A year ago, Bertrand Vallage took a submarine to the bottom of the French Mediterranean to fix instruments his team had installed there for a physics experiment. Some cables had fallen loose from their connections, and Vallage and his submarine crew were there to plug them back in so the experiment could get back to work detecting tiny particles called neutrinos. In principle, they could reconnect each cable in five minutes using two clumsy metal arms connected to the submarine. But as they maneuvered the joysticks that controlled the arms, they kept dropping the cables, kicking up dust from the seabed. Each time, they had to bring the cable inside the submarine and clean it, over and over again.

Whenever the term "artificial intelligence" is mentioned, the first thought that comes to any layman's mind is that it is the technology which helps develop robots. Major Hollywood movies have given a superficial impression about the technological subject. But artificial intelligence is a much broader concept that the regular notion of it. If we talk about it in the literal sense, the term artificial intelligence stands for the simulation of human intelligence processed by machines, mainly computer systems. The major processes under this simulation are reasoning, learning, and self-correction.

Google is set to build its own ad blocker and add it to the Chrome web browser, according to a new report. The technology giant is expected to switch it on by default on mobile and desktop. Since Google makes most of its revenue from advertising, this seems like a highly unusual move that could seriously impact its earnings. However, there's legitimate concern that that company will take great care to protect its own interests. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google's ad blocker will only target adverts that the Coalition for Better Ads considers to be "unacceptable".

HTC has released a teaser for a new smartphone that's designed to be squeezed by users. The Taiwanese company is preparing to launch the HTC U, an Android-running handset that could be vastly different to any other smartphone on the market. The short teaser video shows a user squeezing the sides of a smartphone between their thumb and fingers. The clip gives little else away, but appears to confirm previous leaks from tech tipster Evan Blass, claiming that the U will have a number of sensors embedded into its metal frame. These will allow users to control the handset by either swiping or applying pressure to its sides.

Amazon is the exception to nearly every rule in business. Rising from humble beginnings as a Seattle-based internet bookstore, Amazon has grown into a propulsive force in at least five different giant industries: retail, logistics, consumer technology, cloud computing, and most recently, media and entertainment. The company has had its share of missteps -- the expensive Fire phone flop comes to mind -- but is also rightly known for strokes of strategic genius that have put it ahead of competitors in promising new industries. This was the case with the launch of cloud business AWS in the mid-2000s, and more recently the surprising consumer hit in the Echo device and its Alexa AI assistant. Today's Amazon is far more than just an "everything store," it's a leader in consumer-facing AI and enterprise cloud services. And its insatiable appetite for new markets mean competitors must always be on guard against its next moves.

Accenture Labs and Akshaya Patra Use Disruptive Technologies to Enhance Efficiency in Mid-Day Meal Program for School Children "Million Meals" project applied artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and blockchain to drive efficiency and timeliness of lunch program in government schools across India BENGALURU, India; Apr. 20, 2017 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Akshaya Patra, the world's largest NGO-run Mid-Day Meal Program, collaborated on an innovative project that used disruptive technologies to exponentially increase the number of meals served to children in schools in India that are run and aided by the government. The "Million Meals" project revolutionized Akshaya Patra's supply chain and operations, resulting in improved food quality and expanded service reach. Rooted in a vision to eliminate child hunger, the "Million Meals" project demonstrated how disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain can help address significant challenges in mass meal production and delivery. Accenture Labs, the research and development arm of Accenture, executed the project over a period of six months in Akshaya Patra's Bengaluru kitchen. An analysis of the project indicated a potential to improve efficiency by 20 percent, which could boost the number of meals served by millions.

If you're freaked out a bit by artificial intelligence, here's a robot with a potentially reassuring message. A service robot called REEM can tackle the question: "Should I worry about AI?" (Recent concerns along these lines have touched on everything from killer robots to job-destroying automatons.) "The short answer is you do not need to worry about artificial intelligence for many years," the robot says. "Artificial intelligence requires a body to interact with the world. And we are very far from creating an artificial body with a brain that is smarter than a very basic animal."

Under the new partnership, the companies unveiled a medical AI research center in Beijing on Tuesday. The facility was designed to explore how to apply cutting-edge technology to medical treatment and training. Research progress on brain science, neuroscience and other areas will then be first tested in the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences' affiliated hospital before being promoted at other medical institutions. Cao Xuetao, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said AI can help accelerate medical research by boosting computing capabilities, and it can also efficiently use limited resources by offering partly automated resources. "We are highly complementary in competency and resources," Cao said.

America's retailers are closing stores faster than ever while demand for warehouse workers by online retailers is higher than ever. Retailers and logistics companies have been opening facilities at a record pace and in this fast-paced world, warehousing and logistics managers are looking for robotics solutions to remain competitive. Chicago's huge McCormick Place Conference Center was once again home to the Automate and ProMat trade shows. Over 900 exhibitors covered 350,000 sq ft at ProMat while 400 companies exhibited at the Automate show. Most of the companies listed below exhibited at one or both of these two shows.

Facebook has revealed its secret "Building 8" where it is crafting technology to read people's minds. As well as its brain-computer interface, the company is working on a wide range of secret projects that use technology in ways never before imagined. Those include special ways of making people sense touch and re-wiring people's brains. The company showed off some of the secretive unit's plans during a speech at its F8 conference. Until now, the team's work has been kept entirely quiet – only leaking out in job ads and other publications.