Loadsmart’s freight agents, Magentic’s $18M round, I-care buys Amiral, and more - Industrial AI Weekly #74

September 24, 2026 - Industrial AI Weekly
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Welcome to this week's edition of Industrial AI Weekly.

National Grid Partners reports that 78% of surveyed US utility innovation leaders are using or deploying AI to manage rising grid interconnection demand linked to data center growth. In China, President Xi Jinping calls for expanded advanced manufacturing, including AI enabled robotics, while the 2026 World Manufacturing Convention in Hefei features AI platforms, inspection systems and humanoid robots.

Cognex plans to acquire RealSense for about $500 million and launches the In-Sight 1750 Series for semiconductor wafer and panel identification. Other developments include AI guided construction spraying from Legend Robot, microgrid certifications for StarCharge, dexterous robot hands from Xynova and the Beroe abi procurement analysis platform.

National Grid Partners survey finds US utilities use AI as data center demand grows
A National Grid Partners survey of US utility innovation leaders finds 78% are using or deploying AI for interconnection demand, as data center growth raises reliability concerns. Respondents also cite slow project rollouts, regulatory limits and the potential for infrastructure costs to increase residential electricity bills. Read more
PCS Software expands Cortex AI for LTL trip building
PCS Software expands Cortex AI with tools for multi stop LTL trip building. The update adds load consolidation, trip planning, cost and revenue allocation, and rate recommendations for FTL, LTL, and brokerage operations. Read more
Xi urges expansion of China's advanced manufacturing
Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for smarter, greener and more secure manufacturing, supported by more resilient supply chains. The report cites rising industrial robot output, AI enabled robotics deployments and plans for 500 zero carbon factories from 2026 to 2030. Read more
Cognex to acquire RealSense for about $500 million
Cognex plans to acquire depth sensing camera and robotic perception provider RealSense for about $500 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, while RealSense will separate its Facial Authentication product line before completion. Read more
Legend Robot presents AI guided construction sprayer at BATIMAT 2026
Legend Robot and ROBOSWISS AG presented an autonomous sprayer for latex paint and filler at BATIMAT 2026 in Paris. The company reports that the system sprayed up to 237 square meters per hour during a hotel renovation in Athens and reduced material waste by up to 15 percent. Read more
MSITEK previews Smart Retail AI at New York Fashion Week
MSITEK previewed its Smart Retail AI application at the Retail Innovation Lab, hosted by NYFW Collections and SAP in New York. The tool is designed to help retailers identify losses, forecast demand and make inventory decisions using store data. Read more
2026 World Manufacturing Convention opens in Hefei
The 2026 World Manufacturing Convention opens in Hefei, China, with more than 900 companies displaying manufacturing technologies, including humanoid robots and AI platforms. The event runs through September 23 and covers sectors from semiconductors and batteries to clean energy and advanced materials. Read more
StarCharge receives two microgrid technology certifications
StarCharge received AI collaboration certification from the China Quality Certification Centre and a microgrid performance certificate from Intertek. The awards recognise specified performance measures for device identification, software updates, fault response, redundancy switching and energy efficiency. Read more
Cognex launches In-Sight 1750 wafer and panel identification system
Cognex launches the In-Sight 1750 Series, an identification system for reading difficult markings on semiconductor wafers and panels. The system combines AI, imaging, dedicated lighting, web based setup and read logging to support traceability and production throughput. Read more
Xynova details Flex 2 and Prima 1 humanoid robot hands
Xynova details its Flex 2 and Prima 1 dexterous robotic hands, which offer 23 and 22 degrees of freedom respectively. The Chinese company says the hands target industrial, consumer, research and AI training uses, alongside a new manufacturing facility in Hangzhou. Read more
Beroe introduces conversational AI procurement analyst Beroe abi
Beroe introduces Beroe abi, a conversational procurement analyst rebuilt from Beroe Live.ai. The platform uses more than 30 million validated data points to support sourcing, supplier risk, supplier discovery and budgeting decisions, with early access beginning in mid-November 2026. Read more
Raytron launches infrared vision language model at CIOE 2026
Raytron launched an infrared vision language model at CIOE 2026 in Shenzhen, trained on more than five million proprietary infrared data samples. The company says it is designed for industrial monitoring, night vision, gas detection, electrical inspection and perimeter security applications. Read more
Loadsmart launches AI agents for freight workflows
Loadsmart launches AI agents to handle freight tasks including document processing, carrier tracking, claims and dock scheduling. The agents follow customer rules, escalate exceptions to Loadsmart operators and typically resolve about 80% of tasks without human intervention. Read more
Geekplus Opens European AI Robotics Lab in Düsseldorf
Geekplus opens its first European Innovation Lab in Düsseldorf, where businesses can test AI powered warehouse robotics and logistics automation. The site features mobile robots, humanoid systems, robotic picking technology and logistics software. Read more
Magentic raises $18M Series A for supply chain AI agents
Magentic raises $18 million in a Series A led by Felicis, with participation from Sequoia Capital and The Westly Group. The company develops AI agents for procurement and supply chain work, and plans to expand its product, workflow coverage and research. Read more
I-care Group acquires Amiral Technologies for AI maintenance
I-care Group acquired Grenoble based Amiral Technologies on September 17, 2026, adding its DiagFit anomaly detection and fault diagnosis platform. The technology will be integrated into I-see for industrial customers, including nuclear and defense organizations. Read more
Ivalua named an IDC Leader for AI enabled direct spend
Ivalua is named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape Worldwide AI Enabled Direct Spend 2026 Vendor Assessment. The assessment cites its unified data model and AI governance controls for sourcing, contracts, quality and supply chain collaboration. Read more
L'Oréal Selects Laminar for Sustainability Accelerator
L'Oréal selected industrial AI startup Laminar for the second cohort of L'AcceleratOR, its sustainability program supported by €100 million over five years. The companies will explore pilots using Laminar's sensor and AI technology to reduce water and chemical use in manufacturing. Read more
Viam to demonstrate BoxBot robot at IROS 2026
Viam will demonstrate BoxBot, a research robot that opens taped cardboard boxes using image based visual servoing and a fine tuned SmolVLA vision language action model, at IROS 2026 in Pittsburgh. The model runs locally on an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, and the code and training dataset will be available through Hugging Face. Read more
Vantora raises $100 million from Silversmith Capital Partners
Vantora, formerly UP.Labs, raises $100 million from Silversmith Capital Partners to build physical AI companies for corporate customers. Its partners can invest in the startups, become early customers, and potentially integrate them into their businesses. Read more
Perform.AI launches AI Commerce Operating System
Perform.AI, formerly Parcel Perform, launches an AI Commerce Operating System for e-commerce workflows from merchant discovery to delivery. The platform covers checkout, returns, logistics and decision intelligence, processing more than 100 billion parcel updates annually across over 160 countries. Read more
DXC Technology and LOXO Partner on Autonomous Logistics Vehicles
DXC Technology and Swiss autonomous vehicle company LOXO partner to deploy Level 4 driverless light commercial vehicles on defined logistics routes. The companies will combine LOXO's driving platform with DXC Engineering's AI, data and systems integration services, starting in Europe. Read more

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