Bloomberg:
Sources: Chinese optics company and Nvidia supplier Innolight confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO that could raise $3B+; Innolight is listed in Shenzhen  —  Chinese optics firm Zhongji Innolight Co. has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong listing, according to people familiar with the development …

Sally Weale / The Guardian:
UK National Education Union poll: 66% of secondary school teachers in England have observed their pupils' critical thinking skills decline due to AI usage  —  Two-thirds of secondary school teachers report a decline in core abilities such as writing and problem-solving

Paris-based Omniscient ingests 100,000+ sources, press, social, web, video, audio, internal pipelines, and synthesises them into a two-minute executive briefing. Renault is an early client. A global syndicate spanning France, Japan, and the US backed the round. Omniscient, the Paris-based decision intelligence platform built for boards and senior executives, has raised $4.1 million in pre-seed […]

New York Times:
Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry anti-US views are taking root worldwide  —  The war in Iran has exposed the need to mount a defense against foreign influence campaigns, officials and experts say.

Developer Ludogram Games (Monsters are Coming: Rock & Roll, Firebird) has announced Ascenders: Beyond the Peak, a new mountain-climbing adventure that features roguelite progression and turn-based gameplay, with a Lovecraft-inspired twist.

Players lead a team of climbers as they ascend a mountain cursed by mysterious, sinister forces. Success means carefully guiding your team, tethered together by a rope, across obstacles to reach the summit. Team composition matters, as climbers have different classes determining the tools and techniques they bring to the expedition. Highlanders, for example, can shove enemies off the cliff. Scouts can reposition themselves using a grappling hook, and Sappers can use explosives and firearms.

The short, tactical climbs are riddled with environmental hazards, including ice sheets, unstable rocks, and bramble, which drain the team’s endurance. Climbers can be lost during the journey, and players will need to make tough decisions when one character’s peril endangers the entire team; it may be necessary to literally cut someone loose to progress the expedition at the expense of that climber's resources. The ascent itself is broken up into a roguelite-style branching path, with each stop representing a section of the climb and potentially other destinations.

Reaching the summit rewards artifacts from a lost civilization, which can be used to upgrade your camp or traded to other factions. These artifacts can also be used during climbs to make them easier, though how is unclear.  The choice-driven narrative will push players to make decisions such as which mountains to tackle, which factions to align with, and other choices that determine one of multiple endings.

Ascenders: Beyond the Peak is launching into Steam Early Access during Q3 2026.