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Instructure Announces Release of AI Features, K-12 and Higher Ed U.S Access to Khanmigo Teacher Tools; AWS Powers Safe, Secure AI Tools at Scale

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Major product innovations for the Instructure Learning Ecosystem support the lifelong learning journey with a focus on AI and enhancements to insights and edtech effectiveness 

SALT LAKE CITY, July 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Instructure, the leading learning ecosystem, announced major AI innovations, partnerships and significant core LMS enhancements to increase educator efficiency and improve student success at its annual InstructureCon conference. Product innovation is focused on key areas: AI, insights, edtech effectiveness and the lifelong learning journey. The company also announced the launch of a standalone product, Instructure Intelligent Insights.

From responsible integration of AI tools that enhance learning through personal connection to a more cohesive user experience with Canvas serving as the hub of all teaching and learning, the innovation announced by Instructure is designed to power a lifelong learning journey and turn education into opportunities. At InstructureCon 2024, new AI product announcements included features developed directly within Instructure products, a number of well-tested partner integrations, including Khan Academy’s Khanmigo Teacher Tools and updates that enable partners to develop context-aware AI experiences within Canvas.

“We’re excited to announce substantive innovations to the Instructure Learning Ecosystem, with a strong focus on Canvas built in close partnership with our customers,” said Shiren Vijiasingam, Instructure’s Chief Product Officer. “We started with equitability in mind, addressing use cases that would help create a more level playing field for all learners while honoring the expertise of the educator.”

A Rich Landscape of AI Content Generation
Instructure leverages internally developed tools and those of its network of over 1,000 partners to help educators harness the power of AI. One such area is AI-assisted content generation, with an ever-growing landscape of available tools. One way the company will meet the rapidly growing educator demand for AI-assisted content generation is by announcing the upcoming availability of a Canvas integration with a teacher favorite, Khanmigo Teacher Tools.

Khan Academy: Khanmigo Teacher Tools
Instructure announced the seamless integration of Khanmigo Teacher Tools, directly within Canvas and available later this year for all customers in the United States. Khanmigo simplifies AI for teachers and generates high-quality, trustworthy outputs they can modify and co-edit with AI support. This integration includes access to over 20 tools in Canvas—helping educators plan lessons, generate questions, draft newsletters, write letters of recommendation, prep substitutes and more. By accessing Khanmigo from Canvas, educators can smoothly transition between planning, grading and student communication all within Canvas.

Updates to Move AI Beyond Content Generation 
Beyond content generation, Instructure also announced holistic updates that go even further in supporting institutions by partnering with them to develop their AI policies and plans, accelerate teaching and learning practices and implement their own transformative AI solutions. The company is making its new AI tools freely available for Canvas customers and working with AWS to safely, securely and efficiently scale to its community of tens of millions of educators and learners at more than 7,000 organizations around the world.

“With the LMS at the center of teaching and learning, Instructure is uniquely positioned to support institutions on their full AI journey,” said Vijiasingam. “Not only can we connect our customers with a vast ecosystem of integrated content and efficiency tools, but we can also accelerate key learning experience workflows and help them transform to a future where AI is a core part of everything they do.”

Tools that Prepare Institutions to Adopt AI

Nutrition Facts 
Instructure has published “AI nutrition fact” labels on all first- and third-party AI tools that integrate with its products, providing an unprecedented level of transparency into the LLMs and data policies of the tools in use. Nutrition facts on third-party AI tools are available on the Emerging AI Marketplace, giving institutions greater decision-making capability in service of safe technology use.LTI Certification
With the upcoming launch of the Instructure Certified LTI Apps program, Instructure announced its plans to enable integration partners to set themselves apart, meet integration best practices–including those for AI data privacy–and provide safe, seamless experiences with tools inside of Canvas.

AI Tools that Scale and Enhance Teaching and Learning

Discussion Summaries
Educators can create customizable summaries of long and complex discussion threads, a feature especially useful for large-format classrooms.Translation of Inbox Messages and Discussions 
Educators can leverage real-time, context-sensitive translation of content across 100 languages, an ideal feature for students who may not speak the language of instruction or for students who aren’t fluent in the course language.Smart Search
Smart Search allows users to search across Canvas course content while returning results that recognize the relationship between concepts—for example, searching for “guitar” will return results about violins because they’re both stringed instruments.

Tools that Enable Institutions to Adopt and Create Their Own AI Solutions

Smart Search API
The Smart Search API vectorizes Canvas course content so that LLMs or third-party AI tools have the context they need to produce more relevant results. This API, the first of its kind in an LMS, is now available to customers and partners.Institutional LLM-powered Features
Instructors should have the flexibility to select the best tools for their instructional needs, so Instructure supports a seamless and safe experience as institutions integrate Canvas with their own LLMs. Instructure already enables several institution-driven self-hosted AI deployments, extending deeply embedded AI experiences within Canvas.Enhancing seamless AI assistant experiences in Canvas
A new top navigation placement and postMessage API now allow students to interact with AI Assistants directly within their course content, without leaving their learning environment.

Intelligent Insights Product Launch
Instructure announced the launch of Intelligent Insights, which leverages AI and analytics to help educators make data-informed decisions that improve teaching and learning outcomes. With this new product, educators get insights about students in need of attention, course readiness, LTI usage and more. They can also use Ask Your Data, a conversational AI feature, to ask and answer questions in natural language.

Core Teaching & Learning Innovation
Instructure developed a customer innovation program to drive a series of improvements to the Canvas experience. Over 60 product enhancements resulted, including improvements to everyday educator workflows, an optimized feedback loop, increased personalization and streamlined communication within Canvas LMS. In addition, new features will be available throughout the year including:

Block Editor
Currently in Beta, Block Editor includes a drag-and-drop editor interface for easy content creation and is free for all Canvas users.Selective Release of Modules
Educators can differentiate instruction and personalize learning content for students through the release of modules to individuals and sections.Canvas Rubric Enhancements
Canvas rubric enhancements pair a cleaner user interface with easier workflows for creation and marking, facilitating consistency and fair evaluation. The company plans to release student self-assessment capabilities by the end of the year.Discussion Checkpoints
Students can engage in deeper, more meaningful discussions with classmates with clear checkpoints to guide their way.

Product Updates to Support EdTech Effectiveness
Education leaders need insights and tools to optimize edtech efficiency, adoption and impact, both within and outside the LMS. These new features will help institutions engage with the Instructure partner network and take full advantage of the openness and extensibility of Canvas:

EdTech Collective Marketplace
This public-facing Instructure EdTech Collective partner product directory will allow users to search for Canvas-integrated tools by relevant criteria including grade levels, subject and more. Listings for each product will include basic overviews plus important information about LTI configuration.Canvas Apps Page
This central hub for LTI tool discovery and management will increase administrator efficiency and power informed edtech decision-making inside of Canvas. It includes comprehensive partner listings, recommendations and LTI configuration resources to help elevate the most effective tools as well as a streamlined LTI installation and management experience.Expanded LTI Tool Usage Data and Analytics for Impact Customers
By bringing LTI usage data into Impact, administrators will have access to actionable insights that help them drive engagement and best practices based on an understanding of how LTI tools are being used. Administrators can seamlessly launch campaigns within Impact to better support educators and students and get the most out of their edtech tools.

Supporting the Lifelong Learner Journey: Portfolio and Journey
Instructure announced its vision for the lifelong learning experience, which includes an Integrated LMS, Portfolio, Credentialing and Journey (Learner Record). Instructure has been building this through the additions of Portfolium, Concentric Sky, Parchment and Scribbles. The company is continuing to invest in a new lifelong learning experience by bringing together portfolios and credentials into one learner view. This will enable achievements to be housed and ultimately recognized by institutions and employers.

Canvas Catalog – Enterprise Storefront
Instructure is investing in Canvas Catalog to make lifelong learning initiatives more scalable and interoperable with customer CRMs, with Salesforce as its premier partner in this space. With user-defined fields designed to help identify monetization opportunities, institutions can better optimize course offerings.Credentials – Industry Standards Alignment
Instructure also reinforced its continued investment in standards alignment as it creates digital credentials. In the digital credentialing world, interoperability and compliance with industry standards will bolster scalability, security, privacy and validity. Instructure products will adhere to OB 3.0 and CLR 2.0 standards.Scaling Credentials Programs
Institutions need to scale credentialing programs across a wide range of courses and programs to better meet emerging learner needs. Instructure announced features to deliver more flexible, personalized lifelong learning experiences, including accessible pathways, removed badge requirements and removed course copy and blueprint.Mastery View College Prep Assessments
Institutions will save time and money otherwise spent on scanning, grading and printing by administering Mastery View College Prep Assessments online. Assessment item banks are immediately available for purchase separately as add-ons to Mastery Connect. Digital college readiness assessments are also now available, helping students prepare for high-stakes tests, such as the ACT, as they move to an online format.

The InstructureCon 2024 event takes place from July 9 to July 11 at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. It features prominent keynotes from Jimmy Chin, Mary Murphy and Dr. Jordan Nguyen and addresses some of the most impactful edtech trends and how to adapt to the modern learner journey. With over 260 sessions to choose from, attendees will learn classroom-tested best practices, dive into the latest innovation and collaborate with other Instructure community members focused on driving student success.

For more information about InstructureCon, check out the Frequently Asked Questions page and the event agenda.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. All statements other than statements of historical facts are “forward-looking statements” for purposes of these provisions, including those relating to future events or our future financial performance and financial guidance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “project,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “intend,” or “continued,” the negative of terms like these or other comparable terminology, and other words or terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. These statements are only predictions. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, or currently unknown to us. Our assumptions may turn out to be inaccurate and cause actual events or results to differ materially from our expectation or projections. We discuss many of these risks, uncertainties and other factors in greater detail in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 21, 2024 and as may be described from time to time in future reports we file with the SEC. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based on information available to us on the date hereof, and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

ABOUT INSTRUCTURE

Instructure (NYSE: INST) powers the delivery of education globally and provides learners with the rich credentials they need to create opportunities across their lifetimes. Today, the Instructure ecosystem of products enables educators and institutions to elevate student success, amplify the power of teaching, and inspire everyone to learn together. With our global network of learners, educators, partners and customers, we continue to deliver on our vision to be the platform that powers learning for a lifetime and turns that learning into opportunities. We encourage you to discover more at www.instructure.com.

CONTACT:
Brian Watkins
Corporate Communications
Instructure
(801) 658-7525
brian.watkins@instructure.com

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Technology

Tech employment ends year with uptick in hiring, CompTIA analysis finds

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January 10, 2025

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Tech unemployment rate falls to 2%

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Jan. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Tech hiring increased during the latest jobs data release, resulting in a corresponding decrease in the tech unemployment rate, CompTIA, the world’s leading provider of vendor-neutral information technology (IT) training and certification products, reported today.

Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) #JobsReport data reveals the tech unemployment rate dropped to 2% in December, the lowest level since November 2023. The national unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.1% for the month.

The base of tech employment throughout the economy increased by a net new 7,000 positions. In the aggregate the core tech workforce totals nearly 6.5 million workers.¹

Employment within the technology industry sector, encompassing all types of workers, declined by 6,117 jobs.² Positions in PC, semiconductor and components manufacturing accounted for the bulk of the cuts. The tech sector employs nearly 5.6 million people, which translates to a percentage decline of 1%.

“This marks the 100th release of the CompTIA Tech Jobs report,” noted Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA. “What an incredible journey in tracking tech workforce trends over the past decade. A true honor to be at the center of such an innovative and dynamic space.”

There were 434,415 active employer job postings for tech positions in December, including 165,189 newly added during the month.³ Both totals were down from November. Positions in software development and engineering, IT project management, cybersecurity, data science and analysis and tech support had the most activity.

Companies with the largest numbers of December job postings included Amazon, Accenture, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, GovCIO, Robert Half, Lumen Technologies and Insight Global.

Employers listed open positions at all career levels. Among postings that specified a work experience requirement, 22% sought candidates with 0-3 years of experience; 28% of openings sought workers with 4-7 years of experience; and 16%, 8 years or more.

Across all tech occupations 45% of December job postings did not specify a four-year degree requirement for applicants. Openings for network support specialists (85%), tech support specialists (72%) and computer programmers (54%) had notably higher percentages.

The “CompTIA Tech Jobs Report” is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/tech-jobs-report.

About CompTIA
CompTIA Inc. is the world’s leading provider of vendor-neutral information technology (IT) training and certification products. CompTIA unlocks potential in millions of aspiring technology professionals and careers changers. Working in partnership with thousands of academic institutions and training providers, CompTIA helps students build career-ready skills through best-in-class learning solutions, industry-recognized certifications and career resources.
Learn more at https://www.comptia.org/.

Media Contact
Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
sostrowski@comptia.org
+1.630.678.8468

¹ Monthly occupation level data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tends to experience higher levels of variance and volatility.
² Labor market data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and employer job postings from Lightcast may be subject to backward revisions.
³ Active job postings include open postings carried over from previous months and new postings added by employers.

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SOURCE CompTIA

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Iktos and Cube Biotech Announce Launch of Small Molecule AI Drug Discovery Collaboration

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January 10, 2025

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Partnership will leverage Iktos’s AI-enabled drug discovery platform and Cube Biotech’s advanced protein technologies to develop novel agonists of the Amylin Receptor

PARIS and MONHEIM, Germany, Jan. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Iktos, a leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics for drug design, and Cube Biotech, a pioneer in membrane protein production and purification technologies, today announced a strategic collaboration to discover novel small molecule agonists of the Amylin Receptor.

The partnership combines Iktos’ generative AI-driven drug discovery and robotic synthesis platform with Cube Biotech’s advanced native membrane protein technology NativeMPTM, as well as their purification and biophysical assay expertise, to accelerate the development of breakthrough therapies. This paves the way for a joint collaborative offering directed towards pharmaceutical companies, combining the strengths of both platforms to undertake their most challenging drug discovery programs.

Amylin receptor agonists hold significant promise for addressing unmet medical needs in cardiometabolic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic hepatitis (MASH). The Amylin Receptor regulates appetite and satiety, making it a compelling target for obesity, which affects over one-third of the global population. Existing GLP-1 receptor agonist therapies like semaglutide or the peptide Amylin analogue Pramlintide have limited impact due to high costs, accessibility, and undesirable side effects.

Orally administered novel small molecule agonists of the Amylin receptor could overcome these barriers, offering scalable and effective treatments and providing better management for the growing obesity epidemic and its comorbidities. However, the receptor’s structural and biological complexity has long posed challenges for discovering viable low-molecular-weight modulators.

“By tackling one of the most pressing unmet needs in cardiometabolic disorders, our partnership with Cube Biotech aims to discover improved treatments for patients affected by obesity, diabetes, and related conditions,” said Yann Gaston-Mathé, Co-founder and CEO of Iktos. “We are excited to add the Amylin Receptor to our pipeline as this complex, yet promising target demands innovation at every stage. We see this collaboration as a foundation for future initiatives, extending the reach of our combined platform to address the most challenging membrane targets for the benefit of our pharma partners.”

Iktos has developed a cutting-edge 3D generative chemistry technology for structure-guided de novo design that natively accounts for protein flexibility during molecule optimization—a key advantage over models like AlphaFold, which can only be applied post-molecule generation. Cube Biotech has developed a world-leading protein production platform, based on NativeMP™ technology, which preserves the natural configuration of membrane proteins – a key advantage in accessing biologically active drug targets for testing. The company’s native protein stabilization technology enhances the reliability and precision of functional assays, structural insights, and downstream applications.

“Amylin Receptor is a challenging but highly promising target for metabolic disorders”, said Dr. Barbara Maertens, Co-founder and COO of Cube Biotech. “Through our collaboration with Iktos, we aim to leverage our advanced protein stabilization and structural analysis technologies to validate and accelerate the discovery of novel small molecule agonists. Together, we are setting a new standard for efficiency and innovation in drug discovery.”

These integrated technologies endeavor to overcome longstanding inefficiencies in drug discovery, shortening timelines, improving success rates, and unlocking new possibilities for targeting complex and historically elusive membrane proteins, such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), membrane transporters, ion channels, and others.

About Iktos

Iktos is a leader in artificial intelligence and robotic solutions applied to research in medicinal chemistry and new drug design. Iktos’ proprietary and innovative generative AI solution enables the design of molecules that are optimized in silico to meet all the success criteria of a small molecule discovery project. The use of Iktos technology enables major productivity gains in upstream pharmaceutical R&D. Iktos offers its technology through the SaaS software platforms Makya™ for generative drug design and Spaya™ for retrosynthesis, and through strategic collaborations with pharma companies where Iktos mobilizes its unique platform and leading-edge capabilities to expedite small molecule drug discovery for the benefit of its partners. Iktos has also developed Iktos Robotics, a unique AI-driven synthesis automation platform that dramatically accelerates the Design-Make-Test-Analyze cycle in drug discovery and is developing its own pipeline of drug candidates targeting oncology and auto-immune and inflammatory diseases. In March 2023, Iktos completed a 15.5M€ Series A financing round co-led by M Ventures and Debiopharm Innovation with contribution by Omnes Capital. In July 2024, Iktos announced the acquisition of Synsight, thereby complementing its Chemistry AI platform with a groundbreaking biology platform for the discovery of new drugs targeting Protein-Protein Interactions (PPI) and RNA-Protein Interactions (RPI).

About Cube Biotech Cube Biotech is a leader in membrane protein production, purification, and characterization technologies. With proprietary copolymer-based solutions that maintain biological integrity in native-like protein states, Cube Biotech enables groundbreaking research in challenging drug targets, including membrane receptors, protein co-expressions, and even larger complexes.

The company’s expertise in assay development, biophysical characterization, and structural resolution supports efficient drug discovery workflows across the pharmaceutical and biotechnical industries. Additionally, an extensive purification resin and magnetic bead portfolio for affinity chromatography and efficient protein purification is manufactured in-house at high quality. For more information, visit www.cube-biotech.com.

Media Contact:
Eleonora Echegaray
P: 35 823189279
E: 388591@email4pr.com

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Technology

Rule 10b-5 Private Securities-Fraud Litigation Peaked in 4Q’24

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January 10, 2025

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BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — SAR, a data analytics company specialized in the securities litigation risk of U.S. public companies, today published the Securities Class Action Rule 10b-5 Exposure Report for 4Q 2024. According to the report, securities litigation exposure of public company defendants that trade in the NYSE and NASDAQ peaked during the fourth quarter of 2024, when records were set across the buoyant U.S. equity markets. During the bullish market conditions of 2024, shareholders claimed approx. $665.2 billion in market capitalization losses due to alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 – the most in the last five years.

Rule 10b-5 settlements increased over 20% in 2024 relative to the last 6 years.

According to the report, global quarterly Rule 10b-5 securities litigation exposure in 2024 was 17% greater than the average of 2023. Actual monetary settlements with investor plaintiffs last year were, on average, 23% greater than during the last six years.

SAR data and analysis indicate that the litigation exposure of U.S. public company defendants amounts to approximately $380.3 billion in 2H 2024. Shareholders claimed approximately $4.0 billion in market capitalization losses per securities class action filing, and approximately $2.0 billion per allegedly fraud-related stock drop in 2H 2024. The former metric increased by 32.1%, and the latter by 15.4% during the second half of 2024.

“Our data and analyses indicate that securities litigation exposure against U.S. public companies peaked in the fourth quarter of last year. This peak may be short-lived with an expected increase in volatility and new headwinds for U.S. equities given greater shareholder scrutiny of corporate disclosures. With average Rule 10b-5 settlements over 20% greater in 2024 than during the last six years, litigation activity is expected to increase in 2025,” said Anthony Kabanek, EVP of SAR.

According to the report, in 2023 and 2024 investor plaintiffs claimed $13.6 billion and $20.5 billion, respectively, in private Rule 10b-5 securities-fraud class actions that relied on short-seller research.

Key takeaways:

86 U.S. issuers were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 during 2H 2024. Based on allegations presented in the first-filed class action complaint against each defendant issuer, U.S. SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $259.4 billion. U.S. SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure decreased -5.4% relative to 1H 2024.

U.S. SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure peaked in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, followed by a decline to trend in the 4th quarter of 2024.

9 Non-U.S. issuers were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 during 2H 2024. Based on allegations presented in the first-filed class action complaint against each defendant issuer, ADR SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $120.9 billion. ADR SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure increased by 11.3x relative to 1H 2024.

An anomalously high 4th quarter exposure among Non-U.S. issuers contributed to a remarkably volatile year for ADR SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure.

Rule 10b-5 private securities-fraud filing frequency and potential loss severity need not move in tandem. Global exposure increased by approximately 34% in the 2H 2024 relative to 1H 2024, while filing frequency remained relatively stable.

38 U.S. Large Caps were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 in 2H 2024, the same observed frequency as 1H 2024. The U.S. Large Cap SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $233.7 billion, a decrease of 10.1% relative to 1H 2024.

22 U.S. Mid Caps were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 In 2H 2024. The U.S. Mid Cap SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $19.8 billion, more than 3 times the amount in 1H 2024.

26 U.S. Small Caps were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5. The U.S. Small Cap SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure amounts to $5.9 billion, a decrease of 33% relative to 1H 2024.

9 Non-U.S. issuers that trade via ADRs in the U.S. public markets were sued for alleged violations of Rule 10b-5. The ADR SCA Rule 10b-5 Exposure increased by over 11.3x to ~$121 billion, relative to 1H 2024.

Media contact: info@sarlit.com

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SOURCE SAR

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