Information extraction (IE) is fundamental to numerous NLP applications, yet existing solutions often require specialized models for different tasks or rely on computationally expensive large language models. We present GLiNER2, a unified framework that enhances the original GLiNER architecture to support named entity recognition, text classification, and hierarchical structured data extraction within a single efficient model. Built pretrained transformer encoder architecture, GLiNER2 maintains CPU efficiency and compact size while introducing multi-task composition through an intuitive schema-based interface. Our experiments demonstrate competitive performance across extraction and classification tasks with substantial improvements in deployment accessibility compared to LLM-based alternatives. We release GLiNER2 as an open-source pip-installable library with pre-trained models and documentation at https://github.com/fastino-ai/GLiNER2.

This paper examines the diffusion of media slant, specifically how partisan content from national cable news affects local newspapers in the U.S., 2005-2008. We use a text-based measure of cable news slant trained on content from Fox News Channel (FNC), CNN, and MSNBC to analyze how local newspapers adopt FNC's slant over CNN/MSNBC's. Our findings show that local news becomes more similar to FNC content in response to an exogenous increase in local FNC viewership. This shift is not limited to borrowing from cable news, but rather, local newspapers' own content changes. Further, cable TV slant polarizes local news content.

Booz Allen Hamilton announced the creation of HELworks, an innovative developer of directed energy and high energy laser (HEL) weapon systems designed to meet the needs of warfighters in the modern battlespace. "Booz Allen's significant investment in HEL technology maturation and operational prototypes ensures that HELworks solutions are operationally relevant and producible at scale--ready for use by warfighters, today. We are proud to be on the forefront of innovation and mission-focused leaders in this area." Booz Allen has made significant investment in independent research and development projects focused on developing directed energy solutions over the past 5 years, based in the firm's understanding of Department of Defense (DOD) needs and mission requirements. HELworks leverages Booz Allen's 25-plus year heritage of directed energy expertise to optimize size, weight, and power (SWaP); deliver enhanced military utility; and provide rapid deployment of first-of-its-kind HEL solutions.

Venture capital firms are eager to allocate money into robotics firms in a wide range of industries from shipping to healthcare as more automation became a focus during the global pandemic. In 2021, funding globally for robotics and drone companies rose to $14.9 billion, according to PitchBook. The amount of funding raised for robotics in 2022 has been steady. By January, VCs allocated $560 million of funding into robotics startups, excluding the round for Wandelbots, a German industrial robotics company that raised $84 million for its Series C round in January. The funding for the company's no-code platform came from U.S. investor Insight Partners, which led the round and was also supported by its existing backers - Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report, 83North, Next47, Paua, Atlantic Labs and EQT.

Since February, the nurses at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia have had an extra assistant on their shifts: Moxi, a nearly six-foot tall robot that ferries medication, supplies, lab samples, and personal items through the halls, from floor to floor. After two years of battling Covid-19 and related burnout, it's been a welcome relief. "There's two levels of burnout: There's'we're short this weekend' burnout, and then there's pandemic burnout, which our care teams are experiencing right now," says Abigail Hamilton, a former ICU and emergency room nurse that manages nursing staff support programs at the hospital. Moxi is one of several specialized delivery robots that has been developed in recent years to ease the strain on health care workers. Even before the pandemic, nearly half of US nurses felt that their workplace lacked adequate work-life balance.