This week’s list of top data news highlights covers November 29, 2025 to December 5, 2025 and includes articles on performing surgery remotely and using robotic dogs to detect fires.
1. Enabling Autonomous Payments
InFlow, a fintech startup based in California, has built an API that lets AI agents complete transactions on online services autonomously. AI agents can’t reliably navigate complex web forms or sign-up pages because these visual interfaces are designed for humans, not machine-to-machine communication. InFlow’s system enables AI agents to talk directly to the service provider’s backend to register and pay, bypassing the visual website interface entirely. For this to work, service providers must enable a machine-readable interface on their backend so they can accept requests from AI agents.
2. Scaling AI-Engineered Materials
Aether Biomachines, a U.S. biotechnology company, has developed an AI-driven system that identifies new molecules for advanced manufacturing and is producing those materials at industrial scale. The system analyzes extensive experimental data on how millions of proteins behave and pinpoints the enzyme needed to build a desired molecule. Aether then engineers that enzyme and uses it to manufacture the resulting material in large quantities. One of the first materials produced through this process is RapidPrint, a polymer filament that lets 3D printers run three to four times faster than standard options.
The University of Bradford, a UK research institution, is using robotic dogs to patrol terrain and look for early signs of wildfires. The four-legged robots carry sensors that collect ground-level thermal and environmental data, which is combined with drone footage and sent over emerging 6G networks for real-time analysis. By capturing details that satellites and cameras often miss—such as heat pockets hidden by vegetation—the robotic dogs help pinpoint areas where fires may be starting. The system is designed to give firefighting teams earlier, more accurate alerts so they can respond before small ignition points grow into large wildfires.
4. Performing Remote Robotic Surgery
Sentante, a Lithuanian medtech robotics company, has developed a robotic surgery system that enables surgeons to perform a stroke procedure remotely between Scotland and Paris. The platform allows surgeons to control robotic instruments over long distances with millimeter-level precision, using real-time feedback to navigate through blood vessels and reach targeted areas in the brain. In a recent demonstration, the system maintained stable motion and consistent responsiveness as it advanced a catheter to the treatment site during a remote operation.
5. Visualizing Airborne Infections
Dassault Systèmes, a French software company, has built an augmented reality (AR) training system with a hospital in France that shows healthcare staff how airborne infections move through hospital rooms. The AR view displays colored airflow streams and particle trails that appear directly on top of the physical environment, letting staff walk through hallways and patient rooms while seeing how respiratory particles move and accumulate. The tool gives hospitals a clearer way to teach infection-prevention practices by turning invisible airflow into something staff can see and act on.
6. Performing Cataract Surgery
Horizon Surgical Systems, a U.S.-based medical robotics company, has performed the world’s first cataract surgeries in which a robot carried out the procedure on human patients under surgeon control. Surgeons sat in a cockpit in the operating room, using an input device and 3D imaging to guide robotic arms positioned beside each patient’s head. The robot translated the surgeon’s hand movements into steadier, scaled-down motions inside the eye, enabling precise corneal incisions, lens removal, and placement of the lens.
7. Teaching Patients to Walk Again
St. Charles Health System, a nonprofit hospital in Bend, Oregon, is using a virtual reality treadmill to help rehabilitation patients safely relearn how to walk. The system combines an overhead harness with interactive games and projected visuals so patients can practice stepping, turning, and reacting to obstacles while the treadmill measures their balance, gait, and strength in real-time. Physical therapists use the data and on-screen feedback to adjust speed, difficulty, and support as patients move faster and take more challenging steps without risking a fall.
8. Automating Pre-Construction Planning
LeanCon, an Israeli AI startup, has built software that automates the early planning work construction companies must complete before submitting a bid. The system analyzes a project’s drawings and specifications and automatically generates detailed estimates for cost, schedule, logistics, and construction methods. By replacing manual bid preparation, the platform reduces planning expenses from roughly two million dollars to near zero. Development projects in New York are using LeanCon’s technology for projects worth over $650 million.
IAFNS, a U.S. nonprofit research organization, has released an AI-powered smartphone app that explains food additives by scanning an ingredients label. The app combines food category classification, additive identification, and an AI explanation generator to deliver clear, evidence-based definitions in under five seconds. It draws from authoritative datasets, including the FDA and the USDA’s food database, to provide accurate, regulation-backed information on over 4,000 additives.
10. Advancing Autonomous Driving
Nvidia has released Alpamayo-R1, an open-source AI model that developers and autonomous-driving researchers can use to improve how vehicles interpret their surroundings and reason through driving situations. The model processes visual input and produces step-by-step decision logic, offering a tool for teams working on more reliable vehicle autonomy in complex, unpredictable environments.
