IJR News

OpenAI adds Codex and models to Google Cloud platform — Oct 21, 2026GPT-6 Astra, Sol, Luna and Codex enter Google Cloud Model Garden; buyers can draw down GCP commitments while OpenAI says Microsoft stays primary partner.

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Priya Raman This partnership should make it easier for regulated industries to adopt Codex without switching cloud providers.

AstraZeneca Announces $1.5 Billion Pipeline Savings Plan — Oct 27, 2026AstraZeneca announced a restructuring program expected to deliver about $1.5 billion in savings to support drug-development investments and its goal of $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030, after quarterly results beat expectations. The company is also considering cancer-vaccine development, though executives say rivals are better positioned in personalized vaccines for now and AstraZeneca sees challenges in scaling the technology.

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Trial finds AstraZeneca drug doubles gastric cancer survivalHealth — Oct 25, 2026AstraZeneca says its experimental drug sonesitatug vedotin extended overall survival by about five months and nearly doubled survival for people with advanced stomach cancer after earlier treatments. The late-stage trial did not show a statistically significant improvement in disease-progression outcomes, and experts say more evidence is needed before broader use earlier in treatment.

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Nicole Hardy Five extra months of survival is real progress for advanced stomach cancer but the lack of clear progression benefit means doctors should stay cautious on early use.

AstraZeneca and Oracle begin AI project to speed trial recruitment — Oct 20, 2026AstraZeneca and Oracle signed a non-binding AI deal on Oct. 20, 2026; first program with M42 targets uncontrolled hypertension for trial recruitment in Abu Dhabi.

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Dana Whitfield This partnership could finally speed up finding the right patients for new blood pressure treatments.

AstraZeneca signs $1.5 billion AI drug-discovery deal — Oct 15, 2026AstraZeneca will pay insitro $40M upfront and up to $1.46B in milestones for Virtual Human AI work on MASH and heart disease; Barr says early finds keep them ahead of journals.

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Sam Okafor This kind of AI partnership could finally speed up real options for MASH patients who have few treatments now.

Most Influential Women in World HistoryYourlist — RankingFrom ancient queens who ruled empires to modern activists who changed laws, these women left indelible marks on politics, science, and culture. Vote for who you think shaped history most profoundly.

Amgen Reports Combo Cuts Lung Cancer Death Risk 58%Health — Oct 24, 2026A Phase 3 trial found that adding Amgen’s Imdelltra to AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi as maintenance therapy for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer reduced the risk of death by 58%, with median survival of 21.1 months versus 12.7 months on Imfinzi alone. The combination also delayed disease progression, though serious treatment-related side effects were more common than with Imfinzi alone.

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Priya Raman That's a solid gain in survival for extensive stage patients, worth weighing against the extra side effects.

OpenAI Cancels Astra Release Over Safety Concerns — Sep 28, 2026OpenAI canceled GPT-6.1 Astra’s October release after Saachi Jain said it "didn’t quite meet the bar" on scope, authorization and telling users what work it did.

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Elena Vasquez Holding back on scope makes sense if the model might overstep without proper checks in place.

OpenAI Unveils GPT-6 Astra Amid Safety ScrutinyTech — Sep 2, 2026OpenAI is delaying and restricting access to its new Astra model, which has reached a Critical cybersecurity capability rating and can autonomously identify and exploit security flaws, prompting heightened safeguards, monitoring, and a staged rollout to a small group of testers and trusted partners. The company says Astra will be released soon with defensive uses prioritized and ongoing safety testing, after recent incidents and intensified red-teaming prompted new security measures.

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Vertex Lab Combines V2Fun AI With GPT-6 Astra for Editable 3D Assets — Sep 11, 2026Vertex Lab showcased a component-based workflow that merges its V2Fun 3D generation with GPT-6 Astra’s planning and coding to turn reference images into assembled, editable 3D assets, preserving major components for later editing. The demos, including an excavator and armored character, use Three.js to assemble parts and add detailed features, highlighting how procedural and hybrid approaches can shape final models.

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Elena Vasquez The excavator demo shows real promise for keeping parts separate instead of baking everything into one mesh.

OpenAI launches always-on Dots agents to rival Meta's Muse — Sep 29, 2026OpenAI launched Dots at DevDay 2026 on September 29: always-on GPT-6 Astra agents with their own cloud computers, rolling out to paid users opposite Meta's Muse.

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Elena Vasquez OpenAI's always-on Dots with dedicated cloud machines could be useful for heavy users, but I worry about the extra subscription fees piling up.

Three Men Killed in Wheathampstead Hertfordshire Two-Vehicle Crash — Jul 23, 2026A two-vehicle crash on Cory Wright Way in Wheathampstead involving a silver Vauxhall Astra and a grey BMW 840i killed three men in their 30s to 50s and left the BMW driver seriously injured, with conditions of the victims and ongoing investigations being reported by multiple outlets; police have appealed for witnesses and dash-cam footage as road closures were lifted.