a person, group, or organization that you compete with in sport, business, etc; SYN competitor (RI____)

rival
to invent something, such as an excuse or a story, often in order to deceive (MA__ U____)

make up
to cause someone to believe something that is not true (MIS_______)
mislead
all the equipment or machines necessary for a particular purpose (S______)

setup
to give a particular job or piece of work to someone (AS_______)
assign
to keep or continue to have something

retain
a feeling of worry, especially one that is shared by many people (CO_____)

concern
an action that breaks a rule, law, etc. (IN______)

infringement
the most modern stage of development in a particular type of work or activity (CUT____ ED_____)

the cutting edge
a close connection joining two or more people (B)

bond
extremely big (V______)

vast
strong and unlikely to break or fail

robust
permission to do something (CO______)

consent
to suggest a plan, proposal etc, especially in order to start discussions about something that needs to be decided (P____ FO________)

put forward
a fault, mistake, or weakness (FL_____)

flaw
to change the sounds and speech on a film or television programme, especially to a different language (D)

dub
to introduce or launch a new product or service (R____ O_____)
roll out
if a plan, idea, or event is *****, it is being prepared and it will happen or be completed soon

in the pipeline
an act or a process that affects somebody/ something in a way that is not welcome (IN_____)

invasion
causing harm or damage (DE________)

detrimental
to cause something, especially a problem or difficulty (P_______)
The tech community has long debated the threats ***** by artificial intelligence.

pose
to become more popular, accepted, or successful
(G___ T______)

gain traction
refined and perfected in appearance or performance (PO________)
polished
worse than the usual or expected standard (SUB.....)

subpar
to find yourself in an unexpected and usually unpleasant situation, especially as a result of what you do (WI____ U____)

wind up
a sudden increase in the amount or number of something (PRO__________)

proliferation
if something can be seen ******, it can be seen without the help of an instrument (WITH THE N_____ E______)

with the naked eye
to be performing extremely well in a sport, job, etc. so that you could not perform any better
(be at the t____ of your g_____)

be at the top of your game
the leading competitors in a race or competition (FR_____ R_______)
front runners
to make small changes to something, especially in an attempt to repair or improve it (TIN.....)

tinker