The $711m in value accounted for 44% of the global total, a quadruple increase on the previous year (10%). AI, IoT and analytics and big data propositions collectively accounted for 56% of the total number of deals – around 70% of total value last year. UK market doubles The value of insurtech investments in the UK more than doubled year on year to almost $19m, although the total number of deals remained flat. Accenture said that Brexit had not had a material impact on the investment climate in 2016. After the UK, Germany and France are the next largest markets in Europe.

"OK Google, what can you do when connected to Talend?" In this tutorial, I will show how to create an Agent in API.AI that will respond to commands spoken to Google Home. The Agent will reverse the words in a sentence spoken to Google Home by making use of a Talend web service which is used to carry out the word reversal. A very simple example, but it demonstrates the ground work you will need to create some really quite interesting applications. You do not need one to try this tutorial out as Google has provided an emulator, but I can highly recommend the device. Recently Google opened up access to the Actions on Google API. You can either use the Actions SDK or use API.AI. API.AI was recently acquired by Google. While API.AI is really quite simple to use, it is quite limited in how it can be used with Google Home at the moment.

An inmate escaped a South Carolina maximum-security prison with the help of a drone. The individual, Jimmy Causey, was captured Friday after escaping on the 4th of July, officials said. Causey, 46, escaped in the evening of July 4 from the Lieber Correctional Institution, which is located in Ridgevilee, SC. However, officials didn't notice he was gone until the next day in the afternoon because he had used a dummy to fool guards. Causey managed to break free by using a cell phone, wire cutters and other tools that were dropped off by a drone, officials said according to the New York Times.

SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Malong Technologies, an artificial intelligence startup and international provider of product recognition technology, was named winner in the "Olympics of Startups" held at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance, in Berlin. Malong Technologies' breakthrough ProductAI platform is a high performance'intelligent eye' that enables machines to have human-like visual perception of products, including non-rigid objects such as fashion and fabrics, which have historically been infeasible for computers to recognize accurately without barcodes. Malong Technologies beat startups from every nation at the G20, which represents the 20 major economies of the world. Judged by officials of the European Union and other international organizations, the competition, run by the "Get in the Ring" foundation, led participants through a series of six rounds held over two days, and included'head-to-head' oratory matchups inside a replica boxing ring. The three winning nations include China, represented by Malong Technologies, Canada, and France. As winners, Malong Technologies will benefit from the international visibility which can help open doors to more global customers for its product recognition technology.

Leaders in the business world are recognizing the importance of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). A survey by the CNBC Global CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Council has found that more than one in four CFOs (26 percent) consider AI and machine learning as critical to their company, and nearly half (44 percent) think that it is "very important." The survey is a key indicator of trends and viewpoints in big business, taking account of the views of some of the largest private companies worldwide which collectively have a market cap of more than $4 trillion in a variety of sectors. AI's role in business may be even more significant than this survey suggests, as there is an overlap between this category and the second most critical technology in the survey, the IoT. Most IoT systems utilize AI, particularly to learn, streamline themselves, and self correct.

The two Islamic State jihadis scrambled up to the roof of the building, breaking cover for a moment before quickly hiding from sight. But it was too late. They had been spotted by the camera drone hovering above Mosul's Old City, their images beamed to black-clad special forces operatives huddled around a tablet roughly 300 yards away. Lt. Col. Muhannad Tamimi, a battalion commander, turned to his walkie-talkie. "Staff Col. Arkan," he said.

As the battlefield use of commercial drones by ISIS extremists becomes more prevalent and sophisticated, there is growing concern that these unmanned aircraft systems could be used in terror attacks inside the U.S. Drones, relatively inexpensive and easily purchased online or at a local big-box retail store, have been modified by ISIS fighters to drop grenades or to surveil troop movements overseas. The terror group continues to bolster its use of weaponized and surveillance drones against Iraqi and U.S. forces. In April, U.S. Central Command told Fox News that coalition troops have as many as 30 encounters a week with unmanned aerial vehicles. In fact, ISIS announced the formation of a new drone warfare unit in January, whose sole purpose is to inflict "a new source of horror for the apostates." And, according to a January report by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point "we should expect the Islamic State to refine its drone bomb-drop capability. It is likely that the Islamic State's use of this tactic will not only become more frequent, but more lethal as well."

Akshay Mehrotra, co-founder of Pune-based EarlySalary, likes to share one of his favorite stories about how his one-year old mobile-based fintech startup recently rejected an online loan to a Bengaluru-based 27 year old IT professional. "She was earning Rs 60,000 a month and though she fulfilled the entire criterion to take a Rs 15,000 loan, we rejected it because of the boyfriend she was living-in with," explains Mehrotra, whose startup dispenses small loans to students and salaried professionals. How did EarlySalary make the connection? For starters, the boyfriend had applied for the same loan three days before the girl had, which EarlySalary had rejected because he was unemployed. Two, the startup's machine learning algorithm used GPS and social media data –- both of which the duo had given permissions for while downloading the app – to make the connection that they were in a relationship.

Ninety percent of all the data available online today has accumulated over the last couple of years. This pool of data is projected to grow exponentially as we all contribute to it each day through 500 million tweets, 4.3 billion Facebook posts, 5.75 billion "likes," and 6 billion daily Google searches. The Ridacati Group reports that 205 billion emails were sent each day in 2015, and it estimates that by 2019 that number will increase 20 percent to reach 246 billion emails. This data growth is inextricably linked to the development of AI. Deep learning models have become routine in almost every area that deals with data.

Italy is still in the grip of a nationwide economic crisis that began 10 years ago. The European Commission recently allowed Italy to pour $19.4 billion into liquidating two major Italian banks, Banca Popolare di Vicenza SpA and Veneto Banca SpA, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, the government moved to nationalize control of Monte dei Paschi bank, instigating a relaunch that throws out $32.5 billion worth of bad loans. "We are putting the worst behind us," Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Wednesday. But many of the problems that created this loan crisis are still in place, experts say.