1. (PDF) Accenture 보고서 - 2026 연말 쇼핑 트렌드: AI 에이전트 자율 결제 시대의 개막개인 AI 에이전트에 102달러 자율 결제 권한 부여: Accenture의 연례 연말 쇼핑 조사 결과 미국 소비자는 사전 승인 없이 AI 에이전트가 평균 102달러까지 선물을 직접 결제하도록 허용할 의향이 있으며 주 1회 이상 생성형 AI를 쓰는 적극적 이용자는 한도가 149달러로 상승.에이전트 추천 신뢰도 상승과 브랜드 충성도 균열: 적극적 생성형 AI 이용자의 절반이 선물 선택 시 본인보다 AI 알고리즘을 더 신뢰한다고 답했으며 전체 쇼핑객의 60%가 단일 장바구니를 여러 경쟁 유통사에 분할 결제하...

Shoppers Are Ready to Hand AI Agents $102 in Autonomous Holiday Spending—Even If Retailers Aren’t Ready Yet.Accenture’s 20th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey reveals that half of active generative AI users now trust an algorithm more than themselves to select gifts, signaling an imminent shift from AI-assisted search to autonomous commerce.For the past two years, generative artificial intelligence in retail has largely functioned as an upgraded search bar—a digital sounding board for brainstorming gift ideas or hunting down promo codes. Th...

Local opposition to data center construction in the United States has grown throughout 2026. According to Data Center Watch, at least 120 projects worth around $198 billion were blocked or delayed in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, the number of local opposition groups rose to 843 across 49 states.Data centers are the physical foundation on which AI is run, and as a result, the ability to build and operate this infrastructure has become an important global benchmark. The U.S. leads the global data center market with 5,044 facilities a...

Personalisation is everywhere, from Tod’s loafer charms to Alex Mill’s hand-painted tote bags. For brands, it represents a massive opportunity to create an emotional connection with a customer — if they can get the complicated logistics right.For decades, the global fashion industry built empires around unmistakable corporate emblems, interlocking monograms, and conspicuous status symbols. Today, however, shoppers fatigued by mass-market ubiquity and overt displays of wealth are turning away from traditional brand logos in favor of a far...

Led by Inovia Capital, the $10 million seed round supports Physicl’s pivot from e-commerce 3D product rendering to high-fidelity physical AI and robotics simulation.After his previous 3D e-commerce visualization startup was disrupted by the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence, founder and CEO Alex de Vigan is repurposing that underlying rendering technology for robotics. His new venture, Physicl, has raised $10 million in seed funding led by Inovia Capital to help world-model developers and robotics engineers train physical AI...

A robotic builder engineered by Caltech and funded by DARPA has achieved the first autonomous assembly of a structural truss from individual components in Earth’s orbit.Launching massive, fully assembled structures into Earth’s orbit presents immense payload and engineering hurdles, while relying on astronauts to assemble components manually exposes crews to the hazards of radiation and vacuum conditions. Offering a scalable robotic alternative, engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), backed by the Defense Advanced R...

Grocery prices could increase again as surging energy costs, supply-chain delays lift costs for producers.U.S. grocery prices rose 0.4% in October from the previous month, driven by snarled supply chains, unpredictable weather and high fuel prices.Retail diesel prices have increased by over 66% since the start of the war in Iran, reaching a record high of $6.53 in September.Kraft Heinz Chief Executive Steve Cahillane warned that price increases across the company’s portfolio are coming in 2027 due to cost pressures.The latest pickup in food...

Pringles is taking brand loyalty to the grave this Halloween, offering one fan a can-shaped cremation urn and what it calls an “afterlifetime” supply of crisps.The ‘Once You Drop’ campaign invites US fans to sign a “will and taste-ament” pledging to have their ashes buried in a Pringles can. The winner receives a personally engraved metal urn, plus $28,080: the cash equivalent of one can a week for 200 years.The inspiration is stranger than the promotion. Fredric Baur, who designed the Pringles can, had some of his ashes buried in one...

Soldering one of the graphene-based, ambient-radiation-powered temperature sensors Russell Cothren.Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is famous for conjuring electricity from thin air. It turns out you don't necessarily need a magical hammer to do this, as scientists have created a device that harvests electricity from radiation in its environment.Researchers at the University of Arkansas and the University of Michigan have developed a graphene-based energy harvester that generates electricity by harnessing ambient radiation from nearby electri...