Envirotech Vehicles Closes Merger with Azio AI Ahead of Schedule, Positioning Combined Company to Capture $487 Billion 2026 AI Infrastructure Opportunity

AMD agreed to acquire Toronto startup Taalas, which designs model-specific AI chips that etch neural network weights into transistors to avoid weight transfers during inference. Taalas’ first test chip reportedly ran Meta’s Llama 3.1 8B at 16,960 tokens per second. Closing is expected in Q4, with chips planned for AMD Helios racks using ROCm.

AMD confirmed it will buy Toronto AI inference chip startup Taalas, subject to regulatory approval, to integrate Taalas technology into its accelerator roadmap and pair it with Instinct GPUs. AMD reported Q2 revenue of $11.5B (+50% YoY), data center $6.7B (+107%), and adjusted EPS $1.66 (+246%).

AkzoNobel and Axalta Coating Systems said shareholders approved their merger, which will remove the AkzoNobel name and Amsterdam listing. A new name is not set. Regulatory clearance is still needed, with closing expected by year end or early next year. The combined firm will be Dutch-structured with dual HQs in Amsterdam and Philadelphia, led by AkzoNobel CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume. AkzoNobel shareholders get 55%, Axalta 45%, with projected €519m annual cost savings and nearly €15bn revenue.

Central Retail said its unit Central Food Retail will acquire all AEON (Thailand) ordinary shares, after signing an agreement filed Aug. 7. Completion is expected Sept. 30. MaxValu stores will be rebranded as Tops and integrated. AEON exits Thai supermarkets after 40+ years, while prioritizing Vietnam, where AEON Mall reported FY2024 revenue of about 17.3bn yen (+14%).

NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) announced it will acquire JetStream Software, which provides VMware disaster recovery and migration technology. NetApp said the combined offering will protect VMware environments on various storage platforms and enable recovery on NetApp storage such as Azure NetApp Files, complementing SnapMirror. The deal targets improved cyber resilience and cloud migration support.

Bloomberg reports Paramount Skydance Corp. would offer three-year theatre agreements with AMC and Cineworld’s Regal if it completes its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount would commit to releasing 30 films annually, with 45-day theatre exclusivity and 90-day streaming delays, plus penalties. The $110bn deal faces US state antitrust action and a March trial.