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Remembering Dolly Parton. The world is heartbroken at the passing of legendary country music superstar, cultural icon, and literacy champion Dolly Parton, who died August 25 at her Nashville home at age 80. Parton's award-winning Imagination Library initiative, inspired by her father's inability to read or write, has put hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children and was considered by her to be one of her greatest achievements. The book-gifting program, part of the nonprofit Dollywood Foundation, mails free, high-quality books to children across the country and around the world once a month from birth to age 5. "We're giving books to kids who wouldn't have a chance to get them otherwise," Parton told American Libraries in a 2018 interview. "A lot of people think this is just for poor children - it's for all children. It's important to get books into the hands of any child that we can." In 2023, the American Library Association (ALA) conferred Parton with an honorary lifetime membership, ALA's highest honor, for her lasting impact on librarianship, libraries, and the communities they serve. And in 2011, the president of the American Association of School Libraries also awarded Parton and the Imagination Library with the Crystal Apple, which is awarded to an individual or group who has had significant impact on school libraries and students. Parton was also part of ALA's famed Celebrity READ poster campaign, in which she holds a copy of "The Little Engine That Could." "I've always related to that book because I'm the little engine that did!" she said. Book lovers, libraries, and librarians across the country expressed sadness at Parton's passing, with many sharing remembrances on social media and with news outlets. Kristy High manages Parton's Imagination Library in Cincinnati, Ohio. High works for Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, which partners with Imagination Library to bring the program to kids throughout Hamilton County. "[T]hough I didn't work directly with the icon day-to-day, I've had a front-row seat to witness the impact of her philanthropy in Cincinnati," High told CNBC. "I've seen the excitement on a child's face when they receive a book with their name on it," she continued. "I've heard parents talk about how the monthly book gives their kids something to look forward to. I've watched community partners, libraries, healthcare organizations and volunteers come together around a simple but powerful mission... And I've realized that Parton's greatest lesson was believing that one person can make a difference." Youth services librarian Nicole Young at Anne West Lindsay District Library in Carterville, Illinois, told KFVS 12 News that the program helps children learn and love to read. "I've heard so many parents talking about how amazing the books are and how much they love the program and it's helping them build their home libraries," Young said. "So it's been a really positive thing for the southern Illinois area." Young said the program's success reflects the generosity of the woman who created it. "You don't see people like that giving so much of what they have to others, especially those who maybe don't have the resources that she had," she said. How you can support libraries. With library funding being gutted and censorship on the rise, supporting libraries is more critical than ever. If you're looking for a way to help, I Love Libraries urge you to become a Supporter of the American Library Association by donating. At the American Library Association, I Love Libraries is here to protect libraries - today and for generations to come. What does your donation do? It helps a neighbor gain skills to start a business. It helps a child discover themselves through books and programs. And it helps keep libraries strong, open, and free for everyone. Become a Supporter. Help I Love Libraries fight back. Your donation powers its advocacy on behalf of libraries and library workers everywhere.

Major AI, robotics and biotech funding rounds and market signals August 2026. In August 2026 a series of large capital raises, insider purchases and industry forecasts highlighted growing investment in AI infrastructure, general-purpose robotics and AI-enabled biotech. Compiled automatically from the sources listed below and checked against Hyperuranios' own capital and research data. Every figure here traces to a linked source. Artificial Intelligence. Alibaba priced a placement of 710 million new shares at HK$112.70 each, raising roughly HK$80 billion, with the net proceeds earmarked for full-stack AI capabilities and infrastructure. Shortly after, Jack Ma bought more than HK$600 million of the company's Hong Kong-listed shares, while co-founder Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu purchased about HK$202 million combined, signalling senior confidence despite the 8.4% discount to the prior close and the dilution impact [3]. Semiconductor analyst Dylan Patel projected that OpenAI and Anthropic will dominate the majority of usable global AI compute by the end of 2028. He noted each lab controlled about 2 GW of compute at the start of 2026 and expects that to rise to 5 GW by year-end, giving them 40-50% of incremental compute next year and 70-80% by 2028, driven by highly profitable inference operations that fund further model training [4]. AM Intelligence (AMI) announced an order for 9,000 Nvidia Vera Rubin chips as it builds a 5 GW global AI data-centre network, planning to deploy 200 MW of capacity over the next 18 months. The expansion is backed by $3 billion of combined debt and equity financing, aimed at serving global AI customers and model-training workloads [5]. Robotics. Robotics startup Generalist raised an additional nearly $200 million in an extension of its Series B round, bringing total Series B funding to $600 million and lifting its post-money valuation to $3 billion. The round was led by 8VC and followed a June $400 million raise led by Radical Ventures at a $2 billion valuation. Founded by former Google DeepMind researchers Pete Florence and Andy Zeng and ex-Boston Dynamics engineer Andrew Barry, Generalist is developing a Gen 1.5 foundation model that teaches robots new tasks from video clips as short as three to twelve seconds [2][1]. XPeng's robotics unit, Dogotix, secured more than $900 million in a financing round that valued the business at over $6.3 billion post-money, with a pre-money valuation of $5 billion. The round was led by IDG Capital, included Gaorong Ventures, and counted Tencent and Alibaba as strategic investors. Proceeds will fund hardware and software R&D for the IRON humanoid robot, data collection, Physical AI model training, mass-production facilities and international expansion, targeting a production rate of 1,000 units per month by the end of 2026 and commercial deliveries in 2027 [6][7]. Genetic engineering. Airway Therapeutics closed a $50 million equity round comprising $26 million from a prior SAFE and $24 million from a Series E-2 financing, with roughly 94% of existing investors participating, including Cincinnati Children's and a syndicate of large family offices. The capital will primarily support the Phase 2b/3 trial of zelpultide alfa for preventing bronchopulmonary dysplasia in very preterm infants, as well as associated CMC and analytical activities required for late-stage development [8].

Airway Therapeutics has closed a $50 million equity round to advance late-stage development of zelpultide alfa, a novel recombinant human surfactant protein designed to prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia in very preterm infants. The round comprises $26 million from previous SAFE financing and $24 million from the Series E-2 round. Approximately 94% of existing investors participated in the Series E-2 round, including Cincinnati Children's and several family offices. The proceeds will primarily support completion of the ongoing Phase 2b portion of the Phase 2b/3 clinical trial, plus associated chemistry, manufacturing and analytical work. The company expects interim analysis results by the end of Q2 2027. Currently, no approved preventive therapies exist for bronchopulmonary dysplasia.