Author: completebodyneeds

Etude launched Etude Specialty Insurance Company, a technology-driven excess and surplus lines carrier for commercial property and casualty. Etude Specialty is domiciled in Nebraska, has more than $100 million of surplus, and will write in all 50 states. Etude also named Daniel Rossen president of Etude Specialty. Rossen has more than 30 years of experience in specialty and E&S insurance. At The Hartford, he led the Maxum Specialty property and E&S binding business. At ICW Group, he launched the commercial multi-peril unit and set its underwriting appetite and strategy. Most recently, he was head of property at Origin Specialty Underwriters.…

SpaceX is proposing to increase the number of Starship launches and landings it conducts out of its Starbase facility in South Texas to hundreds of flights each year, a plan currently being reviewed by the US government. The US Federal Aviation Administration said it intends to prepare an environmental impact statement and hold public meetings on SpaceX’s plans, according to a notice released Tuesday. SpaceX is proposing to perform as many as 456 launches and 912 landings at its Texas facility each year, according to the FAA. Landings would occur after a launch or a mission, when the two primary…

New company Harbor said it has emerged from stealth to help with the risks of deploying AI agents. San Francisco-based Harbor starts with $10 million in seed funding from Base10 Partners, Abstract and 8VC. Harbor said it helps companies measure and mitigate the operational, security, and regulatory risks of AI agents, insuring them if the agent fails or causes a loss. Harbor works with banks, insurers and other regulated companies in the United States, Europe and Latin America. Historically, when an employee makes a mistake, the company is covered, said Harbor. Professional liability, cyber, and tech E&O policies pay for…

Tesla Inc. is facing scrutiny from US auto-safety regulators over whether its driverless taxis exceed posted speed limits near schools, a new hurdle for the automaker’s slow-growing robotaxi service. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it’s evaluating the claim that Tesla Cybercab and Model Y vehicles using automated systems drive too fast in active school zones. The move stems from a recently filed petition that offers video of several incidents as supporting evidence, according to documents posted Monday to NHTSA’s website. The preliminary probe covers an estimated 1,000 vehicles from the 2026 model year, NHTSA said. The agency has…

Orbital data centers chasing unlimited solar power and boundless real estate increase the risk of potentially catastrophic conflict in space — just as militaries worldwide embrace artificial intelligence and see computing facilities as critical infrastructure. On the ground, government server farms are highly protected and can be buried to make them more resilient to attack. Iranian airstrikes targeted data centers across the Middle East, and Ukrainian attacks in recent days destroyed several in Russia, highlighting their perceived value. In space, the facilities would be vulnerable to missiles, jamming, cyber attacks and directed-energy weapons. Defending them is costly, yet a successful…

AI tools bring comparative analysis and multi-market execution into retail agents’ existing workflows, helping XPT specialists serve more clients, faster and with greater precision and insight. Executive Summary What: Three AI tools – Underwriting: comparative data analysis and quoting; Binding: comparative rating with multi-market execution, and Brokerage: risk analysis, market finder and multi-market execution Why it matters: The tools absorb small and mid-sized enterprise (SME) processing on the wholesale side, putting up to 20 markets in front of accounts that used to receive the narrowest search. Early results: in P&C, bound business jumped as much as 19.5% month-over-month, and, year-over-year,…

A rider has died and several others injured after an accident involving a roller coaster at the Six Flags Over Georgia park, the Associated Press reported, citing the police in Cobb County. Videos posted online show passengers being evacuated from the ride, called Goliath. The website for the park says the ride drops guests 255 feet and reaches speeds of 85 miles per hour. News reports indicated one rider was killed after he fell from the coaster and landed on a haunted house. Six Flags officials said the company had closed nine rides at parks across the country and is…

The European Union is providing a new backstop to a war risk insurance program for the Ukrainian logistics sector, amid a rise in demand due to intensifying Russian attacks. With EU backing, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s guarantee facility, which is managed by Aon, will be expanded to €150 million ($167 million), up from the €110 million initially donated by France, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and Taiwan. The new funds will allow Ukrainian insurers — who acquire reinsurance from London-based insurer Amlin under the program — to offer more war risk coverage, including to new business lines such…

Bulgaria summoned Russia’s ambassador to Sofia after two ships were hit off the country’s coast, as concerns mount over the security of Black Sea shipping. The strikes on two cargo vessels on Oct. 13 add to a series of more frequent attacks on ships in the western part of the Black Sea, a vital route for Ukrainian grain exports that’s close to the territorial waters of NATO member states. While the Bulgarian government has previously refused to point at Russia due to lack of evidence, on Tuesday it requested talks with Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova on the grounds that the…

Banking regulators are stepping up efforts to contain growing AI risks, six people familiar with the matter said, with some pointing to the potential for cyberattacks on banks or rogue agents undermining global financial stability. The regulatory scrutiny, fresh details of which are reported here for the first time, reflects growing recognition that advances in frontier AI may require costly investments in cyber recovery, greater attention to dependencies on external technology providers and in some jurisdictions more formal regulatory guidance, sources said. Three top regulators in the United States, including the Federal Reserve, are quizzing banks about their use of…