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EY announces alliance with Aaru to help organizations drive growth with greater confidence through behavioral simulation. Sep 30, 2026, 09:00 ET * Improves decision speed and accuracy by leveraging Aaru's proprietary statistical engine to simulate human behavior at scale, sharing actionable insights in hours. * Expands value creation by engaging hard-to-reach populations and providing enterprises with deeper insight to evaluate complex decisions. * Turns foresight into growth by converting behavioral intelligence into transformational outcomes, supported by EY US' sector experience and domain data. LONDON, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - The EY organization announces an alliance between Aaru, a leading AI behavioral simulation company, and Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) to help organizations evaluate complex decisions with greater speed and confidence through predictive insights grounded in human behavior. The Alliance pairs Aaru's simulation technology with EY US' industry and functional capabilities, allowing CxOs to see how populations respond before executing strategy. Organizations today face growing pressure to make bolder and more informed decisions on shorter timelines. In an increasingly dynamic marketplace, traditional market research can be costly, time-intensive and limited in its ability to accurately predict real-world behavior. Aaru's statistical engine generates populations of AI agents that represent a defined audience of interest, while EY US helps organizations translate those insights into actionable business strategies. Together, EY US and Aaru are working with organizations in the financial services sector to test marketing messages, product and pricing offers, sales and services strategy, and impacts of mergers and acquisitions. The result is decision velocity, with greater confidence and precision. The predictive accuracy of the technology has been validated across customers globally, including with EY US. This Alliance follows a blinded, rigorous validation against EY US' own 2025 Global Wealth Management study, in which Aaru replicated six months of fieldwork, 3,600 investors and more than 30 markets in a single day. Justin Singer, EY-Aaru Alliance Leader, EY US, says: "Too often, organizations invest in transformation without clear visibility into the outcomes they can expect. The EY-Aaru Alliance changes that by helping leaders to simulate, validate and optimize decisions before committing resources. Together, we help organizations move from insight to action with greater confidence, speed and measurable impact." Ned Koh, President and Co-Founder of Aaru, says: "Ultimately, every business exists to monetize behavior, and our mission is to help enable the enterprise to make better decisions. We're excited to share this vision with EY US and expand its aperture to provide for clients at the same time." About EY EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets. Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow. EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories. All in to shape the future with confidence. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com. This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients. About Aaru Aaru is a behavioral simulation platform. Trained directly on real-world behavioral outcomes, Aaru predicts how populations will act more accurately and in a fraction of the time of traditional research, including in hypothetical scenarios that are otherwise impossible to test. Leading global enterprises in financial services and consumer retail use Aaru to test growth strategies, product innovation and market response. Learn more at aaru.com. SOURCE EYGS LLP

Listen Labs drops $1.5B deal as Salesforce eyes $2B buyout. AI market research startup Listen Labs has backed out of a signed $125 million funding round after tech giant Salesforce opened talks to acquire the company for nearly $2 billion. Listen Labs had already signed a term sheet for a Series C round led by Menlo Ventures, which placed its valuation at $1.5 billion. However, the startup walked away before the deal could close. Insiders say the sudden shift happened because Salesforce came forward with an acquisition proposal. According to a report, Salesforce is considering buying the startup for around $2 billion. Founded in 2023 by Harvard graduates Florian Jüngermann and Alfred Wahlforss, Listen Labs uses AI to replace traditional market research. Its software conducts automated voice and video interviews with customers, then turns those conversations into practical research reports for businesses. The company already serves major clients, including Microsoft, Canva, Anthropic, and Sweetgreen. Listen Labs currently generates roughly $30 million in annual revenue, about three times more than its main competitor, Simile. The rivalry between both companies appears to have driven this decision. In late July, Simile raised $200 million at a $2 billion valuation in a round led by Greenoaks. That deal set a new price standard for AI market research tools, likely pushing Listen Labs to demand a higher valuation for itself. Listen Labs plans to return to private investors and target a valuation of at least $2 billion, if the buyout talks with Salesforce fall through. However, some analysts say paying $2 billion for a startup making $30 million a year means paying 67 times its annual revenue, a price they believe might be too steep even for Salesforce. Meanwhile, the startup has grown over the past year. In January, Listen Labs raised $69 million in a Series B round led by Ribbit Capital, with support from Sequoia, Conviction, and Pear VC, which valued the business at $500 million at the time. Listen Labs operates in a growing sector alongside competitors like Outset, Keplar, and Aaru. While Listen Labs focuses on interviewing real humans with AI, rivals like Simile and Aaru use AI models to simulate how buyers might respond without speaking to actual customers. As at the time this report was filed, Listen Labs, Salesforce, Menlo Ventures, and Simile have all declined to comment publicly on the matter.