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"The survey polled 80 ad shops earlier this month with 47% of respondents saying their clients are waiting until after the elections to advertise in order to avoid competing with political buys. Strata surmised that the finding suggests that advertisers are concerned about future costs. That finding is also a significant shift from a similar survey done in the second quarter, when a majority of agencies polled said they were willing to compete with political advertisers, and only 18% said they would wait to advertise until after the elections."

"Vicarious buys standard industrial robots, enhances them with its software, and contracts them out the way a temp agency does workers-charging per task completed or at an hourly rate. In Baltimore, Vicarious robots assemble sampler packs for makeup company Sephora, work previously done exclusively by humans. Vicarious CEO and cofounder D. Scott Phoenix says the deal demonstrates his business model: Create artificial intelligence software that makes industrial robots smart enough to perform jobs previously done only by people. Vicarious hasn't previously discussed its customers or robots publicly but has earned itself an air of mystery among AI and robot experts since its founding in 2010. The startup has raised more than $130 million, according to data service PitchBook. Its investors include some of Silicon Valley's most famous names and deepest pockets-venture firm Founders Fund, cofounded by early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, and billionaire entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos. "