The Innovation Report
Smart Mobility Today: 1 June 2026
Sailors throughout millennia knew what it meant when the water went black, the sky darkened, and the wind filled their sails with frightening velocity. They headed to open water in an attempt to save their ships and their lives. Hurricanes raised fear for those on...
Big Batteries Made In West Michigan Will Support Massive Data Center Demand On DTE Grid
Workers in West Michigan will build large-scale batteries to supplement the power grid as data centers requiring more electricity than entire cities come online in Michigan. Utility DTE Energy has struck a $1.6 billion procurement deal for battery energy...
Industrie De Nora Acquires BW Water To Boost Water Recycling And Circularity
Italian electrochemistry and water management firm Industrie De Nora is acquiring municipal and industrial water solution provider BW Water from parent BW Renewables. The deal will allow De Nora to combine its water technology specialities with BW Water’s project and...
The Next Just-In-Time? How Agentic AI Is Rewiring The Factory
Factory work has never been exactly glamorous. But it can be quite lucrative, so long as you correctly balance your time and efforts like a gymnast perched on a narrow beam. To appreciate the dangers of that balancing act, imagine this frustrating scenario. Every...
Autonomous Aviation System Aims For Pilot-Free Cargo Aircraft
A new frontier for autonomous flight appears to have been breached as Merlin, Inc. introduces its Merlin Pilot for Commercial Cargo AI-powered flight system that aims to eventually bring pilot-free flight to large cargo aircraft. In recent years we've seen autonomous...
NOAA Sends Autonomous Surface Vehicles Into Hurricanes To Study Rapid Intensification
Long-running partnership with Saildrone aims to improve hurricane forecasting and rapid intensification models. The company announced plans to deploy 10 Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) during the 2026 hurricane season in partnership with National...
General Motors To Make Batteries For NASA’s New Manned Moon Rover
General Motors Co. will help develop batteries for new manned rovers to be driven by NASA astronauts on the moon. NASA awarded private space startup Lunar Outpost $220 million on Tuesday to build the Pegasus vehicle with help from GM, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co....
AI Automation Creates More Expert Work, Not Less
Every company racing to automate knowledge work is discovering the same uncomfortable paradox: the more tasks they hand to AI agents, the more human judgment they need to make those agents useful. Dan Shipper, CEO of Every, a media and AI research company that has...
Stellantis Partners With Wayve To Advance Autonomous Driving Solutions
Stellantis and Wayve announced a partnership that will enable scalable driver-assistance features and, eventually, autonomous self-driving vehicles. According to a recent joint press release, Stellantis will integrate Wayve’s artificial intelligence (AI) into its...
Waymo Pauses Freeway Rides In San Francisco, Los Angeles Over Safety
Waymo, the self-driving robotaxi company, is temporarily pausing its vehicles from operating on U.S. freeways, including in San Francisco and Los Angeles, to address safety concerns after reports emerged that the vehicles were operating unsafely. Within the last two...
