Irvine Calif.-based Syntiant thinks it can use embedded flash memory to greatly reduce the amount of power needed to perform deep-learning computations. Austin, Tex.-based Mythic thinks it can use embedded flash memory to greatly reduce the amount of power needed to perform deep-learning computations. They both might be right. A growing crowd of companies is hoping to deliver chips that accelerate otherwise onerous deep learning applications, and to some degree they all have similarities because "these are solutions that are created by the shape of the problem," explains Mythic founder and CTO Dave Fick. When executed in a CPU, that problem is shaped like a traffic jam of data.

LAS VEGAS--Complexity is the enemy of security, but prompt patching is its strongest ally. Security professionals have made those points for years, but two presentations at the Black Hat USA conference here provided fresh arguments for them--and signs companies are getting snappier at fixing vulnerabilities. What that means for you: When your computer, phone or tablet says it has an update available, install it. Don't wait to benefit from the tighter focus of an Apple, Google or Microsoft on security issues. Support for that came in one Black Hat briefing covering a "vuln" in Apple's device-management system that lets organizations configure Macs from afar.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's military said it had shot down a drone that came close to its Syrian air base at Hmeimim on Saturday and was launched from the Idlib "de-escalation" zone controlled by what Moscow calls "illegal military groups", TASS agency reported.

AI robot arm scans Where's Wally books to find elusive character in seconds AI robot arm scans Where's Wally books to find elusive character in seconds Whole process takes just a matter of seconds. Whole process takes just a matter of seconds. Next time you're struggling on a particularly challenging page of Where's Wally, there could be an easy solution. A robot with the sole purpose of picking out the elusive Wally's face in a crowd has been built. Designed by creative agency Redpepper the robot uses artificial intelligence software to recognise Wally in a crowd of other fictional faces and then uses a robotic arm to point him out.

In this Monday, July 30, 2018, photo, Anki Inc. CEO Boris Sofman holds Vector, the company's new home robot, in New York. Personal home robots that can socialize with people are starting to roll out of the laboratory and into our living rooms and kitchens. But are humans ready to invite them into their lives?

For some children with autism, interacting with other people can be an uncomfortable, mystifying experience. Feeling overwhelmed with face-to-face interaction, such children may find it difficult to focus their attention and learn social skills from their teachers and therapists--the very people charged with helping them learn to socially adapt. What these children need, say some researchers, is a robot: a cute, tech-based intermediary, with a body, that can teach them how to more comfortably interact with their fellow humans. On the face of it, learning human interaction from a robot might sound counter-intuitive. But a handful of groups are studying the technology in an effort to find out just how effective these robots are at helping children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

An unprecedented wave of rank-and-file rebellion is sweeping Big Tech. At one company after another, employees are refusing to help the US government commit human rights abuses at home and abroad. At Google, workers organized to shut down Project Maven, a Pentagon project that uses machine learning to improve targeting for drone strikes – and won. At Amazon, workers are pushing Jeff Bezos to stop selling facial recognition to police departments and government agencies, and to cut ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). At Microsoft, workers are demanding the termination of a $19.4m cloud deal with Ice.

Radio jamming systems apparently thwarted an attempted presidential assassination with improvised drone bombs in Venezuela. On Saturday 4th August, President Nicolas Maduro's speech at an outdoor rally was interrupted by two explosions. Seven soldiers on parade were injured, three critically. Others scattered while bodyguards rushed to protect the president with bulletproof shields. Witnesses reported seeing two multicopter drones which crashed into a nearby apartment building and exploded.

For the developers of self-driving vehicles, semi-trucks are a potential low-hanging fruit. Although big rigs are imposingly, intimidatingly huge, they also predominantly run on freeways and other fixed routes that are simpler to automate. Fleet managers are easier to convince with rational, financial arguments than individual car buyers. Today, a new startup, Kodiak Robotics, is edging out of stealth, announcing $40 million in financing, and telling the world it's going to pick and ship that fruit. The company is worth watching because it's cofounded by Don Burnette, who also cofounded Otto, a trucking startup acquired by Uber in 2016, and particularly notable because it led to a high-profile legal spat in the nascent autonomous vehicle industry.