VISUAL BANK EXPANDS AI TRAINING DATA SOLUTION FOR JAPANESE SPEECH MODELS

KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 (Bernama) -- Visual Bank Inc, via its subsidiary amanaimages Inc, has announced the expansion of its Qlean Dataset, a premium artificial intelligence (AI) training data solution for developers building high-performance Japanese speech foundation models.

The expansion strengthens its position in providing rights-cleared datasets for research and development and large-scale AI applications.

“As demand for culturally contextualised foundation models grows, high-quality, legally compliant Japanese training data is becoming increasingly critical.

“Visual Bank is committed to bridging the gap between raw content and production-ready AI systems through rigorous data preparation and engineering,” said its chief executive officer, Saneyuki Nagai, in a statement.

The datasets are fully rights-cleared for commercial use and aligned with global compliance standards such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

They include high-fidelity audio assets recorded at 48 kilohertz (kHz)/16-bit or higher, enabling capture of both studio-quality speech and diverse acoustic environments.

In addition, the datasets support detection of harmful language, including hate speech and abusive prompts, and include evaluation datasets aligned with international benchmarks such as MMSU to assess reasoning and linguistic nuance in Japanese.

The solution also incorporates Japan-specific audio, including traditional and urban sound environments, to support multimodal and spatial AI applications.

The datasets are available through AI Data Recipe, which offers both ready-to-use datasets and customised data production, including speaker casting, recording and annotation tailored to specific development needs.

-- BERNAMA

Cloudera Brings “AI Anywhere” Innovation to Global AWS Summit Series

Cloudera will showcase its hybrid data and AI capabilities across eight global summits, emphasizing how organizations can unlock the full value of enterprise data while maintaining sovereignty, governance, and control

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 1 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cloudera, the only company bringing AI to data anywhere, today announced its participation as a sponsor across the 2026 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit series, including events in Paris, Sydney, Hamburg, Madrid, Washington, D.C., Jakarta, Zurich, and Tokyo. At each event, Cloudera will demonstrate how organizations can operationalize “AI Anywhere” by running AI workloads seamlessly across hybrid and multi-cloud environments without compromising governance, security, data portability, or sovereign cloud requirements, including residency, control, and compliance in specific countries or regions.

Cloudera’s presence at AWS Summits builds on its longstanding collaboration with AWS, helping enterprises modernize their data architectures and accelerate AI adoption in increasingly complex hybrid environments. As organizations continue to balance cloud innovation with existing on-premises investments, hybrid cloud strategies are becoming the norm, enabling greater agility, scalability, and cost efficiency.

AWS is also a key member of Cloudera’s growing AI ecosystem, supporting customers as they deploy scalable, open, and secure AI solutions across diverse environments.

Engaging the Global Cloud Community

Across AWS Summit events, Cloudera will host interactive booth experiences featuring live demonstrations, expert consultations, and giveaways, offering attendees hands-on insights into real-world AI and data use cases.

Event Highlights Include:
 

• Paris, April 1: Cloudera will be holding live demos at Booth P4. Additionally, as a platinum sponsor, Cloudera will be hosting the session Accelerating Life-Saving Aid with Private AI, sharing how Mercy Corps uses Cloudera AI powered by NVIDIA to equip humanitarian teams with secure, AI-driven tools that accelerate life-saving aid delivery.
  • Time: 11:15 a.m., Location: Salle Passy L1
• Sydney, May 13–14: As a gold sponsor, Cloudera is hosting the lightning talk Cloud Anywhere: Architectural Freedom for Unified Data and AI, exploring how organizations can avoid vendor lock-in and unify data and AI across AWS and on-prem environments.
  • There will also be a networking reception at the Cloudera booth on May 13, 5:15–6:00 p.m., featuring games and prize drawings.
• Hamburg, May 20: As a platinum sponsor, Cloudera will be hosting a breakout session, as well as scheduled demos and giveaways at its booth.
• Madrid, June 4: In its session Psychology for Robots: Cognitive Biases and Bacon in Your Ice Cream, Cloudera will do a deep dive into cognitive bias in AI systems and how Cloudera ensures production-ready AI anywhere.
• Additional Event Presence at:
  • Washington, D.C., June 30
  • Jakarta, August 6
  • Zurich, September 2
  • Tokyo, June 25

“Our collaboration with AWS is central to delivering on the promise of AI Anywhere,” said Michelle Hoover, SVP of Global Alliances and Channels at Cloudera. “Customers shouldn’t have to choose between innovation and control. By combining Cloudera’s hybrid data platform with AWS’s cloud capabilities, we’re empowering organizations to run AI workloads wherever they need—while maintaining governance, security, and portability.”

Learn More
To learn more about Cloudera’s presence at upcoming AWS Summits, including AWS re:Invent in November, visit: https://www.cloudera.com/events.html

About Cloudera
Cloudera is the only hybrid data and AI platform company that large organizations trust to bring AI to their data anywhere it lives. Unlike other providers, Cloudera delivers a consistent cloud experience that converges public clouds, on-prem data centers, and the edge, leveraging a proven open-source foundation. As the pioneer in big data, Cloudera empowers businesses to apply AI and assert control over 100% of their data, in all forms, improving security, governance, and real-time and predictive insights. The world’s largest brands across all industries rely on Cloudera to transform decision-making and ultimately boost bottom lines, safeguard against threats, and save lives.

To learn more, visit Cloudera.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X. Cloudera and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cloudera, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact
Jess Hohn-Cabana
cloudera@v2comms.com

SOURCE: Cloudera, Inc.

Bitget Leads BTC and ETH Futures Liquidity in TokenInsight March Report

VICTORIA, Seychelles, April 1 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitget, the world's largest Universal Exchange (UEX), ranked first in BTC and ETH futures liquidity in TokenInsight’s March 2026 Crypto Exchange Liquidity Report, leading all surveyed exchanges in both market depth and execution quality.

The ranking comes at a time when market volatility is driving larger and more frequent trades across digital assets. In this environment, liquidity is no longer just a benchmark, it directly impacts trading outcomes. According to the report, Bitget led cumulative BTC and ETH futures depth at both the 0.05% and 0.1% market depth bands. In futures execution quality, Bitget recorded the lowest slippage for $1 million BTC futures sell orders at 0.014% and for $1 million ETH futures sell orders at 0.025%, reinforcing the platform’s strength in handling larger trade sizes under live market conditions. Bitget also posted the tightest BTC futures bid-ask spread among all exchanges surveyed.

“Liquidity quality matters most when markets are moving quickly and execution becomes part of the trading outcome,” said Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget. “What stands out in this report is not only depth, but consistency across major futures pairs where institutional and active traders are most sensitive to execution efficiency.”

Beyond futures, Bitget ranked second globally in BTC and ETH spot liquidity in both order book depth and spot slippage performance across the $500k and $1M order sizes. TokenInsight identified Bitget among the leading venues for tokenized gold (XAU) and silver (XAG) futures, where it ranked within the top tier for market depth and execution quality, reflecting broader user participation across crypto and macro-linked assets.

The findings point to a broader shift in trading behaviour, as trading activity increasingly spans digital assets and commodity-linked instruments. As macro volatility continues to influence capital allocation, deeper liquidity across both digital assets and commodity-linked instruments has become a defining factor in how users and institutions access global markets through unified trading infrastructure.

Bitget's UEX model is designed to support this shift by bringing crypto and tokenized assets into a single trading environment. As users seek more efficient ways to navigate markets, liquidity and execution consistency remain key to delivering a reliable trading experience.

About Bitget

Bitget is the world's largest Universal Exchange (UEX), serving over 125 million users and offering access to over 2M crypto tokens, 100+ tokenized stocks, ETFs, commodities, FX, and precious metals such as gold. The ecosystem is committed to helping users trade smarter with its AI agent, which co-pilots trade execution. Bitget is driving crypto adoption through strategic partnerships with LALIGA and MotoGP™. Aligned with its global impact strategy, Bitget has joined hands with UNICEF to support blockchain education for 1.1 million people by 2027. Bitget currently leads in the tokenized TradFi market, providing the industry's lowest fees and highest liquidity across 150 regions worldwide.

For more information, visit: Website | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord

For media inquiries, please contact: media@bitget.com

Risk Warning: Digital asset prices are subject to fluctuation and may experience significant volatility. Investors are advised to only allocate funds they can afford to lose. The value of any investment may be impacted, and there is a possibility that financial objectives may not be met, nor the principal investment recovered. Independent financial advice should always be sought, and personal financial experience and standing carefully considered. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Bitget accepts no liability for any potential losses incurred. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice. For further information, please refer to our Terms of Use.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/23d6da77-30c5-43e8-ad7c-85b95a71b2c0 

SOURCE: Bitget Limited

DISCLAIMER: BERNAMA MREM are not accountable for any causes of website defacement, misuse, or illegal activities connected to cryptocurrency, blockchain, tokenisation, or bitcoin. This material should not be considered as guidance or an opinion, as it does not constitute financial or investment advice. Use this information at your own risk; we are not liable for any losses or damages caused by the republication of this article.

HOLAFLY REPORT HIGHLIGHTS SUSTAINABILITY GAP IN TRAVEL DECISIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- The Holafly eSIM & Travel Report revealed that 42 per cent of travellers actively take steps to travel more responsibly, highlighting a growing awareness of environmental impact among global explorers.

However, only 22.5 per cent rank sustainability among their top priorities when planning a trip, indicating that price, convenience, and other practical factors often outweigh environmental considerations.

“The message from travellers is clear: people want to make responsible choices, but those choices need to be simple and accessible. Sustainability will only scale when responsible options are seamlessly integrated into the travel experience,” said Holafly Brand Director, Daniela Prado.

In the report, Holafly, an eSIM provider, revealed new insights into how sustainability is shaping travel decisions worldwide with a clear hierarchy between intention and decision-making.

This gap between values and practical choices reflects a broader trend across the travel industry as travellers widely support sustainable tourism in principle, but translating those intentions into booking decisions remains complex.

In addition, Holafly stated in a statement that many travellers express the desire to reduce their environmental footprint, yet affordability, accessibility and overall travel experience still tend to shape final choices.

Holafly’s eSIM products contribute to more responsible travel by replacing traditional SIM cards, reducing emissions linked to production, packaging, and global distribution.

The company estimates that each eSIM prevents approximately 114.7 grammes of carbon dioxide (CO₂), with over 15 million eSIMs sold worldwide avoiding more than 1,700 tonnes of CO₂.

As the travel sector faces growing climate awareness, the challenge remains turning environmental values into practical, seamless choices that travellers can adopt without friction.

-- BERNAMA

UNIPART POSTS GBP991.6 MLN TURNOVER, STRONG 2025 RESULTS

KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- Unipart, the supply chain performance improvement partner, has reported a group turnover of GBP991.6 million and an underlying profit before interest and tax of GBP27.9 million in its full-year financial results for 2025. (GBP1 = RM5.31)

The company in a statement said it ended the year with a net cash surplus of GBP9.4 million, demonstrating robust operational efficiency and disciplined capital management.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Darren Leigh highlighted that the company strengthened its order book, achieved solid earnings and cash performance, and made significant progress executing The Unipart Way Forward strategy.

“In 2026, our focus on organic expansion, strategic partnerships, and ongoing investment in our people and technology, combined with our continued diversification, gives me confidence that we can navigate ongoing global supply chain instability and challenges.

“We are fully committed to delivering more efficient, resilient and sustainable supply chains for our customers, and long-term sustainable value for our shareholders,” he added.

The 2025 financial year marked a period of strategic transition and expansion under The Unipart Way Forward strategy, supported by customer growth, digital transformation investments, and a commitment to colleagues and sustainability.

Amid global supply chain challenges, Unipart leveraged its breadth of expertise to increase visibility, predictability, and mitigate disruption for its customers. The company expanded its services with existing clients, welcomed new customers, launched new solutions, and formed key industry partnerships.

Unipart reaffirmed its commitment to people, health, safety, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, receiving five stars in the British Safety Council audit for the 15th consecutive year, achieving upper quartile employee engagement, and hosting the Big Charity Challenge, which raised over GBP62,000 for more than 30 charities.

-- BERNAMA

AM BEST UPGRADES LONG-TERM ISSUER CREDIT RATING OF HANOI RE

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- AM Best has upgraded Hanoi Reinsurance Joint Stock Corporation (Hanoi Re) long-term issuer credit rating (Long-Term ICR) to “bbb+” (Good) from “bbb” (Good) and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Vietnam National Scale Rating (NSR) of aaa.VN (Exceptional).

In a statement, the global credit rating agency said the outlook for the Long-Term ICR has been revised to stable from positive, while the outlook of the FSR and the NSR is stable.

The credit ratings (ratings) reflect Hanoi Re’s strong balance sheet, strong operating performance, limited business profile, and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also incorporate support from the company’s ultimate parent, HDI Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie V.a.G.

The Long-Term ICR upgrade reflects Hanoi Re’s strengthened balance sheet fundamentals. Risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, is expected to remain at the strongest level over the medium term.

Capital requirements have increased in fiscal year (FY) 2025 following strong business growth and higher investment risk, though the company’s capital adequacy remains robust, nonetheless.

The company’s investment portfolio is moderate risk, primarily cash and term deposits, supplemented by non-rated corporate bonds and affiliated private equity. High retrocession dependence offsets some strengths but is partly mitigated by a quality panel of retrocession counterparties.

Operating performance is strong, with a five-year average return on equity of 14.4 per cent (FY 2021 to FY2025). FY 2025 earnings improved due to favourable underwriting performance, loss reserve development, reduced management expenses, and premium rate increases. Investment income, mainly interest and dividends, remains a key contributor to overall earnings.

Hanoi Re is one of Vietnam’s two domestic reinsurers, with a significant portion of business sourced from its affiliated company, PVI Insurance Corporation. The company maintains moderate underwriting risk, including exposure to catastrophe-prone property and engineering lines, with potential losses partially mitigated through catastrophe retrocession.

-- BERNAMA

AM BEST AFFIRMS EXCELLENT RATINGS OF NAN SHAN GENERAL

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (Bernama) -- AM Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of “a-” (Excellent) of Taiwan’s Nan Shan General Insurance Co Ltd (Nan Shan General), with a stable outlook.

In a statement, AM Best said the credit ratings (ratings) reflect Nan Shan General’s very strong balance sheet strength, adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

The company’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, improved to the strongest level at year-end 2025, supported by consistent earnings growth and partial profit retention.

AM Best expects the insurer to maintain its balance sheet strength over the medium term, backed by an insurance risk profile characterised by personal lines and small- to medium-sized commercial accounts, prudent investments and a sound reinsurance programme.

Operating performance remained favourable in 2025, driven by improved underwriting results and stable investment income. Premium growth has exceeded the industry average for three consecutive years, mainly driven by expansion in the voluntary motor, travel and commercial lines.

The insurer’s personal lines segment, accounting for about 74 per cent of its portfolio, benefited from positive underwriting margins, while its net operating expense and combined ratios edged down to 37.2 per cent and 90.0 per cent, respectively, representing the lowest levels for both metrics over the last five-year period. Return on equity remained at a double-digit level.

Investment performance also strengthened, supported by capital gains in equities and stable interest income from bonds. The company is expected to maintain a focus on domestic fixed-income securities with moderate equity exposure.

Nan Shan General benefits from its parent, Nan Shan Life Insurance Co Ltd (Nan Shan Life) through brand recognition, distribution support and capital backing, despite its relatively modest business scale.

-- BERNAMA