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Business Wire India

Horse Powertrain, a global leader in innovative and low-emission powertrain systems, will unveil a new ‘all-in-one’ powertrain at Beijing Auto Show 2026: the X-Range C15 Direct Drive.

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260419640202/en/

 

 

 

The ultra-compact X-Range C15 Direct Drive integrates a full hybrid powertrain – including a 4-cylinder engine, transmission, power electronics, and an electric motor – into a single compact unit with a shared housing, designed to mount to the rear subframe enabling a double isolated installation for best NVH.

 

The X-Range C15 Direct Drive is designed as an ‘all-in-one’ powertrain to replace the rear electric drive unit of an existing BEV platform. It enables an automaker to use a single shared platform for their BEV, HEV, PHEV, and REEV lineups without any significant changes to vehicle design or production environments.

 

 

The new powertrain is the newest member of Horse Powertrain’s X-Range family – a toolkit for adding hybrid capability to dedicated BEV platforms, offering automakers the option to substitute the rear electric drive unit of their vehicles. It adds to the HORSE F15 (an ‘all-in-one’ powertrain designed to substitute the front electric drive unit of a BEV platform) and HORSE C15 (an ultra-compact engine and generator that acts as a range extender to existing powertrain) systems.

 

 

The X-Range C15 Direct Drive features a 4-cylinder, 1.5-liter engine that can be installed in either a naturally aspirated configuration for lower-power applications such B- and C-segment vehicles, or with a turbocharger for larger D-segment vehicles and LCVs. The naturally aspirated engine can output up to 70kW, and the turbocharged engine can output 120kW.

 

 

The powertrain integrates the engine with both a dedicated hybrid transmission and set of electric motors in a single shared housing in a flat profile. The two motors are installed in a P1 + P3 configuration: one integrated at the end of the engine’s crankshaft, and a second at the transmission’s output shaft.

 

 

• The P1 motor primarily acts as a generator in both serial and parallel modes. As a generator it can output 70kW for the X-Range C15 Direct Drive’s naturally aspirated variant, and 110kW for the turbocharged variant.
   
• The P3 motor is intended to provide electric traction – either independently from the engine in serial mode, or together with the engine in parallel mode operation. By the direct connection between the engine and the wheel enabled in parallel mode, the total system efficiency is improved over alternative range-extended or pure serial mode hybrids.

 

 

Depending on automaker requirements the X-Range C15 Direct Drive can be used to either fully power the rear wheels of a vehicle, or support an all-wheel drive vehicle when used with another electric drive unit on the vehicle’s front axle.

 

The package location also enables compact integration of the exhaust and after-treatment systems at the rear of the car, maximizing floor space for batteries or the passenger compartment.

 

 

The X-Range C15 Direct Drive contains the full suite of power electronics required for a modern hybrid powertrain, and is designed to integrate with supplementary systems like a DC/DC converter, an on-board charger, and an 800V charging booster.

 

 

Matias Giannini, Chief Executive Officer of Horse Powertrain, said: “The X-Range family of powertrains reflects today’s market realities, allowing automakers to quickly pivot from BEVs to hybrids and range extenders, all using a single platform. The X-Range C15 Direct Drive is an ‘all-in-one’ powertrain, allowing BEV platforms to be converted to HEVs, PHEVs, and REEVs with little redesign or tooling changes required, dramatically reducing time-to-market, amortizing BEV investments, and catering to the diverse array of mobility needs in today’s global market.”

 

 

About Horse Powertrain

 

 

Horse Powertrain is a global leader in innovative, low-emission hybrid and combustion powertrain solutions, supporting automotive OEMs with a range of systems including engines, transmissions, power electronics, range extenders, and integrated hybrid platforms. Horse Powertrain has operations in Europe, China, and South America, and employs over 19,000 people across 18 plants and five R&D centers. Its 25 customers include Renault Group, Geely Auto, Volvo Cars, Proton, Nissan, and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. Horse Powertrain is headquartered in London, UK.

 

 

 

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260419640202/en/

 

Business Wire India

New research by Amplitude, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMPL), the leading AI analytics platform, has revealed a generational divide in how much business leaders and their employees trust artificial intelligence (AI), a trend that may be limiting the benefits of the technology to Australian businesses and hampering the development of much needed AI skills across the country.

 

Just 4% of workers aged 55–64 say they trust AI recommendations over their own judgement, compared to 31% of 18–24 year olds, according to Amplitude’s study. At the same time, 39% of those aged 18–24 use AI tools daily in their job, compared to just 20% of those aged 55–64. These figures highlight a stark gap in trust between older professionals, who are more likely to be in leadership roles, and younger professionals who are most likely to be in more junior positions.

 

 

Yet despite the propensity for younger professionals to use AI tools more regularly at work, only 13% of respondents aged 18–24 years and 9% of those aged 25–34 indicate that AI is core to their organisation’s work. Comparatively, close to half (48%) of respondents say their organisation is getting better at AI but still has a way to go, while 24% say their organisation rarely uses AI at all.

 

 

This lack of AI direction at an organisational level is reflected in the development of AI skills among professionals, especially among younger generations. There are more professionals aged 18–24 who primarily upskill in AI outside of work hours (40%) than those who upskill during work hours (32%). Only 5% of respondents across all age groups say they upskill in AI through mentorship or peer learning.

 

 

These figures suggest that, although AI tools are being actively used for work among younger professionals, there appears to be a lack of strategic AI guidance from the senior ranks. Without leadership-led AI frameworks, businesses may run the risk of experiencing a mismatch between the latent potential of AI tools and the outcomes of their implementation – whether official or unofficial.

 

 

“The age-based discrepancy in trust around AI means senior decision-makers may inadvertently downplay its potential, limiting the value organisations derive from these tools,” said Mark Drasutis, Head of Value, Asia Pacific and Japan, Amplitude. “Without strategic implementation, AI is more likely to fall short of its goals. At a national level, this generational trust gap risks creating a structural adoption ceiling that restricts skills development and exacerbates Australia’s existing AI skills shortage.”

 

 

The research also revealed:

 

 

• AI use is widespread but not universal: 27% of respondents use AI tools daily and 33% a few times a week, while 24% say they use AI tools only occasionally, and 15% report not using AI at work at all.
• AI use is concentrated in content and information tasks: The most common use cases are writing or editing documents, emails and reports (44%), summarising information (38%), and supporting data analysis or reporting (31%).
• A high avoidance of AI for judgement-heavy tasks: 28% avoid using AI for decision-making or strategic planning, 25% for data analysis or reporting, 22% for coding, debugging or technical work and 20% for scheduling or meeting preparation.
• Top reasons for avoiding AI in higher-stakes tasks: Prefer own judgement/creativity (34%), lack of trust in accuracy (32%), outputs feel generic (30%), and confidentiality leakage risk (29%).
• Self-assessed AI skill levels are low: One-third (33%) describe themselves as beginners or not skilled, another 34% say they are somewhat skilled – able to use AI tools but not expertly – and only 6% consider themselves highly skilled and ahead of the curve.
• Overall trust in AI outputs is limited: On a scale of 1–5, the mean trust score for AI outputs at work is 2.59, with 50% trusting their own judgement more than AI, compared with 15% who trust AI more.
• Perceived productivity gains are modest: While 12% say AI has transformed how they work or somewhat helps (54%), 23% believe it adds more work than it saves, and 11% say it actively slows them down.
• Organisational AI maturity remains low: Only 8% say their organisation is AI-driven, while 65% spend either no time or less than an hour per week learning or experimenting with AI tools.
• Career impact expectations are mixed: Over half (58%) believe AI will meaningfully change demand for their role in the next 5 years, while 32% do not believe it will change the demand for their job; 16% say AI users already have a career advantage.
• Personal AI use affects its use in the workplace: Nearly half (48%) strongly agree or agree the personal use of AI has influenced how they use it at work, while just 23% disagree or strongly disagree it’s influenced their use at work.
• AI is creating uneven team dynamics and quiet tension at work: While 45% say AI hasn’t changed team dynamics, 18% report colleagues competing to prove they are more AI-savvy and 11% say non-users resent those who rely heavily on AI. Perceived tension is concentrated among younger workers, with only 23–25% of 18–34 year olds reporting no AI-related tension, compared with 64–66% of workers aged 55+.

 

 

For more information about the research, contact amplitude-syd@archetype.co.

 

Note: all percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

 

 

About Amplitude

 

 

Amplitude is the leading AI analytics platform, helping over 4,700 customers—including Atlassian, Burger King, NBCUniversal, and Square—build better products and digital experiences. With powerful AI Agents embedded across our platform, teams can analyze, test, and optimize user experiences faster than ever. Ranked #1 across multiple categories in G2’s Winter 2026 Report, Amplitude is the best-in-class solution for product, data, and marketing teams. Learn more at amplitude.com.

 

 

 

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260419677094/en/

 

Business Wire India

As the travel season gains momentum across India, AU Small Finance Bank highlights a notable shift in consumer spending behaviour, with credit cards emerging as a preferred payment tool for travel-related expenses. Driven by convenience, rewarding benefits, and flexible repayment options, more travellers are opting for credit cards to fund their journeys.

From flight bookings and hotel reservations to dining and local experiences, credit cards are playing a central role in enabling seamless, secure, and cashless travel experiences for Indian consumers.

Surge in Travel Spending Through Credit Cards

With rising disposable incomes and a growing appetite for experience, travel spending has seen a significant boost. Industry observers note that a large share of these transactions is now being routed through credit cards, especially among urban and digitally savvy users.

The ability to convert high-value spending into manageable repayments, combined with reward points and cashback benefits, has made credit cards a compelling choice during peak travel periods.

Rewards and Benefits Driving Card Usage

One of the key factors influencing this trend is the range of travel-centric benefits offered by credit cards. From airline miles and hotel discounts to complimentary lounge access, these features are encouraging users to rely more on card-based payments.

Consumers planning their vacations are also more inclined to apply credit card options that align with their travel needs, selecting cards that maximize rewards on flights, hotels, and international spending.

Managing Expenses with Smart Credit Card Bill Payment

As spending increases during travel, managing repayments becomes equally important. Financial experts highlight the importance of timely credit card bill payment to avoid penalties and maintain a healthy credit profile.

Many users are leveraging automated credit card bill payment options through mobile banking app and digital platforms to ensure they never miss due dates, even while traveling.

Awareness Around Credit Card Interest Rates

While credit cards do offer convenience, awareness around credit card interest rates is becoming more critical. Revolving credit without timely repayment can lead to significant interest costs, especially after high travel spending.

Consumers are increasingly educating themselves about billing cycles, interest-free periods, and applicable charges to make informed decisions.

Rise of Digital and Instant Credit Access

The growing ease of onboarding has further fueled adoption. Today, users can apply credit card online within minutes, with instant approvals and virtual cards enabling immediate usage for bookings.

Expanding Role of Commercial Credit Card in Business Travel

Beyond individual consumers, businesses are also contributing to the surge in card-based travel spending. The use of commercial credit card solutions is rising among organizations to manage employee travel expenses efficiently.

These cards offer better tracking, expense categorization, and control over corporate spending.

Changing Consumer Behavior During Travel Season

Travel seasons often trigger higher discretionary spending, and credit cards provide flexibility to manage these expenses without immediate financial strain.

Focus on Responsible Usage

As adoption grows, industry experts continue to emphasize responsible usage. Timely credit card bill payment, understanding credit card interest rates, and avoiding unnecessary debt remain key to maximizing the benefits of credit cards.

Business Wire India

Reaffirming its commitment to sustainability, wellness and community engagement, Elan Group successfully organised the ‘World Earth Day Run 2026’ at Elan Mercado, Sector 80, Gurugram. The early morning run witnessed enthusiastic participation across diverse age groups and fitness levels, all coming together to celebrate World Earth Day.

Held on April 19, 2026, the run flagged off at 5:30 AM, setting the tone for a high-energy morning centred around fitness and purpose. Designed as an immersive outdoor experience, the initiative encouraged more mindful living. With the message “Make Your Steps Count,” the run highlighted how individual actions, when taken together, can drive meaningful environmental impact.

The event was organised in association with PikuSports and supported by significant sponsors across various categories, including Fortis Memorial Research Institute (healthcare), Red FM 93.5 (radio), Vault (fitness), Fast&Up (energy), Bikano (gifting), Bagrry’s (breakfast), Whatr (hydration), Recovery Room and Agnishila (recovery), BlissClub (outfit), Xplurger (social media), Sirona (hygiene) and Spinex (physiotherapy), ensuring a seamless and enriching on-ground experience. From well-managed logistics to medical preparedness and recovery support, every aspect was designed to deliver a safe and high-quality execution.

Featuring multiple race categories, the run included 10 km and 5 km timed runs, along with 5 km and 3 km non-timed fun runs, allowing participation across varying fitness levels. The run also recognised performance across categories, with top male and female finishers in timed segments along with age-wise winners, highlighting both competitive spirit and inclusivity. Participants were provided with a well-rounded race experience, including event T-shirts, hydration and energy support, finisher medals, digital certificates and post-run refreshments. On-ground medical assistance was in place throughout, while photography and videography captured key moments from the run.

Speaking on the initiative, Ms. Vidhi Attri, Head-Marketing, Elan Group, said, “World Earth Day serves as a powerful reminder of our shared responsibility towards the environment. It is about encouraging a mindset shift, where fitness, awareness and responsibility become a part of daily life. At Elan Group, we are committed to building not just developments, but experiences that reflect a forward-looking and conscious way of living.”

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Deepak Mehra, Director, PikuSports, said, The response to the World Earth Day Run 2026 reflects the growing momentum around professionally curated running events. Our focus was on delivering a precisely executed race environment with strong emphasis on safety, timing accuracy and overall participant experience. Held at Elan Mercado, Sector 80, Gurugram, the venue provided an ideal setting for the early morning run.”

The run concluded on a high note, witnessing strong engagement from participants across the city. Hosted at Elan Mercado, the venue provided a strategically located and well-planned environment for the run. From first-time participants to seasoned runners, the event brought together individuals united by a common goal, making every step count. The World Earth Day Run 2026 underscores Elan Group’s continued focus on experience-led engagement, integrating lifestyle, wellness and purpose-driven initiatives.

Business Wire India

In a significant step toward transforming pediatric critical care, Aster CMI Hospital today announced the launch of PEARL (Pediatric Emergency and Advanced Response for Liver Care) – Karnataka’s first dedicated Pediatric Liver Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This specialized unit has been purpose-built to exclusively manage children with severe and life-threatening liver conditions, bringing a new level of focused, timely, and highly specialized care to pediatric healthcare. The unit was inaugurated by M Maheshwar Rao (IAS), Chief Commissioner, GBA, Karnataka, in the presence of senior leadership and clinical experts from Aster Hospitals.

 

The launch of PEARL marks a paradigm shift in pediatric healthcare, moving beyond generalized ICU care to a focused liver-centric model tailored specifically for children. Pediatric liver emergencies often escalate rapidly, leading to complications such as brain swelling, infections, organ failure, and metabolic disturbances. Addressing these complexities requires coordinated, specialist-led approach centered on liver health. Equipped with advanced monitoring systems and supported by a multidisciplinary team of pediatric hepatologists, liver transplant surgeons, intensivists, anesthetists, infectious disease specialists, and specially trained liver ICU nurses, PEARL enables rapid response, precision care, and continuous monitoring during critical moments.

 

Speaking on the launch, Prof. (Dr.) N. Karthik Nagesh, Program Director – Pediatric Centre’s of Excellence, Aster CMI Hospital, Karnataka, said, “In pediatric liver emergencies, every minute is crucial. With PEARL, we are able to initiate early, targeted interventions and provide continuous, liver-focused critical care tailored specifically for children. This approach significantly improves clinical outcomes and, in some cases, supports recovery without the need for liver transplantation.”

 

Dr Sonal Asthana, Program Director, Hepatobiliary Surgery and Multiorgan Transplantation, Aster CMI Hospital, Karnataka, said, “The Aster Integrated Liver Care Team is Karnataka’s largest liver care and transplant provider, treating more than 7000 patients with liver disease annually. The ILC performs more than 100 liver transplantation procedures in Bangalore annually, of which a significant number are for Pediatric liver failure. Many children from non-affordable families are offered lifesaving transplants under an innovative affordable liver transplant program. The launch of a dedicated Pediatric liver ICU highlights our commitment to providing world class interdisciplinary care for these very sick children.”

 

Dr. Prashanth N, CEO – Aster Hospitals, Karnataka, added, “The launch of PEARL reflects our commitment to redefining pediatric critical care. By establishing a dedicated liver ICU backed by expert multidisciplinary teams, we are strengthening our ability to deliver timely, specialized, and comprehensive care for critically ill children, while setting new benchmarks in pediatric healthcare.”

 

Unlike conventional ICUs, PEARL is structured entirely around the unique needs of children with liver failure, ensuring that every aspect of care, from monitoring and medication to intervention protocols is precisely aligned. This focused approach enables early detection, faster intervention, and improved recovery outcomes, which may avoid the requirement for transplantation in some children. The unit also emphasizes family-centered care, offering clear communication, emotional support, and guidance to families during critical times.

 

With the launch of PEARL, Aster CMI Hospital is reshaping the pediatric healthcare landscape by introducing a dedicated, highly specialized liver care ecosystem combining clinical expertise, advanced technology, and compassionate care to improve outcomes for children across the region.

Business Wire India

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is hosting seven mega events, including Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair, Home InStyle and Fashion InStyle (27-30 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, HKCEC); the Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair and DeLuxe PrintPack Hong Kong (held concurrently at AsiaWorld-Expo); and the Hong Kong International Licensing Show and Asian Licensing Conference (27-29 April at the HKCEC). These events bridge Hong Kong’s creative industries with Chinese Mainland and global markets, reinforcing the city’s role as a regional creative hub.

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260415398629/en/

 

 

 

Trendsetting Gifts Ignite Sourcing

 

The Gifts & Premium Fair will feature the acclaimed Hall of Fine Designs, a key showcase for leading design brands from around the world. This edition will welcome the debut of Shanxi Pavilion, alongside an expanded Zhejiang Pavilion, led for the first time by the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province. In addition, Smart Design Global will present its shortlisted entries, leveraging the fair as a platform to promote original Hong Kong designs to international markets.

 

 

Leading Houseware Trends

 

 

Home InStyle continues to showcase innovative materials in houseware. Building on last year’s success with novel home solutions for the silver market, the fair brings these elements together in the Gerontech and Innovative Material Pavilion, funded by the HKSAR Government’s Innovation and Technology Commission.

 

 

Redefining the Material Frontier at Fashion InStyle

 

 

Fashion InStyle marks the return of NEXT@Fashion InStyle, a premier HKTDC spotlight zone sponsored by the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) of the HKSAR Government. Featuring the Philippines as this year’s Featured Partner, the zone unites around 60 global exhibitors showcasing how next-gen materials drive industry transformation. Guided by Project Consultant Han Chong (Self-Portrait founder), it presents five cross-disciplinary projects by six emerging Hong Kong designers.

 

 

Two PrintPack Fairs: Smart + Sustainable

 

 

The Printing & Packaging Fair will feature smart packaging & new materials alongside its green offerings, meeting rising demand for innovation and sustainability. DeLuxe PrintPack Hong Kong will focus on premium printing and packaging solutions for luxury items, with dedicated themes for industries.

 

 

The events will feature a wide range of thematic seminars, buyer forums, product promotion and launch events and fashion parades, covering market analysis, cultural creative design, smart industry, the silver economy, and sustainability.

 

 

Register Now: https://tinyurl.com/5denzja3

 

 

 

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260415398629/en/

 

Business Wire India

Canva, the world’s leading all-in-one visual communication platform, today announced the next chapter in its two-year strategic collaboration with Anthropic, bringing Canva directly into the newly launched Claude Design by Anthropic Labs, one day after unveiling Canva AI 2.0 to a crowd of 6,500 people at Canva Create in Los Angeles..

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260410843169/en/

 

 

 

Canva is also today introducing HTML importing, a new capability that makes it easy to bring interactive content generated in tools like Claude into the Canva editor for drag-and-drop collaboration, refinement, and publishing.

 

The collaboration makes it easier for Claude Design users to turn AI-generated drafts and ideas into fully editable designs in Canva, where they become collaborative, on-brand, and ready to scale and publish. It helps address one of the biggest gaps in today’s AI landscape: turning AI-generated content into real, usable work.

 

 

“It’s never been easier to start an idea, but bringing it to life is still too complex and fragmented. We’ve been solving this for more than a decade, and today, more than a quarter of a billion people use Canva every month to turn their ideas into real, usable work. We’re excited to extend our platform even further through this collaboration with Claude Design, making it seamless to turn AI-generated content into fully editable, collaborative, and scalable designs, ready to publish.”       – Melanie Perkins, Co-Founder and CEO at Canva

 

From AI-Generated Drafts to Fully Editable Designs


 

Since launching the Canva MCP in Claude last July, millions of people have used Canva through Claude to create, resize, and summarise content using simple text prompts. Today’s announcement builds on this momentum, making it even easier to move from drafts and ideas to presentations, documents, social posts, infographics, and more in Canva.

 

 

Powered by Canva’s Foundation Design Model, content exported from Claude Design is instantly turned into structured, fully editable designs in the Canva Editor, built for collaboration, iteration, and scale. Unlike traditional AI outputs that are static and fragmented, each design is ready to refine, share, and build on.

 

 

Introducing HTML and Artifact Editing in Canva


 

 

From landing pages to widgets and interactive experiences, AI tools are making it easier than ever to generate complex content using HTML. But these outputs are often locked in code, making them difficult to edit, refine, or adapt without starting over.

 

 

To solve this, Canva is also launching HTML importing and editing, expanding its platform to support code and AI-generated artifacts within its simple drag-and-drop editor. This makes Canva the first platform to unify visual, document, and interactive content creation in a single collaborative editor.

 

 

Now, Claude Artifacts can be brought directly into Canva and edited like any other design. Swap colours, layouts, and elements without regenerating code with each change. Then collect data with Canva Forms into Sheets, or publish your creation as an interactive website with a custom domain, all without leaving Canva.

 

 

Expanding Canva’s Role in the AI Ecosystem


 

 

Today’s announcement marks the latest step in Canva’s rapid expansion across the AI ecosystem, where the company is fast becoming the default destination for design.

 

 

As AI accelerates the pace of content creation, millions of people are looking for ways to move beyond ideas and static outputs, turning generated content into real, usable designs. Since launching in March 2026, Canva’s Magic Layers product, which breaks static images into fully editable components, has been used more than nine million times, highlighting strong demand to turn AI-generated content into adaptable, scalable work.

 

 

This growing demand has helped make Canva the third most-used AI platform in the world, and the fastest growing in customer spend on AI products among leading software companies, according to new research from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

 

 

“We’re excited to see AI tools like Claude Design integrating with Canva to make it even easier to turn drafts and ideas into real, usable work. This announcement builds on more than two years of close collaboration with Anthropic, where Canva has become one of the most used apps. We’ve loved working closely with their team and share a deep alignment in making complex things simple for millions of people.”       – Danny Wu, Head of AI Products at Canva

 

Canva now powers design for more than a quarter of a billion people every month, bringing more than 420 designs to life every second. The company’s AI products and foundation models have been used more than 27 billion times to date.


 

A New Era for Creativity


 

 

Today’s announcement builds on a momentous week for Canva. Yesterday, the company unveiled Canva AI 2.0, the most significant evolution of its platform since launching more than a decade ago.

 

 

Announced at Canva Create in Los Angeles in front of more than 6,500 attendees and millions tuning in globally, this week marks a new era for Canva as the company expands beyond design generation to become the system at the centre of how work gets done.

 

 

 

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260410843169/en/

 

Business Wire India

A pioneer in smoke-free tobacco products, Philip Morris International is the only company that has received modified risk tobacco product authorizations for heated tobacco products.

 

In their order, FDA concluded that: “Scientific studies have shown that switching completely from conventional cigarettes to the IQOS system significantly reduces your body’s exposure to harmful or potentially harmful chemicals”

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has authorized the renewal of modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) orders previously granted to PMI for two versions of the IQOS device and three variants of the tobacco consumables, commercialized under the HEETS brand. This renewal allows PMI to continue sharing reduced-exposure information with U.S. adults 21+ who use traditional tobacco products, such as combustible cigarettes.

 

The agency concluded that renewing the IQOS and HEETS MRTP authorizations is appropriate to promote public health and is expected to benefit the health of the population as a whole taking into account both users of tobacco products and persons who do not currently use tobacco products.

 

 

“As the only company to have successfully secured and maintained MRTP authorizations for heated tobacco products in the U.S., we are confident that our science-based alternatives can help adult smokers transition away from combustible cigarettes,” said Stacey Kennedy, CEO, PMI U.S. “This decision from the FDA reflects both the rigorous scientific foundation supporting IQOS and our ongoing commitment to responsibly deliver smoke-free choices to adult consumers.”

 

 

In issuing the MRTP renewal orders for IQOS, the FDA reaffirmed that “the scientific evidence that is available without conducting long-term epidemiological studies demonstrates that a measurable and substantial reduction in morbidity or mortality among individual tobacco users is reasonably likely.”

 

 

The IQOS 2.4 system was the first heated tobacco product authorized via the FDA’s MRTP process in 2020 as “appropriate for the promotion of public health,” following its authorization through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process in 2019. The IQOS 3 system secured MRTP authorization in 2022, following premarket authorization in 2020. The FDA continues to review PMTAs for IQOS ILUMA and given its strong application and demonstrated track record converting legal age smokers to a better alternative, PMI believes the application warrants expeditious FDA action.

 

 

PMI’s MRTP submission included an extensive body of scientific evidence indicating that the IQOS system produces aerosol with substantially lower levels of harmful and potentially harmful constituents compared with cigarette smoke. While no tobacco product is risk-free, a growing body of real-world data—including from markets such as Japan—indicates that the availability of heated tobacco products has been associated with notable reductions in combustible cigarette consumption.

 

 

Heated tobacco products, such as IQOS, heat tobacco without burning it, significantly reducing the formation of the harmful chemicals created by combustion while delivering real tobacco taste and nicotine satisfaction. The renewed authorization covers the following products:

 

 

• IQOS 2.4 System Holder and Charger
• IQOS 3.0 System Holder and Charger
• HEETS: Amber, Green Menthol, Blue Menthol

 

PMI U.S. is focused on providing better options than traditional tobacco products to America’s 45 million legal-age nicotine consumers—approximately 25 million of whom still smoke cigarettes, by far the most harmful way to consume nicotine.

 

Since 2008, PMI has invested over $16 billion globally to develop, scientifically substantiate, and commercialize innovative smoke-free products for adults who would otherwise smoke, with the goal of completely ending the sale of cigarettes.

 

 

PMI first entered the U.S. market in 2022, following its acquisition of Swedish Match—a leader in oral nicotine delivery—creating a global smoke-free champion. PMI’s ambition is that all adults who would otherwise continue to smoke leave cigarettes behind for good by either quitting altogether or switching completely to scientifically substantiated smoke-free products as soon as possible. Regulatory policies and decisions can substantially accelerate the speed and magnitude of this historic change.

 

 

Philip Morris International: A Global Smoke-Free Champion

 

 

Philip Morris International is a leading international consumer goods company, actively delivering a smoke-free future and evolving its portfolio for the long term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company’s current product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smokefree products, including heat-not-burn, nicotine pouch and e-vapor products. Our smoke-free products are available for sale in over 105 markets, and as of December 31, 2025 PMI estimates they were used by over 43 million legal-age consumers around the world, many of whom have moved away from cigarettes or significantly reduced their consumption. The smoke-free business accounted for 41.5% of PMI’s full year 2025 total net revenues. Since 2008, PMI has invested over $16 billion to develop, scientifically substantiate and commercialize innovative smoke-free products for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, with the goal of completely ending the sale of cigarettes. This includes the building of worldclass scientific assessment capabilities, notably in the areas of pre-clinical systems toxicology, clinical and behavioral research, as well as post-market studies. Following a robust science-based review, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the marketing of Swedish Match’s General snus and ZYN nicotine pouches and versions of PMI’s IQOS devices and consumables as appropriate for the protection of public health – the first-ever such authorizations in their respective categories. Versions of IQOS devices and consumables and General snus also obtained the first-ever Modified Risk Tobacco Product authorizations from the FDA. With a strong foundation and significant expertise in life sciences, PMI has a long-term ambition to expand into wellness areas. References to “PMI”, “we”, “our” and “us” mean Philip Morris International Inc., and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.

 

 

PMI U.S.: Invested in America

 

 

Philip Morris International Inc.’s U.S. businesses are invested in America’s future and advancing a smoke-free nation. The businesses are committed to providing the approximately 25 million legal-age consumers who smoke cigarettes with better, smoke-free alternatives and to ensuring the products are marketed responsibly. From PMI’s global headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, and other locations nationwide, PMI U.S. contributes leadership, jobs, investment, and innovation in the U.S. The U.S. businesses employ more than 3,000 people across America and operate product manufacturing facilities, including in Owensboro, Kentucky, and Wilson, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.uspmi.com.

 

 

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

 

 

This press release contains projections of future results and goals and other forward-looking statements, including statements regarding expected performance, regulatory outcomes, business plans and strategies. Achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions. In the event that risks or uncertainties materialize, or underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements. Pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, PMI is identifying important factors that, individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements made by PMI.

 

 

PMI’s business risks include: marketing and regulatory restrictions that could reduce our competitiveness, disrupt our SFP commercialization efforts, eliminate our ability to communicate with adult consumers, or ban certain of our products in certain markets or countries; excise tax increases and discriminatory tax structures; health concerns relating to the use of tobacco and other nicotine-containing products; litigation related to tobacco and/or nicotine products and intellectual property rights; intense competition; inability to anticipate changes in adult consumer preferences; use and reliance on third-parties; the adverse effects of global and individual country economic, regulatory and political developments, natural disasters and conflicts; geopolitical instability affecting international trade; the impact and consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; changes in adult smoker behavior; continued decline of tax-paid cigarettes; lost revenues as a result of counterfeiting, contraband and cross-border purchases; governmental investigations; unfavorable currency exchange rates and currency devaluations, sustained periods of elevated inflation, and limitations on the ability to repatriate funds; adverse changes in applicable corporate tax laws; disruptions in the credit markets or changes to its credit ratings; recent and potential future tariffs imposed by the U.S. and other countries; adverse changes in the cost, availability, and quality of tobacco and other agricultural products and raw materials, as well as product components for our electronic devices; and the integrity of its information systems and effectiveness of its data privacy policies. PMI’s future profitability may also be adversely affected should it be unsuccessful, in key markets or systemically, in its efforts to introduce, commercialize, and grow smoke-free products or if regulation or taxation do not differentiate between such products and cigarettes; if it is unable to successfully introduce new products, promote brand equity; if there are prolonged disruptions of facilities used to produce its products; if it is unable to enter new markets or improve its margins through increased prices and productivity gains; if other market participants are more successful in their SFP commercialization efforts; if it is unable to attract and retain the best global talent; or if it is unable to successfully integrate and realize the expected benefits from recent transactions and acquisitions. Future results are also subject to the lower predictability of our smoke-free products performance.

 

 

PMI is further subject to other risks detailed from time to time in its publicly filed documents, including PMI’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2025. PMI cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not a complete discussion of all potential risks and uncertainties. PMI does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that it may make from time to time, except in the normal course of its public disclosure obligations.

 

 

 

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260417592220/en/

 

Business Wire India

Canva, the world’s leading visual communication platform, today announced its most significant evolution since launching in 2013 with the introduction of Canva AI 2.0, ushering in a new era of AI-powered creation as the company transforms itself into the system where work gets done.

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260416696203/en/

 

 

 

Just over a decade ago, Canva ushered in a new generation of design, transforming complex, expensive desktop software into a simple, powerful, and interoperable platform in the browser. It replaced intimidating blank pages with millions of templates, and manual, pixel-by-pixel editing with intuitive drag-and-drop creation, becoming one of the most widely used platforms in the world, with more than a quarter of a billion people now using Canva every month. Today’s announcement, unveiled at the company’s flagship Canva Create event in Los Angeles, marks the beginning of the next era of creation.

 

Powered by Canva’s frontier AI lab and years of investment in foundation models for design, Canva AI 2.0 transforms Canva into a conversational, agentic platform where teams can go from idea to execution in one place. The result is a powerful creative partner across the entire process, from the spark of an idea to the final output.

 

 

A Powerful New Architecture Layer

 

 

Canva AI 2.0 introduces a powerful new architecture layer that reimagines the entire design process, making it easier than ever to bring an idea to life. It marks Canva’s biggest shift since bringing design from complex desktop software into the browser.

 

 

Here’s what’s new:

 

 

• Conversational Design brings ideas to life from natural language prompts or dictation. Creation is no longer limited to a blank page or the perfect template. Just describe an idea, goal, or rough structure, and Canva AI generates a fully editable design with structure, brand, and layout from the start. Unlike traditional AI tools that produce a single output and stop there, Canva AI 2.0 stays with you throughout the entire creative process. It maintains context as your ideas evolve, helping you brainstorm, refine, and iterate at every step.
• Agentic Orchestration unlocks AI that finally works with you. Describe a goal, share a rough sketch, or provide a brief, and Canva AI brings it to life through a single conversation. Behind the scenes, a new orchestration layer brings together Canva’s full suite of tools to turn ideas into complete outcomes. It understands your intent, selects the right tools, and coordinates them to create everything you need, in every format. Ask it to “create a multi-channel campaign plan to launch our latest summer products,” and it will generate everything, ready to refine or publish.
• Object-Based Intelligence enables precise editing without starting over.Ask Canva AI to change something, and only that changes. Swap an image, adjust a headline, or refine a font without affecting anything else. Powered by Canva’s foundational Design Model, everything Canva AI 2.0 creates remains layered and fully editable, just as if it were built in the editor from scratch. Teams can jump in to collaborate, comment, and iterate as the work evolves.
• Living Memory gets smarter with you. With persistent memory, Canva AI understands how you work, keeping every project on brand, applying your style automatically, and evolving over time. It learns from your work and adapts to you and your team’s preferences and goals, becoming more helpful with every use. Personalise it with your existing designs to generate a custom memory library and an “About Me” profile that continuously tailors your experience.
• Canva AI is available across the Visual Suite where it can be used to create and edit presentations, documents, spreadsheets, social media posts, and more through a simple conversational interface.

 

Intelligent New Workflows

 

Canva AI 2.0 goes beyond design generation to become the system at the centre of how work gets done. From a quick design to a full campaign, it brings everything together in one place, unifying tools, workflows, and outputs to supercharge everyday work, making Canva the place where teams start and end their day.

 

 

• Connectors: Bring Your Work Together. Instead of being scattered across dozens of apps, Canva AI brings everything together, so you have everything you need to create. Connect tools like Slack, Gmail, Google Drive, and Calendar, and Canva AI can draw on your conversations, content, and schedule to create exactly what you need. Generate meeting summaries from Zoom transcripts, turn customer emails into personalised sales pitches, or create company newsletters based on activity across Slack. Initial connectors include Slack, Notion, Zoom, Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar, with more to come.
• Scheduling: Work On Autopilot. Set tasks once, and Canva AI runs them automatically in the background, even while you’re offline. Generate a full batch of social content every Friday, tailored for every channel and translated into the top ten languages spoken in the United States. Or have Canva AI scan your emails each morning and create briefing documents for your upcoming meetings based on your calendar. The work gets done in the background, ready when you log in, compressing hours of effort into seconds.
• Web Research: Insights, Built In. Web Research brings insights directly into your work. Run research on demand or schedule it in the background, and Canva AI gathers and structures information from across the web. From business proposals to market exploration, everything is delivered into your design as structured, editable content, ready to refine and share.
• Brand Intelligence: On Brand By Default. Brand Intelligence ensures every design starts and remains on-brand. Just connect your data or describe what you need, and Canva AI automatically applies your fonts, colours, and style to every design. You can also instantly update existing work by asking Canva AI to apply your latest brand, turning hours of manual updates into a single step done in seconds.
• Canva Code 2.0: Now with HTML Importing. Describe any interactive idea and Canva AI builds a complete, responsive experience, structured, interactive, and designed to work across every device. Now with HTML importing, Canva unlocks one of the fastest-growing AI formats. Instead of regenerating code for every change, you can bring any HTML file or AI-generated experience into Canva and edit it with Canva’s visual editor, no rebuilds required. From there, everything happens in one place. Add forms that collect responses in Canva Sheets, drop interactive elements into presentations, or publish to your own domain with SSO protection.
• Sheets AI: Smarter Spreadsheets Without the Hassle. Describe what you need and Canva AI 2.0 generates a fully structured, beautifully-designed sheet, populated with real data and research. From budget trackers to project timelines, content calendars to research tables, your sheet arrives structured, designed, and with all of the right data.
• Template Remix: An Infinite Library of Inspiration. Canva’s template library has always been vast, but now, it’s truly infinite. Canva AI 2.0 introduces an endless source of inspiration you can explore, remix, and make your own. Start with anything that catches your eye, then use Canva AI to shape it into exactly what you need. Every template becomes a starting point, not a limit.

 

A Rapidly Advancing Frontier AI Lab

 

At the core of Canva AI 2.0 is Canva’s rapidly advancing frontier AI lab, where more than 100 researchers across Canva Original Research and Exploration (CORE) are building a new class of multimodal foundation models purpose-built for design.

 

 

This investment has unlocked a major acceleration in Canva’s research velocity. The company’s first generation of models took over two years to develop. Today, new models are being trained, evaluated, and deployed in as little as a month, driven by advances in training infrastructure, model architectures, and closed-loop reinforcement learning systems.

 

 

Today, Canva’s research efforts span the full stack of visual AI, from image, video, and style transfer to structured design generation and evaluation. The company’s proprietary models are optimised not just for output quality, but for speed, editability, and real-world workflows.

 

 

Canva’s models are up to 7x faster and 30x cheaper than comparable frontier alternatives:

 

 

• Canva Proteus, which enables Style Transfer, is 2x faster and 23x cheaper.
• Canva Lucid Origin, which enables image generation, is 5x faster and 30x cheaper.
• Canva I2V, which enables image to video, is 7x faster and 17x cheaper.

 

To support the scale of this work, Canva is building a vertically integrated AI stack, including self-hosted training, large-scale reinforcement learning pipelines, and optimised inference infrastructure to bring this technology to its more than a quarter of a billion monthly active users.

 

Expanding Across the AI Ecosystem

 

 

Canva also announced the ability to bring AI-generated artifacts directly into Canva. From there, they become instantly editable and collaborative using Canva’s simple drag-and-drop editor, and can be published as fully functional websites in just a few clicks.

 

 

As AI reshapes how content is created, leading platforms are integrating Canva to help users move from draft generations to fully editable, structured, and scalable work. This growing demand has propelled Canva to become the third most-used AI platform in the world, and the fastest-growing in customer spend on AI products among leading software companies, according to new research from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

 

 

Research Preview Launching April 16

 

 

Starting April 16, Canva AI will launch as a research preview, rolling out to the first one million people who discover it on the Canva homepage. From there, access will expand progressively to more users over the coming weeks.

 

 

About Canva

 

 

Launched in 2013, Canva is the world’s leading all-in-one platform for visual communication and collaboration. Built to empower everyone to design, Canva serves the creative and design needs of enterprises, small businesses, consumers, and students in more than 190 countries worldwide. Whether you’re a novice taking your first steps in design, or a creative professional seeking powerful tools, Canva ensures users have what they need to transform an idea into something beautiful. Underpinned by the world’s most comprehensive library of designer-made content, Canva is powered by a suite of products and proprietary AI tools that elevate how individuals and teams create, collaborate, and communicate with ease.

 

 

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260416696203/en/

 

Business Wire India

Experian has been named a 2026 CIO 100 Award winner by Foundry’s CIO for its enterprise workplace transformation, which integrates artificial intelligence and modern digital tools to improve productivity and decision-making across its global workforce.

 

For more than 40 years, the CIO 100 Awards have honored companies that drive business value through technology leadership.

 

 

“The organizations we’re recognizing this year are not simply maintaining operations, they are actively shaping business outcomes,” said Richard Smith, head of event content for the CIO 100 Awards and Conference. “Artificial intelligence, data, security and cloud capabilities now converge under a single leadership vision. This year’s winners reflect what is possible when those elements are fully aligned.”

 

 

Powering an AI-Enabled Workforce

 

 

A central component of the initiative is Experian’s focus on trusted, well-governed data, reinforced by strong guardrails to ensure AI and analytics deliver secure, reliable insights. Experian uses AI responsibly, with human oversight where appropriate, and takes no shortcuts when it comes to governance, privacy and security. The company has expanded its use of enterprise-grade AI tools, enabling employees to automate tasks and work more efficiently.

 

 

“Receiving the CIO 100 Award highlights how Experian is bringing together artificial intelligence, a modern digital workplace and trusted data to drive innovation across our global workforce,” said Alex Lintner, CEO of Technology and Software Solutions at Experian. “By equipping employees with these capabilities, we’re improving productivity, accelerating decisions and delivering better outcomes for our customers while advancing as a data- and AI-driven organization. This progress reflects the strong execution of our digital workplace team in delivering a modern, AI-enabled employee experience.”

 

 

From Transformation to Tangible Results

 

 

Led by the digital workplace team, the transformation is delivering measurable results across the organization. More than 17,000 employees now use AI-powered tools, generating over one million interactions each month. Onboarding readiness exceeds 90%, while employee satisfaction scores average 4.5 or higher. First-call resolution rates have improved to approximately 85%.

 

 

These gains are supported by a global operating model and are expected to deliver significant cost savings over three years. The initiative builds on Experian’s broader technology strategy, including a cloud-first transformation with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that has improved scalability and accelerated AI innovation.

 

 

Scaling Innovation Across a Global Enterprise

 

 

Experian also continues to expand its AI capabilities through the Experian Ascend Platform™, which supports customer decisioning with machine learning and real-time data insights. The platform is used by more than 1,400 users globally, processing millions of credit reports daily and billions of transactions each year. In addition to the evolution of EVA, Experian Virtual Assistant™ that expands personalized, conversational financial guidance to millions of consumers.

 

 

Experian executives and others from winning organizations were recognized at the CIO 100 Awards and Conference.

 

 

About Experian

 

 

Experian is a global data and technology company, powering opportunities for people and businesses around the world. We help redefine lending practices, uncover and prevent fraud, simplify healthcare, deliver digital marketing solutions, and gain insights into the automotive market using our data, analytics and software. We also assist millions of people in achieving their financial goals and help them save time and money.

 

 

We operate across financial services, healthcare, automotive, agrifinance, insurance, and other industries.

 

 

A FTSE 100 Index company listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN), we have 25,200 people across 33 countries. Our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland. Learn more at experianplc.com.

 

 

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Experian and its affiliates. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

 

 

 

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260416872002/en/