Electric Aviation: Beta Technologies won FAA clearance to carry passengers on market-survey flights in its eVTOL aircraft—the first such approval for an electric vertical-takeoff plane. Its first authorized flight went 40 miles from Plattsburgh to Burlington. AI and Jobs: Colchester-based Vermont Information Processing is laying off 66 employees amid an AI-focused product shift, after growing to about 600 workers before its 2025 acquisition. Vermont Tech: Omron plans to acquire Colchester’s OnLogic for $675 million, bolstering its industrial-technology push. Biotech Workforce: UVM launched a free, 24-week training program for 32 students, teaching lab skills and aiming to connect graduates with local employers. Homegrown Innovation: Hinesburg engineer Neil Shah has taken his woodstove-temperature monitor, Oru, from a Raspberry Pi prototype to mass production, with a sensor, app and color-coded lamp. AI and Elections: Vermont’s AI-assisted political ads are appearing as campy parodies rather than convincing deepfakes, despite concerns about deceptive election content.