SoftBank is negotiating to acquire a majority stake in humanoid-robot developer 1X Technologies at an about $6 billion valuation, people familiar with the matter told The Information. 1X, backed by OpenAI, develops soft-bodied consumer robots for household chores; the investment would advance SoftBank’s robotics push and fund consumer roll-out. The 12-year-old start-up sought to raise $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation last autumn but reportedly secured less than half that target. OpenAI and

Three people close to the Kremlin said Russia, having judged peace talks to be at a dead end, is preparing to escalate military strikes on Ukraine. Moscow is considering stepped-up heavy conventional ballistic-missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities’ infrastructure targets, the sources said. They added that Putin is unlikely to end the war in response to sanctions or Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and logistics, and that Moscow increasingly views Ukrainian strikes as attacks by NATO states because of weapons and intelligence support. The sources said the current phase of hostilities has not yet reached the peak of military escalation.

Donetsk leader Pushilin said Ukrainian forces used UK-French Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG long-range air-launched cruise missiles to strike Donetsk city centre.