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Here's your morning TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, October 8th.

I'm Zoe Colkin for the Wall Street Journal.

SoftBank has agreed to a $5.4 billion deal for the industrial robotics-focused business of ABB.

It's the largest of the many investments made by SoftBank's CEO, Masayoshi San, who's been passionate about combining AI with

robots for well over a decade. San also told associates he hopes to incorporate robots

and chip manufacturing plants that'll power AI. SoftBank stock has more than tripled over the past

six months, the kind of thing that's led Sanond to go on deal sprees in the past.

A group made up of some of the advertising industry's biggest players are proposing new standards

for transparency in the digital auctions that increasingly dominate ad sales. According to the

Media Rating Council, which published the proposal, 80% of all ad sales occur in closed-loop auctions run by one major player.

So operators like Google, Meta, and Amazon decide how much to reveal about their processes to ad buyers.

With the new standards, operators would agree to disclose key information, like the types of auctions they run, how winners are decided,

and what influences prices on their platforms. Participation in the new standards would be voluntary,

though parties that agree to audits would be eligible for a new Rating Council accreditation.

And the European Union has outlined plans to promote adoption of AI tools to boost the region's grasp of the technology.

The plans involve two strategies, speeding up the use of AI and key industries in the public sector, and boosting AI-driven research.

The move comes amid concerns that Europe is falling behind China and the U.S. when it comes to artificial intelligence.

The EU is aiming to put around a billion euros towards funding the initiatives.

That's your TNB Tech Minute. Join us again this afternoon for more.

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