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5th Annual The King’s Trust Global Gala: Martha Stewart, Karlie Kloss, Lionel Richie and more
5th Annual The King’s Trust Global Gala: Martha Stewart, Karlie Kloss, Lionel Richie and more
Critics blast Zohran Mamdani’s new government initiative as political lobbying for rent freeze
KPMG Ends U.S. Gov't Audit Business After Losing Army Contract
KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms, is winding down its federal government audit business after losing a $64 million-a-year U.S. Army audit contract, a major setback as the Department of War under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moves to bring in another accounting firm.
According to the Financial Times, the Army's shift to a new auditor comes as pressure intensifies on Hegseth to gain control of the DoW's finances after nearly a decade of failed independent audits.
The DoW, which oversees an annual budget of roughly $840 billion, has not passed an independent audit in eight years, and Washington lawmakers have set a deadline for the department to do so by 2028.
"We're ending the wasteful process of agency-by-agency opinions and slashing the number of disjointed separate audits by two-thirds," Hegseth said. "The mission is simple: break down bureaucratic barriers to get you, the taxpayer, concrete results."
FT sources said the Army was KPMG's largest federal audit client, and 450 U.S. staff who oversaw the federal audit work will be transitioning to other roles.
"Over the past few years, KPMG has prioritized advisory services for the federal government," KPMG said, adding, "We are transitioning out of federal audit roles through an orderly, multiyear process, meeting all client and regulatory obligations. As demand continues to grow across both audit and advisory, we will be redeploying our talented federal audit professionals across the firm to meet client needs."
Meanwhile, EY remains the prime auditor for the Air Force, Navy, and Marines. The Marines are the only military branch to have received an unqualified audit opinion.
The DoW says the new consolidated audit strategy will streamline the process toward full audit compliance by 2028.
Last month, Platte Moring, the Pentagon's inspector general, stated, "This new composite approach to auditing and its implementation reflect meaningful progress toward compliance with the statutory mandate for the department to achieve a clean audit opinion by 2028."
We have previously reported that DOGE has placed more than 400,000 DoW contracts under scrutiny, while Goldman has been bearish on government IT services for the same reason: the Trump administration is trying to clean up the financial mess inside the DoW.
The problem is that entrenched bureaucracy and swamp-like career DoW personnel appear more focused on preserving the status quo than fixing the department.
Whether Hegseth can fix the DoW remains an open question.
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Japan's Largest Airport Deploys Humanoid Robots For Baggage, Cargo
Authored by Jijo Malayil via Interesting Engineering,
Humanoid robots will soon assist ground crews in Tokyo as Japan Airlines launches a trial to address growing labor shortages.
Starting in May, the Chinese-made machines will assist with moving baggage and cargo on the tarmac at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, working alongside human handlers.
The initiative, run with GMO Internet Group, comes as Japan faces rising tourism and a shrinking workforce. The trial will continue through 2028, with hopes of easing workloads and paving the way for permanent deployment.
Last month, researchers in Tokyo developed a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi chip resisting extreme radiation, enabling untethered robot operations in hazardous sites like Fukushima.
Smart baggage handlingDuring a recent media demonstration, a compact humanoid robot carefully pushed cargo onto a conveyor belt beside a Japan Airlines aircraft and gestured toward a nearby worker, highlighting early-stage coordination in real airport conditions, reports the Guardian.
Japan Airlines officials said deploying robots for physically demanding tasks could significantly reduce strain on workers and improve overall working conditions. However, the airline emphasized that critical responsibilities such as safety management will remain under human control.
As seen in the footage, the humanoid model, known as G1, stands about 1.32 meters tall and weighs 77 pounds (35 kilograms), with a foldable design for compact storage. It features 23 degrees of freedom, enabling stable and coordinated movement. Equipped with 3D LiDAR, a depth camera, and voice input systems, the robot can navigate and interact effectively. Powered by a 9,000 mAh battery, it operates for up to two hours and can move at speeds of up to 4.5 mph (7.2 km/h).
The Unitree G1 demonstrates an expanded range of motion, highlighting significant gains in flexibility, coordination, and adaptability in humanoid robotics. According to Unitree, its development begins in a virtual setting using Nvidia Isaac Simulator, where the robot is trained to perform complex behaviors.
Engineers create a digital twin of the G1 using motion capture and video data to replicate human actions. These movements are refined through reinforcement learning, allowing the system to improve through repeated simulation. The learned skills are then transferred to the real robot using the Sim2Real approach, enabling smooth execution in physical environments.
“By combining cutting-edge AI technology with the unique flexibility of humanoid forms, the project aims to realize a sustainable operational structure through labor savings and workload reduction,” said Japan Airlines in a statement.
Ground crew augmentationAirport ground operations still rely heavily on manual labor, with workers managing baggage, cargo, and equipment in tight, high-pressure environments. The physically demanding nature of the job, combined with Japan’s shrinking working-age population, has created a growing labor gap across the aviation sector.
The challenge is intensifying as inbound tourism continues to rise. More than 7 million visitors arrived in the first two months of 2026, following a record 42.7 million the previous year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. At the same time, demographic trends suggest Japan may require over 6.5 million foreign workers by 2040 to sustain economic growth, even as political pressure mounts to limit immigration, reports The Guardian.
Attempts to automate airport tasks have so far been constrained by the limitations of conventional robots, which struggle in dynamic, unpredictable environments. Humanoid robots are now being considered as a more adaptable solution, as their human-like design allows them to function within existing airport infrastructure without extensive modifications.
The rollout will proceed in stages, starting with detailed observation of operations to identify suitable use cases, followed by testing in simulated real-world conditions. The long-term objective is to integrate robots alongside human workers, assigning them repetitive and physically intensive tasks to reduce strain and improve efficiency. Continuous evaluation will guide development, focusing on safety, performance, and practical deployment, reports Aero Time.
Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 18:25