"Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. However, the president said he would not like to see anyone "monopolize" the field. "If we become leaders in this area, we will share this know-how with entire world, the same way we share our nuclear technologies today," he told students from across Russia via satellite link-up, speaking from the Yaroslavl region.

Science fiction has an uncanny ability to predict the future of technology, from Star Trek's Padd, essentially an iPad, to the Jetsons' robot vacuum, basically a Roomba. Now that the voice assistant is here, that's another checklist off the sci-fi predictor, but while our Alexas, Siris, Cortanas and Google Assistants are pretty basic right now, if sci-fi continues its great prelude to the future, what will the computers of the future really be like? According to Amazon's head of devices, Dave Limp, the next phase in computing is less about the physical thing and more about how and where you access it. He says: "We think of it as ambient computing, which is computer access that's less dedicated personally to you but more ubiquitous. "Our vision is to create that Star Trek computer and work backwards from that.

For drone users, Hurricane Harvey is likely to be the event that propelled unmanned aircraft to become an integral part of government and corporate disaster-recovery efforts. In the first six days after the storm hit, the Federal Aviation Administration issued more than 40 separate authorizations for emergency drone activities above flood-ravaged Houston and surrounding areas. They ranged from inspecting roadways to checking railroad tracks to assessing the condition of water plants, oil refineries and power lines. That total climbed above 70 last Friday and topped 100 by Sunday, including some flights prohibited under routine circumstances, according to people familiar with the details. Industry officials said all of the operations--except for a handful flown by media outlets--were conducted in conjunction with, or on behalf of, local, state or federal agencies.

TOCHIGI – A test of self-driving bus services organized by the transport ministry kicked off at a michi no eki roadside rest area in Tochigi Prefecture on Saturday. The ministry hopes to launch the autonomous bus services in fiscal 2020, aiming to provide a means of transportation for elderly people living in hilly and mountainous areas with dwindling populations. On Saturday, a ceremony to mark the launch of the test and a test-ride event were held in the city of Tochigi. Among the participants was transport minister Keiichi Ishii. According to the ministry, 80 percent of michi no eki rest areas in Japan are in hilly and mountainous areas.

Airlines are coming off a rough six months of brand perception. Forget about mishandled luggage, the bigger problem is mishandled passengers. Customer service – or lack of it – has given the airline industry a "black eye." Even the most customer-focused airlines are not immune to computer outages and winter storms that cause thousands of flights to be canceled. And because of the negative publicity the industry has received, it is under a microscope.

The technology entrepreneur Elon Musk recently urged the nation's governors to regulate artificial intelligence "before it's too late." Mr. Musk insists that artificial intelligence represents an "existential threat to humanity," an alarmist view that confuses A.I. science with science fiction. Nevertheless, even A.I. researchers like me recognize that there are valid concerns about its impact on weapons, jobs and privacy. It's natural to ask whether we should develop A.I. at all. I believe the answer is yes.

Every smart speaker has its advantages. With Amazon Echo, you get access to tens of thousands of "skills," the mini-apps that start a game of Jeopardy or help you mix a cocktail. With Google Home, you have the full power of Google search at your beck and call. And when Apple's HomePod comes out later this year, it'll be by far the best-sounding voice-enabled speaker of the bunch. Sony doesn't have a voice assistant, but knows its way around a speaker.

While the phone you carry may be significantly less bulky than some of the original mobile devices, it's one heck of a lot more powerful. It has a touch screen, lacks a hinge and is filled with apps. And those apps are getting smarter every day with the help of machine learning and AI. Whether it's making your email smarter, streamlining tasks or solving the riddle of incurable diseases, AI and machine learning will probably have a huge impact in your life. As we use our phones, we provide key information to the apps and software installed on them.

"Consumers who expect to receive plaintiff's Rubik's Cube puzzle, for which plaintiff has developed a national and international reputation, will be disappointed when using defendants' imitation," which causes "irreparable harm" to Rubik's Brand's reputation and goodwill, the complaint said.