China's internet giant Baidu has started mass producing the country's first autonomous minibus as the company prepares to roll them out in tourist spots and airports. The eight-seater Apolong, about one-third of the size of a normal bus, has no steering wheel, driver's seat, accelerator or brake, Baidu announced on Wednesday at its annual developers' conference in Beijing. The driverless bus was co-developed by Baidu and Chinese commercial vehicle maker King Long and is powered by Apollo's autonomous driving operating system, Apollo 3.0. China's internet giant Baidu has started mass producing the country's first autonomous minibus as the company prepares to roll them out in tourist spots and airports Robin Li, CEO of search giant Baidu, speaks in front of an image of the Apolong, China's first L4 fully autonomous bus, during the Baidu Create 2018 held in Beijing on Wednesday The autonomous bus can complete obstacle avoidance, swerving and automatic transshipment without any human intervention, according to Xinhua News. Video footage released by Baidu - often referred to as China's Google - shows the company's massive manufacturing facility in Xiamen, in south-east China's Fujian province.

Over the decades, numerous foundational technologies have emerged from U.S. military-funded research: among them, semiconductors, cryptography, the internet, GPS and mobile phones. "They arose out of war -- or the fear of war" that characterized the Cold War era, says Will Carter of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This shift in the balance of power between AI funding and development means the private sector is leading in an area with "massive national security implications," says Gregory Allen, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security. The backstory: This dynamic reflects a general lack of government leadership on AI, some experts say. Unlike China, Japan, South Korea, the U.K., France, Canada, and several other countries, the U.S. has not outlined a clear national vision for AI development.

With the Indian B2B segment rapidly evolving, it only makes sense that technology-driven models are deployed for effective management of not only specific processes but also entire businesses. Also, with automation and disruptive technology being at the forefront, the need of the hour is for seamless integration of these within business management solutions. When it comes to management of various business processes, smart solutions should be devised for aspects which potentially require micro-management. A classic example here is expense tracking. "AI is accelerating the velocity and ease of payments for consumers," states Rathi to Entrepreneur India.

Baidu has started mass-producing its Level 4 autonomous mini-buses with the intention of deploying them not just in China, but also in other countries. The Chinese tech giant has teamed up with Softbank subsidiary SB Drive to launch a self-driving mini-bus service in Japan next year. They're bringing 10 "Apolong" buses to Tokyo and other Japanese cities in early 2019 after the vehicles make their debut in select Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Pingtan and Wuhan. The 14-seater buses will initially pick up passengers in tourist areas, parks, industrial campuses, airports and other geo-fenced locations. Baidu has also announced during its annual AI developer conference that it has already manufactured 100 Apolong vehicles with help from Chinese bus manufacturer King Long.

On the afternoon of July 4th, the AI World 2018 was held in the Press Office of Shanghai municipal government. At the press conference, Wu Qing, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai introduced the conference. AI World 2018 will be held in Shanghai from September 17 to 19 of this year by National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Internet Information Office, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government with the approval of the State Council under the background of the historic exchange of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial change and the high-quality development demand in China. The conference, with the theme of "New Era of Artificial Intelligence," with the "High-end, Internationalized, Professionalized and Marketable" policy, consists of forum summit, special activities, display applications and innovation competitions, focusing on the combination of "investment in production, learning and research". With the theme of "enlightening intelligence and setting sail for the future," the competition, based on globalization, specialization and high end, aims to encourage artificial intelligence, accelerate the talents, find excellent projects, and expand the international influence of China's artificial intelligence.

While using fireworks to mark July Fourth dates back to 1777, one US Air Force Base is set to give their display a modern twist. Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, has been working with Intel to replace explosives with 500 drones. In celebration of July Fourth and Travis Air Force Base's 75th anniversary, tonight they will take to the skies in a choreographed aerial routine that honors active military and veterans. Intel Shooting Star drones create a U.S. flag during 2018 Independence Day celebration rehearsals on June 28 at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California. The display will use the same Intel Shooting Star drones seen at the Superbowl and the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

BENGALURU: Cloud architects, data scientists, storage systems & management specialists, and software architects are the hardest to find technology talent in India. And over the past year, the shortage of data scientists has increased dramatically because of a surge in demand. A talent supply index (TSI) developed by recruitment company Belong puts the TSI for these roles at 0.2 -- in other words, if there are 10, say, cloud architect opportunities, there are only 2 relevant cloud architects available. A cloud architect is an IT professional responsible for overseeing a company's cloud computing strategy. The TSI for data scientists has dropped dramatically from 0.7 in 2017 to 0.2 this year.

Computers, artificial intelligence programs, and robots are doing more of the work that humans used to do. Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show that the amount of technology used per unit of production doubled between 2001 and 2015.* There's no reason to believe this trend will slow anytime soon. What does that mean for jobs? Researchers from the University of Oxford estimate that 47% of U.S. jobs could be automated as soon as 2025, meaning about 70 million Americans could find themselves out of work.**

The burgeoning private Chinese civilian effort in developing these technologies points to a future that will change not just sales and delivery inside China, but also abroad, as many of the key companies have a global presence. It also suggests that the PLA could rely more heavily on civilian sources for its future unmanned technologies. Peter Warren Singer is a strategist and senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He has been named by Defense News as one of the 100 most influential people in defense issues. He was also dubbed an official "Mad Scientist" for the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command.

There's plenty to be scared of in 2018. If nightmares of being chased down by Boston Dynamics' robot dogs weren't enough, here's a new fresh horror: robot dragons. Scientists from the University of Tokyo synced four thrusters together to create a serpentine, floating aircraft called DRAGON. The acronym stands for Dual-rotor embedded multilink Robot with the Ability of multi-deGree-of-freedom aerial transfromatiON, according to IEEE Spectrum. The aircraft actually solves a bunch of problems facing modern drones: It can be small enough to fly straight through tight spaces, but also has the ability to transform into shapes capable of carrying cargo.