PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 8, 2026--
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The project brought Modular's MAX and Mojo ecosystem to Google TPU in months, a class of hardware enablement effort that has traditionally taken years. It provides practical validation of an alternative model for AI infrastructure: a portable software layer, combined with specialized compiler and runtime engineering, that can make new compute architectures usable faster.
As demand for AI compute grows, organizations are looking beyond a single hardware ecosystem to improve performance and scalability, while reducing exposure to cost, capacity and supply constraints. The barrier is often software. Each new accelerator can require extensive work across compilers, runtimes and inference systems before AI workloads can be used effectively.
Modular is addressing that barrier with technology designed to make AI workloads portable across silicon. HTEC applied its specialized compiler engineering and runtime systems expertise to extend that foundation to Google TPU, working from ambitious technical requirements and with significant engineering autonomy.
Darko Todorovic, CTO at HTEC commented: “We proved that Modular’s MAX and Mojo ecosystem could reach a new silicon target in months rather than years. That validates both Modular’s architecture and a practical path for organizations to adopt new AI hardware faster.”
Chris Lattner, CEO, Modular, added: “AI cannot afford a full software rebuild for every new accelerator. HTEC’s work on Google TPU shows how a common software foundation can bring new silicon into the AI ecosystem faster and at scale. That fundamentally changes the equation for silicon companies: instead of rebuilding an entire software stack, they can focus their engineering on what makes their hardware unique.”
Beyond the Google TPU milestone, the project validates HTEC’s long-term investment in AI hardware enablement and Modular's approach to hardware-agnostic AI software. The experience further strengthens HTEC’s ability to support future semiconductor and AI inference initiatives across the industry.
About HTEC
HTEC Group Inc. is a global technology and engineering firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, providing AI-first, full-stack solutions that move organizations from strategy to production in a repeatable way. Combining premium engineering talent with digital strategy, design, and venture-building capabilities, HTEC supports the entire product lifecycle—from ideation to deployment.
With more than 15 years of experience applying AI and machine learning in enterprise environments, HTEC brings deep expertise across the technology stack—from silicon to application, including data engineering, model optimization, and AI application development. This ensures that emerging technologies translate into measurable ROI, scalable growth, and enduring business impact. By bridging the gap between vision and execution, HTEC helps the world’s leading companies define what’s possible— and scale it successfully.
HTEC, a global AI-first engineering and technology services company, and Modular have demonstrated Modular's AI software stack running on Google's TPU architecture. Presented at ModCon 2026, the work shows that support for a new silicon target can be delivered by extending an existing software foundation rather than rebuilding it for each accelerator.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted incoming missiles targeting the kingdom's capital and other regions on Sunday, with falling debris damaging a building belonging to the state-owned oil giant Aramco in Riyadh’s financial district.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates said it rescued 22 crew members after a fire broke out aboard a cargo ship in the Sea of Oman, as risks to commercial shipping in the region remain high. And in Israel, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot formally got the first chance to form a new government.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Sunday. Read our full coverage here.
Witnesses in Riyadh said they heard a loud explosion Sunday morning and described damage across multiple floors of an Aramco building in the King Abdullah Financial District. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
The Saudi-led coalition said its air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles targeting Riyadh and other regions early Sunday, accusing the Iran-backed Houthis of launching the weapons.
The Saudi Energy Ministry said there were no casualties at the Aramco facility. The coalition also said it intercepted a ballistic missile overnight targeting Saudi Arabia’s southern region, which borders Yemen and has repeatedly come under Houthi attacks.
The Houthis' military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed in a statement Sunday that they had hit Riyadh’s financial district and other targets in response to attacks in recent days on a village and a market in Yemen, which he said left dozens dead or wounded and blamed on Saudi Arabia.
— By Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut
The UAE National Guard said the crew members — all of Arab nationalities — were in stable condition after receiving first aid following a rescue when their cargo ship caught fire in the Sea of Oman.
The National Guard did not identify the vessel nor specify the cause of the fire.
The British military organization that monitors maritime security incidents said Sunday that a tanker caught fire on Saturday northwest of Khasab, Oman, prompting the evacuation of its crew. It was unclear whether it was the same incident.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday evening formally gave opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form the next government.
While complex coalition negotiations still lie ahead, this is a significant step in the former military chief’s effort to oust Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after elections held in a deeply divided country scarred by the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the multifront wars they triggered.
The announcement doesn’t guarantee that Eisenkot will become the next prime minister. He has up to six weeks to form a coalition government. The Oct. 27 election gave neither his bloc nor Netanyahu’s a clear majority in parliament.
The president told CNN in a phone interview on Sunday that as long as the U.S. continues to see progress in negotiations with Tehran and they sign a “strong agreement,” it’s “highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary” to resume strikes.
The president said, however, that the U.S. had identified infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, that it would strike if military action resumes.
The region has been on edge over the possibility of a renewed all-out war.
Iran hanged three men Sunday in Karaj who were convicted of armed riot, damage to public properties and cooperation with Israel and the United States during nationwide anti-government protests in January, state TV reported.
Iran has hanged more than two dozen people on similar charges in various cities. International rights groups say political prisoners in Iran are tried in secretive courts without due process.
The protests, some of the largest ever held against the Islamic Republic's government, were largely stamped out when the United States and Israel went to war with Iran on Feb. 28.
An Israeli strike on Sunday killed two Palestinians, a man and woman, in Muwasi, a tent camp area on Gaza’s coast, said health officials at Nasser hospital.
Israel’s military said it had struck a “Hamas terrorist” in the area.
Sunday’s strikes came more than a year after a ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and Hamas, yet Israel still launches near-daily strikes on the enclave.
Ahmed Haroun, a senior security official during the rule of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir, was detained in Sudan’s eastern province of Kassala, according to two lawyers on his defense team. Haroun is wanted by the International Criminal Court over atrocities related to the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s.
The lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, said Haroun’s precise whereabouts were unknown.
__By Samy Magdy in Washington.
The State Department said Sunday that it had declared Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon’s consul general in Detroit, “persona non grata” after reviewing posts from up to five years ago celebrating the 1983 Hezbollah attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut. The posts were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
“Anyone in the United States who celebrates or justifies terrorist attacks has no place in our country,” the department said.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar ("Straight") party, waves an Israeli flag onstage following the release of the first exit poll results in Israel's general election in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
This image taken from video released by Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, shows a man watching smoke rise following what the channel described as an airstrike by Saudi-backed government forces on a town near Sanaa, Yemen. (Al-Masirah TV via AP)
