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce time spent on manual and repetitive tasks, and help workers focus on more pressing work, such as developing enhanced solutions to speed up the energy transition.
    79. Unum Group built a custom AI application to search 1.3 terabytes of data with 95% accuracy using Azure OpenAI Service.
    80. Virgin Atlantic adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot and is seeing real business benefits, including productivity improvements, enabling new ways of working.
    81. Visier built a generative AI assistant that leverages Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Services to deliver workforce analytics and actionable insights for more than 50,000 customers.
    82. Virtual Dental Care developed an AI application Smart Scan that leverages Microsoft Azure to reduce paperwork for mobile dental clinics in schools by 75% and frees dentists to devote more time to patient care.
    83. Zakladni Skola As Hlavkova adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and saw a 60% improvement in handling administrative documents, decreased lesson preparation from hours to few minutes, increased inclusivity and enhanced communication with students and parents.

    Reinventing customer engagement

    We’ve seen great examples of how generative AI can automate content creation, ensuring there’s fresh and engaging materials ready to go. It personalizes customer experiences by crunching the numbers, boosting conversion rates. It makes operations smoother, helping teams launch campaigns faster. Plus, it drives innovation, crafting experiences that delight customers while lightening the load for staff. Embracing generative AI is key for organizations wanting to reinvent customer engagements, stay ahead of the game and drive both innovation and efficiency.

    New Stories:

    1. Aditya Birla Capital built the SimpliFi chatbot on Microsoft Azure to simplify financial services information and offers through intelligent search and proactive nudging with minimum latency and high scalability.
    2. AIA is using Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to allow customer service representatives to handle more cases in less time by automating time-consuming tasks like drafting customer emails and summarizing lengthy chats and case histories.
    3. Aydem Energy and Microsoft partner Softtech used Azure OpenAI Service to create an AI assistant for WhatsApp, providing customers with real-time updates and handling meter readings, bill checks and claims.
    4. The City of Buenos Aires developed Boti with ChatGPT using Azure OpenAI Service to manage multiple service channels and personalize key services for residents and tourists. The chatbot centralizes data, enables natural language interactions and scales to handle high demands, managing 2 million queries per month without human intervention, alleviating the operational burden by 50%, improving the citizen experience and increasing efficiency.
    5. de Alliantie built a generative AI chatbot using Azure OpenAI to digest information in their online knowledge base so staff can get accurate answers in seconds. Another Azure AI-based solution transcribes and summarizes calls, then categorizes them by theme.
    6. Haceb created a virtual technical support assistant with generative AI, helping on-the-ground technicians troubleshoot, diagnose and resolve product issues faster and more efficiently.
    7. Lloyds Banking Group developed the Branch Translation App using Microsoft Power Apps and Azure AI services with a goal to improve communication with non-English speaking customers and the innovation enhanced service delivery, receiving positive feedback from employees and customers alike.
    8. Staffbase provides its clients with Staffbase Companion, which helps it enhance internal communication with quick content generation, summarization, translation and future capabilities — and remain confident in data protection.
    9. Tekion built Automative Retail Cloud, a unified, cloud-native platform that uses generative AI to analyze communications, extract insights and provide customer-specific recommendations for sales agents.
    10. Welcome Account created a banking application with a conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI Service, in order to help people manage their finances and administrative procedures. This multilingual agent already assists no less than a thousand refugees on a daily basis.
    11. UBS is using Azure AI solutions, including Azure AI Search and Azure OpenAI Service, to power “Smart Assistants” that streamline content access and provide real-time information to Client Advisors, boosting efficiency and client engagement.
    12. Virbe enables businesses to interact with customers through AI-powered avatars, and with Azure AI services like Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search, Virbe enhanced its AI avatars and simplified engagement with enterprise customers — and customers are seeing up to a 10x increase in leads.

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    1. Absa has adopted Microsoft Copilot to streamline various business processes, saving several hours on administrative tasks each day.
    2. Adobe leverages Microsoft Azure to streamline the customer experience, harnessing the power of the connected cloud services and creating a synergy that drives AI transformation across industries.
    3. Acentra Health developed Medscribe, a web application that uses Azure OpenAI Service to generate draft letters in a secure, HIPPA-compliant enclave that responds to customer appeals for healthcare services within 24 hours, reducing the time spent on each appeal letter by 50%.
    4. Air India leveraged Azure OpenAI Service to develop a virtual assistant that has handled nearly 4 million customer queries with full automation, significantly enhancing customer experience and avoiding millions of dollars in customer support costs.
    5. Alaska Airlines is using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Defender, and GitHub to ensure its passengers have a seamless journey from ticket purchase to baggage pickup and started leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to unlock more business value for its customer care and contact centers.
    6. Ally Financial is using Azure OpenAI Service to reduce manual tasks for its customer service associates, freeing up time for them to engage with customers.
    7. BMW Group optimizes the customer experience connecting 13 million active users to their vehicles with the MyBMW app on Azure, which supports 450 million daily requests and 3.2TB data processing.
    8. Boyner has tripled its e-commerce performance using Microsoft Azure, seeing a rise in customer satisfaction, engagement, conversion rate and revenue.
    9. Bradesco Bank integrated Microsoft Azure to its virtual assistant, BIA, resulting in reduced response time from days to hours, improving operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
    10. Capgemini Mexico integrated GitHub Copilot to support scalable AI implementations which has led to improved customer experiences and increased efficiency.
    11. Capitec Bank uses Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling their AI-powered chatbot to assist customer service consultants in accessing product information more efficiently, saving significant time for employees each week.
    12. Cdiscount is leveraging GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service to enhance developer efficiency, optimize product sheet categorization and improve customer satisfaction.
    13. Cemex used Azure OpenAI Service to launch Technical Xpert, an AI tool used by sales agents to provide instant access to comprehensive product and customer solution information, significantly reducing search time by 80%.
    14. Chanel elevated their client experience and improved employee efficiency by leveraging Microsoft Fabric and Azure OpenAI Service for real-time translations and quality monitoring.
    15. City of Burlington created two AI-powered solutions: MyFiles system using Microsoft Power Platform for building permits, and CoBy, a 24/7 customer support assistant using Microsoft Copilot Studio.
    16. City of Madrid created an AI virtual assistant with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service offering tourists accurate, real-time information and personalized responses in 95-plus languages.
    17. Cognizant is making performance management more effective and meaningful with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning to help clients across industries envision, build, and run innovative digital enterprises.
    18. Coles Group has leveraged Microsoft Azure to enhance its digital presence and improve customer engagement, rolling out new applications to its stores six times faster without disrupting workloads.
    19. Commercial Bank of Dubai used Microsoft Azure to upgrade its application infrastructure, improving transaction security and speed so individual customers can now open an account and start banking in about two minutes.
    20. Cradle Fund, dedicated to nurturing startups in Malaysia, introduced an AI-driven chatbot to boost user interaction and increase public engagement. User engagement quadrupled while resolution time was reduced from two days to a few clicks. Cradle also decreased customer service costs by 35%, increased international interactions by 40% and increased daily average visits 10-fold.
    21. Doctolib, a leading eHealth company in France, leverages Microsoft technology to develop an AI-powered medical assistant, integrating both Azure OpenAI Service and Mistral Large on Azure.
    22. Docusign used Azure AI to develop its Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM) platform, which supports millions of workflows, reducing contract processing times and enhancing customer satisfaction with advanced AI-powered analytics.
    23. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has significantly improved productivity and customer satisfaction by integrating multiple Microsoft AI solutions, reducing task completion time from days to hours and achieving a 98% customer happiness rate.
    24. Elcome uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve the customer experience, reducing response times from 24 hours to eight hours.
    25. elunic developed shopfloor.GPT based on Azure OpenAI leading to increased productivity for customers saving 15 minutes per request.
    26. Estée Lauder Companies is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to create closer consumer connections and increase speed to market with local relevancy.
    27. First National Bank (FNB) is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to help bankers create professional, thoughtful emails in 13 native South African languages, to enhance customer interactions, streamline communications and reinforce its commitment to innovation and customer service.
    28. Flora Food Group migrated to Microsoft Fabric to offer more detailed and timely insights to its customers, enhancing service delivery and customer satisfaction.
    29. Groupama deployed a virtual assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that delivers reliable, verified and verifiable information, and boasts an 80% success rate.
    30. Holland America Line developed a virtual agent using Microsoft Copilot Studio that acts as a digital concierge on their website to support new and existing customers and travel advisors, which has achieved a strong resolution rate and is currently handling thousands of conversations per week.
    31. International University of Applied Sciences (IU) adopted Azure OpenAI Service to revolutionize learning with a personalized study assistant that can interact with each student just like a human would.
    32. Investec is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales to enhance the bank’s client relationships, estimating saving approximately 200 hours annually ultimately boosting sales productivity and delivering personalized, seamless customer experience.
    33. Jato Dynamics used Azure OpenAI Service to automate content generation, helping dealerships save approximately 32 hours each month.
    34. Kenya Red Cross worked with Pathways Technologies to develop a mental health chatbot in Azure AI.
    35. LALIGA is delivering a seamless fan experience and AI insights with Azure Arc, using AI in Azure for optimizing match scheduling and other key operations.
    36. Legrand used Azure OpenAI Service to reduce the time to generate product data by 60% and improve customer support interactions with fast, accurate information.
    37. Linum is using Microsoft Azure to train their text-to-video models faster and more efficiently without losing performance or wasting resources.
    38. Lumen Technologies is redefining customer success and sales processes through the strategic use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, enhancing productivity, sales and customer service in the global communications sector.
    39. Mars Science & Diagnostics used the Azure AI catalog to build generative AI apps to enhance accuracy and extract data insights quickly, helping pets with critical, undiagnosed conditions receive the care they require faster.
    40. McKinsey & Company is creating an agent to reduce client onboarding process by reducing lead time by 90% and administrative work by 30%.
    41. Meesho leveraged Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot to enhance customer service and software development, resulting in a 25% increase in customer satisfaction scores and 40% more traffic on customer service queries.
    42. Milpark Education integrated Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio and in just four months, improved efficiency and accuracy of student support, decreasing the average resolution time by 50% and escalation time by more than 30%.
    43. National Basketball Association is using Azure OpenAI Service to speed up the time to market, helping fans connect with the league with personalized, localized insights to enhance the fan experience.
    44. NC Fusion chose a comprehensive Microsoft solution to make marketing engagement activities easier and accurately target the best audience segments.
    45. Medgate, a telehealth subsidiary of Otto Group developed a medical Copilot powered by Azure OpenAI which summarizes consultations, supports triage and provides real-time translations.
    46. Orbital Witness embraced the use of large language models (LLMs) in Azure OpenAI to build its innovative AI Agent application, Orbital Copilot, which can save legal teams 70 percent of the time it takes to conduct property diligence work.
    47. Pacific Gas & Electric built a chatbot using Microsoft Copilot Studio that saves $1.1 million annually on helpdesk support.
    48. Parloa took a “voice-first” approach and created an enterprise-grade AI Agent Management platform to automate customer interactions across phone, chat and messaging apps.
    49. Pockyt is using GitHub Copilot and anticipates a 500% increase in productivity in the medium to long term as they continue adapting AI and fine-tuning their software development life cycle.
    50. South Australia Department for Education launched an AI-powered educational chatbot to help safeguard students from harmful content while introducing responsible AI to the classrooms.
    51. Sync Labs is using Microsoft Azure to create AI-driven solutions that have led to a remarkable 30x increase in revenue and a 100x expansion of their customer base.
    52. Syndigo is using Azure to accelerate digital commerce for its customers by more than 40% and expand its customer base.
    53. Telkomsel created a virtual assistant with Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in a leap in customer self-service interactions from 19% to 45%, and call volume dropped from 8,000 calls to 1,000 calls a day.
    54. Torrens University chose to use Azure OpenAI to uplift its online learning experience, saving 20,000 hours and $2.4 million in time and resources.
    55. Trusting Social integrated Microsoft Azure services to launch AI-driven agents that are changing how banks function and transforming their customer’s banking experience.
    56. University of California, Berkeley used Azure OpenAI Service to deploy a custom AI chatbot that supports student learning and helps students with complex coursework.
    57. University of Sydney created a self-serve AI platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service, to enable faculty to build custom chatbots for enhancing student onboarding, feedback, career simulation and more.
    58. Van Lanschot Kempen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce the time needed for daily tasks, freeing up time to invest in that crucial personal connection.
    59. Virgin Money built an award-winning virtual assistant using Copilot Studio to help build customers’ confidence in their digital products and services.
    60. VOCALLS automates over 50 million interactions per year, resulting in a 78% reduction in average handling time aside from a 120% increase in answered calls.
    61. Vodafone Group is leveraging Microsoft’s AI solutions, including Azure AI Studio, OpenAI Service, Copilot and AI Search, to achieve a 70% resolution rate for customer inquiries through digital channels and reduce call times by at least one minute.
    62. Walmart is using Azure OpenAI Service to deliver a helpful and intuitive browsing experience for customers designed to serve up a curated list of the personalized items a shopper is looking for.
    63. Weights & Biases created a platform which runs on Microsoft Azure that allows developers to keep records, log successes and failures and automate manual tasks.
    64. World2Meet is providing better customer service and operations with a new virtual assistant powered by Microsoft Azure.
    65. Xavier College is modernizing its student information systems on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Azure to unlock powerful insights, fostering innovation and data-driven decision making.
    66. Zavarovalnica Triglav implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure OpenAI Service to streamline its operations with automated responses and smart rerouting of customer enquiries.
    67. Zurich Insurance Group used Azure OpenAI Service to develop advanced AI applications that led to more accurate and efficient risk assessment evaluations, accelerating the underwriting process, reducing turnaround times and increasing customer satisfaction.

    Reshaping business process

    Transforming operations is another way generative AI is encouraging innovation and improving efficiency across various business functions. In marketing, it can create personalized content to truly engage different audiences. For supply chain management, it can predict market trends so companies can optimize their inventory levels. Human resources departments can speed up the hiring process, while financial services can use it for fraud detection and risk assessments. With generative AI, companies are not just refining their current processes, they’re also discovering exciting new growth opportunities.

    New Stories:

    1. Bank of Queensland is modernizing its operations with Azure, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot, using AI to optimize business processes such as creating marketing content, building reports and plans and drafting HR content.
    2. Document360 created an AI-powered knowledge base and service platform for companies to create, manage and publish online documentation, including product manuals, SOPs and wikis.
    3. Eduvos is simplifying the student enrollment experience with Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365, reducing the time from 90 days to nearly instantaneous and associated costs by 90%.
    4. Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) uses Azure Local to support its digital manufacturing platform, including support for safety-critical applications that use AI. Through its hybrid Azure environment, EGA has achieved 10 to 13 times faster AI response time and 86% cost savings for AI image and video use cases.
    5. Hellenic Cadastre built a system that reads and categorizes property contracts, applies legal rules and provides assessments for approval using Azure OpenAI Service. Today, property transaction assessments take less than 10 minutes instead of hours, reducing costs from 15 euros to 0.11 euros per assessment. The system also enhanced property owners’ legal security and boosted the Greek economy by enabling transactions to be completed sooner.
    6. Startup legal-i is using AI to analyze unstructured data and help expensive insurance specialists make better decisions faster — speeding up healthcare and insurance processes and improving the accuracy of outcomes.
    7. Publishing company SHUEISHA Inc. is using Microsoft Security Copilot to enable faster incident response, boosting the confidence and effectiveness of cybersecurity personnel.
    8. thyssencrupp is using the Siemens Industrial Copilot, built on Azure OpenAI Service, to address a skilled labor gap while revolutionizing how it programs and operates machinery.
    9. U.S. AutoForce implemented Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management to centralize warehouse data, connect processes and improve operational efficiency while using Microsoft Copilot for Finance to automate monthly reconciliations.

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    1. ABB Group integrated Azure OpenAI Service into their Genix Copilot platform enabling customers to achieve up to 30% savings in operations and maintenance, 20% improvement in energy and emission optimization and an 80% reduction in service calls.
    2. Accelleron used Microsoft Power Platform to support numerous business applications and simplify processes for service agents and employees, resulting in the onboard of new agents in 30 minutes, compared to two days for other solutions.
    3. Accenture developed an AI-powered financial advisor that leverages RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure to enhance their infrastructure and integrate financial data.
    4. Atomicwork leverages Azure OpenAI to bring together three power capabilities: a conversational assistant, a modern service management system and a workflow automation platform.
    5. Blink Ops fully embraced generative AI to build the world’s first Security Automation Copilot with more than 8,000 automated workflows to help any Security/IT task through prompts.
    6. Chalhoub Group is using Microsoft Fabric to modernize its data analytics and streamline its data sources into one platform, increasing agility, enhancing analytics and accelerating processes.
    7. Cineplex is developing innovative automation solutions for finance, guest services and other departments, saving the company over 30,000 hours a year in manual processing time.
    8. ClearBank moved its services to Microsoft Azure to gain scalability and efficiency, pushing out 183% more monthly system releases, gaining both scalability and efficiency.
    9. Danske Statsbaner increases productivity up to 30% with help from Microsoft AI solutions.
    10. Dentsu implemented Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and Azure OpenAI Service to build a predictive analytics copilot that supports media insights, cutting analysis time by 80% and overall time to insight by 90%, reducing analysis costs.
    11. Dow implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to empower teams with AI-driven insights and streamline essential workflows by automating tasks across departments, saving millions of dollars on shipping operations in the first year.
    12. Eastman implemented Microsoft Copilot for Security realizing the benefits of accelerated upskilling, step-by-step guidance for response and faster threat remediation.
    13. Fast Shop migrated to Microsoft Azure creating a self-service culture of access to data, eliminating delays, reducing costs and increasing leadership satisfaction with data while providing more agility in reporting.
    14. Florida Crystals adopted a value-added solution across Microsoft products including Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce telecom expenses and automate industrial process controls.
    15. GHD is reinventing the RFP process in construction and engineering with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
    16. GovDash is a SaaS platform that leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the entire business development life cycle for government contracting companies using Azure OpenAI.
    17. Grupo Bimbo is deploying Microsoft’s industrial AI technologies to modernize its manufacturing processes, optimizing production and reducing downtime, driving significant cost savings, and empowering global innovation.
    18. Insight Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline business operations, with 93% of users realizing productivity gains in functions including sales, finance and human resources.
    19. Intesa Sanpaolo Group enhanced its cybersecurity with AI-enabled Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Copilot for Security, resulting in faster threat detection, increased productivity and reduced storage costs.
    20. Kaya deployed a custom implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power BI to modernize its supply chain, leading to enhanced visibility, improved planning and streamlined inter-department operations.
    21. Lenovo leveraged Dynamics 365 Customer Service to rapidly manage customer inquiries by streamlining repetitive tasks, boosted agent productivity by 15%, reduced handling time by 20% and reached record-high customer satisfaction.
    22. Lionbridge Technologies, LLC is using Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI Service to accelerate its delivery times and improve quality, reducing project turnaround times by up to 30%.
    23. LTIMindtree integrated Microsoft Copilot for Security, offering automated incident response, integrated threat intelligence and advanced threat analysis.
    24. Mania de Churrasco used Microsoft Azure, Power Platform and Microsoft 365 to achieve high efficiency, security and scalability in its operations, in addition to improving its data intelligence, which indirectly participated in a 20% increase in sales year on year.
    25. National Bank of Greece built an Azure-powered Document AI solution to transform its document processing, improving the bank’s accuracy to 90%.
    26. Nest Bank has revolutionized its operations by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in doubled sales and increased daily transactions from 60,000 to 80,000, showcasing the transformative impact of generative AI in the financial sector.
    27. Network Rail modernized their data analytics solution with Microsoft Azure, helping engineers understand data 50% faster than before and improve efficiency, passenger experiences and safety — all while saving costs.
    28. Nsure developed an AI-powered agent that uses Copilot Studio and Power Automate to reduce manual processing time by 60% while also reducing associated costs by 50%.
    29. Oncoclínicas implemented Microsoft Azure to transform its entire data ecosystem with a web portal and mobile application that performs all image processing and storage.
    30. Operation Smile used Azure OpenAI Service, Fabric and Power Apps to eliminate manual data entry, resulting in reduced translation errors by about 90% and the time required for completing reports from four to five hours to just 15 to 20 minutes.
    31. Pacifico Seguros has adopted Microsoft Copilot for Security to optimize its security operations and anticipate and neutralize threats more efficiently and effectively.
    32. Parexel adopted Azure Databricks and Microsoft Power BI, achieving an 85% reduction in data engineering tooling costs, a 30% increase in staff efficiency and a 70% reduction in time to market for data product delivery.
    33. Paysafe used Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings, information management and document creation, addressing language barriers, eliminating time-consuming tasks and boosting creativity along the way.
    34. Planted is integrating Azure OpenAI to manage everyday tasks more efficiently and facilitate the search for information for innovative process development.
    35. Presidio realized dramatic productivity gains saving 1,200 hours per month on average for the employees using Microsoft 365 Copilot and created 70 new business opportunities.
    36. Qatar Charity used Copilot Studio to increase its call center efficiency, reducing average handle time by 30%, increased customer satisfaction by 25%, and achieved a 40% reduction in IT maintenance costs.
    37. Saphyre uses Microsoft Azure and AI to provide an intelligent cloud-based solution that automates and streamlines financial trading workflows around client and counterparty life cycle management, reducing manual efforts by 75%.
    38. StarKist Foods used Azure to effectively unite production and demand processes with finance, reducing the planning cycle from 16 hours to less than one.
    39. Swiss International Air Lines migrated and modernized with Microsoft Azure, achieving up to 30% cost savings, a remarkable boost in platform stability along with enhanced security visibility.
    40. ZEISS Group uses Microsoft Fabric to create a secure and trusted data supply chain that can be shared effortlessly across a range of business units.
    41. ZF Group builds manufacturing efficiency with over 25,000 apps and 37,000 unique active users on Power Platform.

    Bending the curve on innovation

    Generative AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development. It’s helping companies come up with new ideas, design prototypes, and iterate quickly, cutting down the time it takes to get to market. In the automotive industry, it’s designing more efficient vehicles, while in pharmaceuticals, it’s crafting new drug molecules, slashing years off R&D times. In education, it transforms how students learn and achieve their goals. Here are more examples of how companies are embracing generative AI to shape the future of innovation.

    New Stories:

    1. Agricultural Development Trust (ADT) of Baramati is analyzing water, weather, nutrient, pH data and more with AI to increase crop yields in India.
    2. DrumBeat.AI is using Microsoft AI services to predict, identify and treat ear diseases in communities that are both rural and remote, helping to prevent hearing loss among Indigenous communities in Australia.
    3. Dynamic Health Systems created its VitruCare365® platform on the Microsoft Cloud for healthcare technologies to enable motivational care planning. Built on Microsoft Azure, FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) and Dynamics 365, it provides personalized apps powered by Azure OpenAI Service to each patient and is deployed as an extension to the Microsoft 365 tools clinicians use every day.
    4. Cities can use Esri’s ArcGIS geospatial platform to create environmental digital twins that simulate heavy rainfall and apply hot spot analysis to highlight flooding. Adding Azure AI to the geospatial digital twin will reveal insights in impossible amounts of data.
    5. Digital employment agency Gojob developed Aglae, a virtual assistant based on Azure OpenAI Service, to pre-qualify candidates within 15 minutes, enabling recruiters to achieve record employment placement rates.
    6. Institut Curie and Microsoft partner Witivio developed Copilot for Researcher, an agent that can help researchers with some of the administrative tasks in their jobs so they have more time to spend on actual new ideas in the fight against cancer.
    7. NASA created Earth Copilot to transform how people interact with Earth’s data.
    8. Parity is helping women athletes use data and AI to help improve their well-being, performance and careers.
    9. Petbarn created “PetAI” using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search and Azure App Service to provide Australian pet owners highly personalized advice and product recommendations.
    10. Project Guacamaya is using daily satellite images and various AI models tailored to the Amazon ecosystem to help prevent its deforestation, allowing for quicker action to be taken in at-risk areas.
    11. Properstar developed a solution to simplify the analysis of unstructured real estate data and create a dynamic, AI-powered filtering system that provides more nuanced search results.
    12. RadarFit is using generative AI and a unique gamification strategy to encourage healthy habits in Brazil, with a comprehensive health and wellness program aimed at helping companies reduce chronic disease rates.
    13. SEDUC is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for administrative tasks — such as generating legal documents and handling administrative inquiries — and has expanded to include AI usage with students and teachers, including personalized learning to cater to individual student needs and help them recover from learning losses during the pandemic.
    14. Indonesia’s Universitas Terbuka used Microsoft Azure OpenAI services and Azure AI Foundry to build an AI tutor that delivers accurate, curriculum-aligned responses and streamlines student assessment. The tutor currently supports 500 classes and some 100,000 students.
    15. World Traveler is using AI including Microsoft Reading Progress and Microsoft Immersive Reader to help teachers reach its globally and educationally diverse students with personalized learning experiences.
    16. South Korean startup Wrtn Technologies brings ATI close to people, with a “superapp” that compiles an array of AI use cases and services, but localized for Korean users to integrate AI into their everyday lives.

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    1. Air India has incorporated Microsoft 365 Copilot into multiple departments, unlocking a new realm of operational insights that not only provides critical data on flight punctuality and operational hurdles, but also empowers proactive, collaborative decision making.
    2. Agnostic Intelligencedeployed Azure OpenAI Service to eliminate time-consuming tasks, saving users up to 80% of their time, and enabling IT managers to focus on innovation and quality assurance.
    3. Albert Heijn is using Azure OpenAI for everything from customer personalization to demand forecast and food waste projects, making it easier for its customers to change their lifestyle.
    4. Amgen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity and has the potential to speed up drug development and support advancements in their business processes.
    5. APEC leverages Microsoft Azure and deep neural network algorithms to develop an app that enables healthcare providers to capture retinal images, increasing the accuracy to identify Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP) to 90%.
    6. ASOS is using Azure AI Studio to help customers discover new looks with genuine shopping insights, personalized conversations, naturalism and even humor to enliven the shopping journey.
    7. Auburn University is incorporating Microsoft Copilot to promote AI literacy, accessibility and collaboration, with the aim to expand educational and economic opportunities for its entire academic community with AI-centric tools.
    8. B3 launched an AI assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that aids 10,000 users a day to answer Brazilians’ questions about how to start investing.
    9. Basecamp Research aims to build the world’s largest database of national biodiversity and apply AI and machine learning to advance bioscience.
    10. Bayer is using Microsoft Copilot to contribute to feeding a growing global population and helping people lead healthier, disease-free lives.
    11. BMW AG implemented Azure AI to develop a mobile data recorder copilot for faster data management helping engineers reduce the lead time for insights from days to hours or sometimes minutes.
    12. Brembo leveraged Azure OpenAI to develop ALCHEMIX, a solution to generate innovative compounds for its brake pads, drastically reducing the development time of new compounds from days to mere minutes.
    13. Canary Speech can now train new vocal models in as little as two months and handle millions of transactions per month with Microsoft Azure.
    14. CapitaLand simplified internal processes increasing efficiency to more than 10,000 man-days saved per year and deployed Azure OpenAI Service to build the first AI hospitality chatbot for its lodging business.
    15. Cassidy is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance efficiency across various industries, supporting over 10,000 companies.
    16. Coca-Cola is implementing Azure OpenAI Service to develop innovative generative AI use cases across various business functions, including testing how Microsoft 365 Copilot could help improve workplace productivity.
    17. Denso is developing “human-like” robots using Azure OpenAI Service as the brain to help robots and humans work together through dialogue.
    18. eFishery is using Azure OpenAI for farmers to get the data and insights on fish and shrimp farming, including more precise feeding and water quality monitoring.
    19. EY developed an application that automatically matches and clears incoming payments in SAP, resulting in an increase from 30% to 80% in automatically cleared payments and 95% matched payments, with estimated annual time savings of 230,000 hours globally.
    20. EY worked with Microsoft to make Azure AI Foundry more inclusive for all, serving the 20% of the global workforce identifying as neurodivergent.
    21. FIDO is using Azure OpenAI Service to develop an AI tool that uses sound to pinpoint leaky pipes, saving precious drinking water.
    22. Georgia Tech is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, achieving rapid data classification and predictive modeling, highlighting the reliability of networked chargers over non-networked ones.
    23. GigXR developed a solution to create the intelligence for specific AI patients using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and other Azure services.
    24. GoTo Group is significantly enhancing productivity and code quality across its engineering teams by adopting GitHub Copilot, saving over seven hours per week and achieved a 30% code acceptance rate.
    25. GovTech used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to create LaunchPad, sparking more than 400 ideas and 20 prototypes, laying the foundation for the government to harness the power of generative AI.
    26. H&R Block is using Azure AI Studio and Azure OpenAI Service to build a new solution that provides real-time, reliable tax filing assistance.
    27. Haut.AI provides skin care companies and retailers with customizable, AI-based skin diagnostic tools developed with the help of Microsoft AI.
    28. Helfie is building a solution that caters to healthcare providers who can arm their patients with an application to more quickly and accurately access the care they need.
    29. Hitachi will implement Azure Open AI Service, Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot to create innovative solutions for the energy, mobility and other industries.
    30. Icertis is providing AI-based tools that will recognize contract language and then build algorithms to automatically choose the right approach based on the content of the contract.
    31. Iconem leveraged AI-generated imagery to process and analyze a vast amount of photogrammetry data used to create the 3D digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica, allowing visitors to explore every intricate detail from anywhere in the world.
    32. ITOCHU is using Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Studio to evolve its data analytics dashboard into a service that provides immediate recommendations by automatically creating evidence-based product proposals.
    33. IU International University of Applied Sciences (IU) is using the power of Azure OpenAI Service to develop Syntea, an AI avatar integrated into Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot, making learning more personalized, autonomous and flexible.
    34. Khan Academy has partnered with Microsoft to bring time-saving and lesson-enhancing AI tools to millions of educators.
    35. Lufthansa Group developed an animated 3D avatar called Digital Hangar to help guide passengers from initial travel inspiration to flight booking through an exchange with an Avatar in natural language.
    36. Mia Labs implemented Azure OpenAI to produce and protect its conversational AI virtual assistant Mia that provides fast support from investors, along with the sophisticated security posture and threat protection capabilities for AI workloads.
    37. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is using Azure OpenAI Service to help accelerate digital innovation in power plants.
    38. Molslinjen has created an AI analytics toolbox that has reduced fuel emissions, improved customer satisfaction and brought in millions of additional revenue.
    39. New Sun Road implemented AI into a local controller for energy systems to balance the supply, storage and use requirements. This optimized loads to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy for local clean power for communities.
    40. Novo Nordisk recently published initial results with predictive AI models for advanced risk detection in cardiovascular diseases, including an algorithm that can predict patients’ cardiovascular risk better than the best clinical standards.
    41. Ontada implemented Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Service to target nearly 100 critical oncology data elements across 39 cancer types and now accesses an estimated 70% of previously unanalyzed or unused information, accelerating its life science product development, speeding up time to market from months to just one week.
    42. Paige.AI​ is using AI and Microsoft Azure to accelerate cancer diagnoses with data from millions of images.
    43. Pets at Home created an agent to help its retail fraud detection team investigate suspicious transactions.
    44. Plan Heal is using Microsoft AI to create solutions that enable patients to monitor and report health metrics so care providers can better serve them.
    45. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is testing a new battery material that was found in a matter of weeks, not years, as part of a collaboration with Microsoft.
    46. Rijksmuseum is harnessing the power of Copilot to make art accessible at scale by joining forces with Microsoft to improve and expand the art experience for blind and low-vision community members.
    47. Royal National Institute of Blind People is using Azure AI services to develop an AI-based solution that quickly and accurately converts letters to braille, audio, and large print formats.
    48. Schneider Electric provides productivity-enhancing and energy efficiency solutions and is using a whole suite of AI tools to hasten its own innovation and that of its customers.
    49. SPAR ICS created an award-winning, AI-enabled demand forecasting system achieving 90% inventory prediction accuracy.
    50. SustainCERT deployed GenAI and machine learning for automated data verification, extraction from documents and to accelerate auditing processes to enable verifying the impacts and credibility of carbon credits.
    51. Suzuki Motor Corporation is adopting Azure OpenAI Service for data security, driving company-wide use with five multipurpose apps.
    52. Tecnológico de Monterrey created a generative AI-powered ecosystem built on Azure OpenAI Service with the goal to personalize education based on the students’ needs, improve the learning process, boost teachers’ creativity and save time on tedious tasks.
    53. TomTom is using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Kubernetes Service to revolutionize the driver experience.
    54. Toyota is deploying AI agents to harness the collective wisdom of engineers and innovate faster in a system named “O-Beya,” or “big room” in Japanese. The “O-Beya” system currently has nine AI agents — from a Vibration Agent to a Fuel Consumption Agent.
    55. Unilever is partnering with Microsoft to identify new digital capabilities to drive product innovation forward, from unlocking the secrets of our skin’s microbiome to reducing the carbon footprint of a multibillion-dollar business.
    56. Unity used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to build Muse Chat, an AI assistant that can guide creators through common questions and help troubleshoot issues to make game development easier.
    57. University of South Florida is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to alleviate the burden of repetitive, time-consuming tasks so faculty and staff can spend this time creatively solving problems, conducting critical research, establishing stronger relationships with peers and students and using their expertise to forge new, innovative paths.
    58. Utilidata built the first distributive AI and accelerated computing platform for the electric grid allowing flexible transformation and dynamic infrastructure to increase electrification and decarbonization.
    59. Visma has developed new code with GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Azure DevOps and Microsoft Visual Studio as much as 50 percent faster, contributing to increased customer retention, faster time to market and increased revenue.
    60. Wallenius Wilhelmsen is implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot and using Microsoft Viva to drive sustainable adoption, streamlining processes, empowering better decision making and cultivating a culture of innovation and inclusion.
    61. Wipro is committed to delivering value to customers faster and improving the outcomes across the business by investing $1 billion in AI and training 200,000 employees on generative AI principles with Microsoft Copilot.

    Read more:

    IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024

    Tags: AI, AI Azure, Azure OpenAI Service, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Microsoft 365 Copilot

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: AI Data Drop: Handling risky business in half the time

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: AI Data Drop: Handling risky business in half the time

    This story is featured in the WorkLab newsletter. Sign up for it here. 

    Every company needs to be able to assess where and how mistakes get made. Let’s say a banking customer experiences delays when they’re applying for a new loan. That dissatisfaction means that customer service employees, in turn, spend valuable time dealing with complaints and inquiries. Figuring out why those delays happen—and fixing the issue—can directly affect the bottom line. 
     
    For an institution like Australia’s Bank of Queensland, with a few thousand employees serving 1.4 million customers, identifying overlooked risks is critical to reducing costly errors in the future. To do this, it uses a common problem-solving method: root cause analysis. “The process is essential for maintaining high standards of customer satisfaction and operational excellence,” says Bank of Queensland’s Head of Partner Programs for Group Tech, Bernadette Demasi. But it’s also resource-intensive. Our researchers at Microsoft teamed up with the bank to explore how AI could improve speed and efficiency. 
     
    Their findings: AI access—along with custom, targeted prompt development—can help diagnose those bottom line–busting issues more quickly and accurately. 

    What we did: Our researchers gave 14 people access to Copilot, while a control group of 21 did not have it. Participants were asked to analyze a simulated “risk event”—loan approval delays—and tasked with identifying and cataloging the potential reasons for the delay. 

    Because we know there’s a learning curve with AI, we also wanted to see whether giving targeted guidance could help Copilot users hit the ground running. The treatment group received tips on task-specific optimization, including sample prompts that encouraged asking for narrative responses (“imagine telling the story…”) and “think-aloud” prompts (“imagine you’re thinking it through with a colleague…”). 

    After both groups were finished, the research team compared the quality of the analyses and how long each group took to write them.  

    What we found: Analysts using Copilot were able to determine the root cause 51.8% faster, a remarkable result. In fact, more than half of the analysts with AI access completed the task more quickly than the fastest analyst without access to AI. Despite the relatively small sample size, the performance differences between the treatment and control groups were so pronounced and uniform that the results are statistically significant. 

    Bankers Work Twice as Fast with Copilot

    In a Microsoft study at Bank of Queensland, analysts using Copilot were able to finish a difficult analysis 51.8% faster than those without Copilot.

    We also saw that analysts with access to Copilot had consistently high-quality outcomes compared to the more variable quality from the non-Copilot users. And using AI significantly improved the effectiveness and clarity of the analyses.  

    Survey results also suggest that AI users had a much better experience. More than a third of analysts with Copilot found the task less draining than did those without, which suggests that Copilot significantly reduced their cognitive load. Other positive results were even more uniform: 93% of the treatment group agreed that Copilot improved the quality of their root cause analysis and reduced the effort involved in completing it. Every participant with access to Copilot agreed that it helped them answer questions about contributing factors for the risk event, and that going forward they wouldn’t want to do this type of analysis without it. 
     
    What it means: Completing root cause analyses improved Bank of Queensland’s ability to identify and manage risks, and using Copilot has reduced the company’s analyst time significantly. They estimate that equipping 1,000 employees with Copilot could enhance productivity so much that it is equivalent to adding 120 new employees. “We have more work to do than people to do it,” Demasi says. “Adding capacity through AI allows us to work through resource constraints and supports our teams to gain the capacity to focus on higher-value work.” 

    Just as important: The results indicate that it’s not sufficient to simply give your people access to AI with no guidance. To get great results, you need to work together with your teams to give targeted direction on how to adopt the technology, supporting them to push the boundaries on how to use it to their best advantage. 

    MIL OSI Economics –