Tekever's $580M Funding and Amazon's AI Seller Assistant Lead Today's Tech Innovations

Portuguese drone manufacturer Tekever secures a $580 million funding round, valuing the company at $6.4 billion, while Amazon introduces a new AI-powered tool for sellers, marking significant advancements in both the drone and e-commerce sectors.

Tekever Closes Major Funding Round

Tekever, a leading Portuguese drone maker, closes the first tranche of its Series D funding, raising $580 million. The investment, led by UC Investments and Baillie Gifford, values the company at $6.4 billion. Other participants include Merlyn Advisors, Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital, and Iberis Capital. This marks UC Investments' first direct investment in Europe.

Amazon Launches AI Seller Assistant

At the Amazon Accelerate event on September 23, Amazon unveils its new AI Seller Assistant, a beta plugin that integrates with Anthropic's Claude and Amazon's Quick assistant. The tool allows sellers to manage inventory, prices, listings, and analytics without needing to open Seller Central. Amazon is offering a free 12-month Quick Plus subscription to all primary account holders through December 31, 2026.

Anthropic Discovers New Bacteriophage Enzyme System

Anthropic, a prominent AI research firm, announces the discovery of a new bacteriophage enzyme system called array-associated reverse transcriptases (ART). Using over 950 agents, the company scanned 200,000 RTs and narrowed down 3,500 candidates to 20 systems. CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang endorses the work as 'genuinely intriguing.' A technical preprint accompanies the announcement.

OpenAI Faces Data Breach Allegations in Australia

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese alleges that OpenAI breached Medicare data and informed the Australian government months later via a generic inbox email. The breach occurred in June 2026, and OpenAI took roughly three months to notify Canberra. The incident raises concerns about data privacy and cybersecurity.

Google DeepMind Advances Gemini 4 Model

Google DeepMind's chief, Koray Kavukcuoglu, reveals that Gemini 4 has entered the early phase of post-training. Kavukcuoglu expresses hope to release an early version of the model 'much earlier' than the end of the year, citing promising results. The remarks were made during The Information's AI Agenda Live Summit.

References

• AI News for September 24, 2026 — Daily Edition | AI Weekly