America's self-driving car lobby has gained a powerful new ally in its bid to pressure Congress into bringing autonomous vehicles to the nation's roads. The Coalition for Future Mobility (CFM) has been joined in its quest to speed up the mainstream acceptance of driverless cars by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), an industry trade body representing 360 alcoholic drinks companies across all 50 states. CFM is currently dominated by auto and tech companies, eager to be at the front of the queue when the complex web of legislative and regulatory hurdles have been cleared to allow fully-automated cars onto US highways. WSWA adding its voice to the cause suggests the US alcohol industry sees an opportunity to tackle a long-standing thorn in its side and eradicate the problem of drink-driving once and for all. If driverless cars were introduced, the rationale goes, owners would be free to consume as much beer, wine or whiskey as they liked on a night out and be assured of getting home safely without the need for a designated driver.

Dyson has stopped making full-size, plug-in vacuum cleaners and revealed the products that will replace them. The company is going to focus on its smaller, battery powered models, it said. It made the announcement as it revealed its new Cyclone V10 cordless vacuum, which it says is "why we've stopped developing corded vacuums". At the same time, the company launched the new version of its Pure Cool fan, a purifier that is able to clean things out of the air. Together, Dyson hopes the new products offer the future of "clean home technology". The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

Think that Google's search algorithms are good at reading your mind? That's nothing compared to a new artificial intelligence research project coming out of Japan, which can analyze a person's brain scans and provide a written description of what they have been looking at. To generate its captions, the artificial intelligence is given an fMRI brain scan image, taken while a person is looking at a picture. It then generates a written description of what they think the person was viewing. An illustration of the level of complexity it can offer is: "A dog is sitting on the floor in front of an open door" or "a group of people standing on the beach."

There's a dirty little secret about artificial intelligence: It's powered by hundreds of thousands of real people. From makeup artists in Venezuela to women in conservative parts of India, people around the world are doing the digital equivalent of needlework --drawing boxes around cars in street photos, tagging images, and transcribing snatches of speech that computers can't quite make out. Such data feeds directly into "machine learning" algorithms that help self-driving cars wind through traffic and let Alexa figure out that you want the lights on. These repetitive tasks pay pennies apiece. But in bulk, this work can offer a decent wage in many parts of the world -- even in the U.S.

In recent years, the environmental issues have triggered debates, discussions, awareness programs and public outrage that have catapulted interest in new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence finds application in a wide array of environmental sectors, including resource conservation, wildlife protection, energy management, clean energy, waste management, pollution control and agriculture. Artificial Intelligence (also known as AI) is considered to be the biggest game-changer in the global economy. With its gradual increase in scope and application, it is estimated that by 2030, AI will contribute up to 15.7 trillion of the global economy which is more than the current output of China and India combined. The UN Artificial Intelligence Summit held in Geneva (2017) identified that AI has the potential to accelerate progress towards a dignified life, in peace and prosperity, for all people and have suggested to refocus the use of this technology, that is responsible for self-driving cars and voice/face recognition smart phones, on sustainable development and assisting global efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger, and to protect the environment and conserve natural resources.

Can India's seemingly insurmountable socioeconomic problems be tackled using artificial intelligence (AI)? The answer may lie somewhere in the future--but one Indian-American billionaire duo has decided to make a start. Last month, US-based philanthropist brothers Romesh Wadhwani (70) and Sunil Wadhwani (64) established India's first AI research institute in Mumbai, looking to deliver scaleable, tech-led solutions to the country's ills like inadequate healthcare and educational facilities by honing the AI ecosystem. Their institute, Wadhwani AI, was launched on Feb. 18 by prime minister Narendra Modi and is located in Mumbai University's Vidyanagari campus in Kalina. With over four decades of experience in the US, running various tech enterprises and philanthropic organisations, the Wadhwanis expect the institute to mirror the likes of San Francisco-based non-profit OpenAI and MIT's Allen Institute for AI.

Music streaming giant Spotify is cracking down on users who employ apps to bypass restrictions and access a modified version of its premium services without paying. The Swedish company, which last week filed for a public listing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has begun emailing listeners it believes to be using illegal software saying it has "detected abnormal activity" and warning that their accounts have been deactivated and will not be restored until the offending programmes have been uninstalled. "If we detect repeated use of unauthorised apps in violation of our terms, we reserve all rights including suspending or terminating your account," non-paying subscribers are cautioned. The free version of Spotify has 88m subscribers but inserts audio adverts every three tracks and ensures songs can only be played on shuffle mode, conditions the premium service removes at a cost of £9.99 a month. The apps in question do not provide the high-quality streaming a premium account would offer but do allow users to sidestep the adverts and restrictions that many find annoying.

Tumblr has been banned in Indonesia for providing people with access to pornographic content. The communications ministry said the block – which means nobody in the country can access the blogging platform – came after complaints about hundreds of accounts that provided pornography. The country has stepped up efforts to police the kind of content available online. It has been trying to stem a rise in hoax stories and hate speech, and anti-pornography laws pushed by Islamic parties in the country have led tens of thousands of adult websites to be taken offline. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

Think that Google's search algorithms are good at reading your mind? That's nothing compared to a new artificial intelligence research project coming out of Japan, which can analyze a person's brain scans and provide a written description of what they have been looking at. To generate its captions, the artificial intelligence is given an fMRI brain scan image, taken while a person is looking at a picture. It then generates a written description of what they think the person was viewing. An illustration of the level of complexity it can offer is: "A dog is sitting on the floor in front of an open door" or "a group of people standing on the beach."

Travel marketers are sitting on a "powerhouse" of data that's has unlimited potential for their consumers – but remains impossible for humans to disseminate, the marketing lead at IBM Asia-Pacific has said. Speaking ahead of her talk at the inaugural Mumbrella Asia Travel Marketing Summit, Chaitali Pramanik said artificial intelligence will help marketers "crack the code" on one of the industry's biggest problems, which is an avalanche of online and offline data. Pramanik, who leads marketing for IBM's AI platform Watson, said while AI has already "transformed the entire landscape" of the travel industry, there is still great potential to further personalise experiences for budding holidaymakers. She said: "Think about the powerhouse of information that's sat in your call centres. It will always say your call may be recorded for training purposes, but how many companies really do that? How many do research to figure out what your customer is saying? That is very powerful information. If we as marketers are able to derive that information and drive results, we can extend improved results and services."