Cruise receives permit to test autonomous cars without safety drivers in San Francisco
Cruise gained a permit from the California DMV that will allow it to test up to five vehicles without safety drivers behind the wheel.
Machine learning uncovers potential new TB drugs
Machine learning is a computational tool used by many biologists to analyze huge amounts of data, helping them to identify potential new drugs. MIT researchers have now incorporated a new feature into these types of machine-learning algorithms, improving their prediction-making ability.
Nvidia will supply hardware for Leonardo, a 10-exaflop supercomputer
Nvidia announced it will supply the hardware for Leonardo, a supercomputer capable of achieving 10 exaflops of compute performance.
Google’s Smart Fill autocompletes Sheets columns using AI
The new AI-powered Smart Fill feature for Google Sheets draws on a range of data sources to automatically complete columns in files.
Whisper’s hearing aids use AI to boost speech and reduce noise
Whisper, a startup founded by former Facebook employees, raised $53 million to develop a pair of AI-powered hearing aids.
River raises $10.4 million for privacy-preserving news recommendations
River, a startup developing an app that aggregates news and events on the web, claims to preserve privacy with its machine learning approach.
The threat of 'killer robots' is real and closer than you might think
From self-driving cars, to digital assistants, artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming an integral technology in our lives today. But this same technology that can help to make our day-to-day life easier is also being incorporated into weapons for use in combat situations.
Alphabet X has a crop-watching robot that rolls around fields
The company is working on a smart buggy that can help farmers understand what is going on in the field.
The threat of 'killer robots' is real and closer than you might think
Outsourcing use-of-force decisions to machines violates human dignity and is incompatible with international law.
Elon Musk: Yes, SpaceX's Starlink internet will even work on high-speed transportation
SpaceX is also cleared to bid for the FCC's up to $16bn fund to bring broadband to underserved parts of the US.
Sonrai Security raises $20 million to protect public clouds with automation
Sonrai Security, a startup developing a security platform for public cloud customers, has raised $20 million in venture funding.
98point6 nabs $118 million for its AI-powered telemedicine platform
98point6, a telemedical startup providing an AI-powered, text-based platform, has raised $118 million in venture capital.
Virgin Galactic announces preparations for its first spaceflight, investors unconvinced
A lack of specific dates for lift-off knocked share prices.
Balto raises $10 million to analyze call center conversations with AI
Balto, a conversational AI startup targeting call centers, has raised $10 million in venture capital to accelerate its go-to-market strategy.
Pilot: A virtual agent that can negotiate with humans
Negotiations are a central part of many human interactions, ranging from business discussions and legal proceedings to conversations with vendors at local markets. Researchers specialized in economics, psychology, and more recently, computer science have conducted several studies aimed at better understanding how humans negotiate with one another in the hope of shedding light on some of the dynamics of human decision-making and enabling the development of machines that can replicate these dynamics.
Self-driving cars can be forced to brake by hijacked billboards
Researchers demonstrate how “phantom objects” can fool autonomous vehicles and prompt particular actions.
This Camera App Is Designed to Fight Fake News
Chipmaker Qualcomm and startup Truepic are testing a feature for Android phones that automatically tags the time and location when an image was captured.
‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI
The long read: Autonomous machines capable of deadly force are increasingly prevalent in modern warfare, despite numerous ethical concerns. Is there anything we can do to halt the advance of the killer robots?