Nooks Raises $500M, Launches AI Sales Assistant Node

Key Takeaways

• <ul><li>Nooks raised $500 million from General Catalyst and launched Node, an AI personal assistant for sales</li><li>ANGI reported Q3 2026 revenue of $242 million, down 8.9% year over year, but improved gross margin to 64.1%</li><li>ANGI cut about 300 roles and expects $40 to $50 million in annual savings from cost actions</li><li>OpenAI appointed former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as national security adviser</li><li>OpenAI is pursuing government AI work including a Defense Department pilot with a $200 million contract ceiling</li><li>Otto launched a voice AI CRM allowing field sales reps to update records by phone</li><li>Joe Security introduced Adaptive Detonation, using AI agents to reveal hidden malware behavior</li><li>Park Place Technologies launched ParkView Asset Intelligence, scoring hardware health from 0 to 100</li><li>MathWorks released R2026b with new AI tools for engineering teams including Simulink Variant Manager and Visual Inspection Toolbox</li><li>The Globee Awards began accepting nominations for its 3rd Annual AI achievement program</li></ul>

Nooks raises $500M and launches AI sales assistant Node

Nooks secured $500 million in funding from General Catalyst. The company launched Node, the first AI personal assistant for sales. Node learns sales processes and works deals in the background. Nooks CEO Dan Lee will discuss the Revenue Agent Platform on NYSE Live.

Nooks raises $500M and launches AI sales assistant Node

Nooks raised $500 million and launched Node, an AI personal assistant built for sales. Node is designed to understand how customers win deals and hit quotas. The NYSE pre-market update covered Nooks' new funding and product launch. Broadridge also joined NYSE as a transfer agent partner for tokenized securities.

Nooks raises $500M, launches AI sales tool Node on NYSE update

Nooks announced $500 million in funding from General Catalyst and launched Node, the first AI personal assistant for sales. CEO Dan Lee said Node is purpose-built for sales and understands how customers win deals. Nooks' CEO will appear on NYSE Live to discuss the Revenue Agent Platform. The NYSE also expanded its tokenized securities trading partners to include Broadridge.

ANGI Q3 2026: AI strategy improves margins despite sales drop

Home services marketplace ANGI reported Q3 2026 revenue of $242 million, down 8.9% year over year. The company improved its gross margin by 2.4 percentage points to 64.1% through cost cuts and AI-driven tools. ANGI reduced marketing expenses and renegotiated supplier contracts. The company also invested in AI-powered customer service and marketing optimization tools.

ANGI Q3 2026: Cost cuts and AI drive margins as sales fall

Angi reported Q3 2026 revenue of $242 million, an 8.9% decline year over year, but beat Adjusted EBITDA estimates. The company cut about 300 roles in its second workforce reduction this year. Angi expects $40 to $50 million in annual savings from cost actions. The company is also investing in AI-powered features to match homeowners with service professionals and improve conversion rates.

OpenAI hires former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as national security adviser

OpenAI named former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as Senior Counselor for National Security Modernization. He will advise government and private partners on AI and national security. The appointment comes as OpenAI pursues government AI work, including a Defense Department pilot with a $200 million contract ceiling. OpenAI also previously appointed retired Gen. Paul M. Nakasone to its board in 2024.

MathWorks R2026b adds AI tools for engineering teams

MathWorks released R2026b of MATLAB and Simulink with new tools for engineering teams. The update includes Simulink Variant Manager, Visual Inspection Toolbox and Polyspace Test Server. New Point Cloud Toolbox supports lidar, radar and robotics applications. The release also brings updates to Aerospace Toolbox, Audio Toolbox, Deep Learning Toolbox and other domain-specific products.

Otto launches voice AI CRM for field sales representatives

Otto launched a voice AI CRM that lets field sales reps update records by making a phone call. Reps talk through meeting details and Otto updates deals, saves contacts, drafts emails and creates tasks. The system also briefs reps before meetings and delivers daily sales leads and competitor news. Otto runs on voice AI models trained on real field sales conversations.

Park Place uses AI to score hardware health from 0 to 100

Park Place Technologies introduced ParkView Asset Intelligence, which scores servers, storage and network gear from 0 to 100. The system benchmarks each device against similar hardware by manufacturer and product line. It uses over 35 years of maintenance records to help organizations justify keeping hardware past OEM support. Regional spare-parts stock is included in each score.

Globee Awards invite AI achievement nominations worldwide

The 3rd Annual Globee Awards for Artificial Intelligence began accepting nominations worldwide. The program recognizes achievements in generative AI, agentic AI, machine learning and other AI applications. Both AI technology providers and organizations using AI can participate. Entries are evaluated through a merit-based, data-driven process with scoring criteria set by industry professionals.

AI Trading Bots Raise Trust Concerns in Financial Markets

AI-powered trading tools are changing how people trade crypto and other assets. A single successful trade does not prove a bot is reliable or trustworthy. Bella Protocol is working on identity and reputation systems to help users evaluate AI trading agents. These systems aim to make the AI agent ecosystem more transparent and accountable.

Joe Security Uses AI Agents to Uncover Hidden Malware

Joe Security introduced Adaptive Detonation, a feature in Joe Sandbox AI that uses AI agents to analyze malware behavior. The AI agents can intervene by patching blocks, creating files, or adjusting settings to reveal hidden activity. This helps security teams gain deeper visibility into evasive threats. The tool is available as a plugin for Joe Sandbox Cloud.

New LHM Method Improves AI Reasoning Efficiency

Low-Rank Hierarchical Merging (LHM) is a new framework that improves how AI models combine long and short reasoning styles. It uses second-order curvature data instead of simple statistics to better understand model merging. Tests on 1.5B and 7B models showed accuracy gains over 4% and up to 93.1% reduction in output length. LHM outperformed methods like ACM-TIES and ORCA across six math benchmarks.

Sources

• Nooks Secures $500M, Launches AI Sales Assistant 'Node': NYSE Content Update
• Nooks Secures $500M, Launches AI Sales Assistant 'Node': NYSE Content Update
• 11-4-2026: Nooks Secures $500M, Launches AI Sales Assistant ‘Node'
• ANGI Q3 2026 deep dive: cost actions and AI strategy drive margin improvement amid sales decline
• ANGI Q3 2026 deep dive: cost actions and AI strategy drive margin improvement amid sales decline
• OpenAI Names Former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to National Security Role
• MathWorks R2026b adds AI tools for engineering teams
• Otto launches voice AI CRM, letting field sales reps update seals with a phone call
• Park Place's AI health scores rate hardware from 0 to 100 against peer models
• The 3rd Annual Globee® Awards for Artificial Intelligence Invite Product, Service, and Business Achievement Nominations Worldwide
• AI Agent Trust Problem: Which Trading Bots to Believe?
• News Alert: Joe Security advances sandbox analysis, AI agents intervene to expose concealed malware
• Low-Rank Hierarchical Merging for Efficient Long-to-Short Reasoning