Increased investor interest in AI startups – from around 10 deals in Q1'11 to over 120 in Q2'16 – can be attributed to recent advances in machine learning algorithms, particularly "deep learning" technology, a souped up version of AI. Just this week, Google integrated deep learning into its Google Translate tool; Baidu announced the launch of DeepBench, an "open source benchmarking tool for evaluating deep learning performance across different hardware platforms"; and NVIDIA introduced Xavier, a deep learning-based supercomputer for driverless cars. In the private market, Google put deep learning in the spotlight back in 2014 when it acquired 4 startups focused on this AI tech in quick succession: DeepMind, Vision Factory, Dark Blue Labs, and DNNresearch. Apple, which joined the race in 2015, most recently acquired Turi, which has developed a deep learning toolkit, among other AI-based solutions. Not to be outdone, Intel has acquired around 5 AI startups since January 2015, including deep learning startup Nervana Systems and, more recently, Movidius.

Iconic filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is asking the public to contribute $900,000 to aid him in his efforts to adapt his blockbuster war film "Apocalypse Now" into an interactive, psychological horror video game, according to a Kickstarter page set up on Wednesday. The video game will transpose the player into the shoes of the U.S. army Captain Willard (protagonist of the 1979 film, played by Martin Sheen) who is sent on a secret mission to exterminate renegade Colonel Kurtz (played by Marlon Brando). Over $93,000 has already been raised for the project being developed by Coppola's privately-held American Zoetrope film studio since it was announced Wednesday. "Forty years ago, I set out to make a personal art picture that could hopefully influence generations of viewers for years to come. Today, I'm joined by new daredevils, a team who want to make an interactive version of'Apocalypse Now', where you are Captain Benjamin Willard amidst the harsh backdrop of the Vietnam War," Coppola said in a statement, according to Reuters.

MIT SMR and Boston Consulting Group are collaborating on a new research initiative, Artificial Intelligence & Business Strategy, to explore the most important business opportunities and challenges for managers posed by AI. The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is finally yielding valuable smart devices and applications that do more than win games against human champions. According to a report from the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver, the products of AI are changing the competitive landscape in several industry sectors and are poised to upend operations in many business functions. MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group have joined forces to find out. Our new research initiative, Artificial Intelligence & Business Strategy, explores the most important business opportunities and challenges from AI. Artificial intelligence covers a diverse set of abilities, much like Howard Gardner's breakdown of human intelligence into multiple intelligences.

Samsung has all but confirmed that its next flagship smartphone will feature an artificial intelligence assistant. The company has posted a vacancy on LinkedIn, for a Principal Program Manager who would be responsible for driving "the execution and delivery of Samsung's upcoming AI (Artificial Intelligence) assistant on the Galaxy S8." Though tech companies aren't averse to teasing the industry with misleading information ahead of major launches, the professional network isn't where you'd typically expect to find such a red herring. The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session A man looks at an exhibit entitled'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact ...

Hideo Kojima is working on "Death Stranding," an open world action game that stars "The Walking Dead" actor Norman Reedus, "Hannibal" star Mads Mikkelsen and Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro. Not much is known about the upcoming title save for those things. This week, Kojima continues the teasing by opening up about the PlayStation 4 game without really revealing pertinent details like the gameplay, release date, storyline and the likes. Kojima sat down with BBC Newsbeat recently and gushed about the approach he is taking for "Death Stranding." According to the Japanese video game designer, he intends to come up with a game that's easy to jump into but will be very different from what's already out there on the market.

On Thursday, games publisher Square Enix announced it had signed a multi-game partnership with Marvel to produce a series of Avengers titles. Two studios, Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider) and Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex) will be working on the project, so we can perhaps expect big, open world action adventures with a smattering of role-playing depth. So what legacy will this tie-in have to contend with? Is there a glorious history of super hero games? Here are our top twelve, please add your own in the comments section.

A constant presence on Google Play and the App Store's top apps charts, it's one of the first apps you'll download when you buy a new phone and almost certainly your biggest source of notification on a typical day. The app has developed dramatically since it emerged almost a decade ago, picking up the ability to transfer files and make voice and video calls – all now core features – along the way. More useful than SMS, slicker than Hangouts and easier to use than Skype, it's no wonder WhatsApp is the number one communications service of choice for hundreds of millions of smartphone users. Even if you use it on a daily basis, WhatsApp is packed with lots of handy, little-known features you might not be familiar with. We've rounded up the best.

Not so long ago, this was the stuff of science fiction. Now we stand at the edge of their everyday reality. We are living in an era that explores these possibilities and more. In the past year Google has started the production and testing of driverless cars. Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace are developing spaceships for suborbital tourism.

Meanwhile the leader of Communist China rebranded his prickly protectionist power as the defender of globalisation and shared values. So after week one in this upside down new world, how stands China's bid for global leadership? A week is just a week, but when it comes to strategic focus, China is on course. It's easier to look laser sharp when the competition is in disarray. Here the internal difficulties of the US and the European Union are helpful to China.

Driving into Johannesburg, the skyline is often encased in a dome of smog. As Africa urbanises and industrialises, its economic growth is powered by coal, its vehicles by dirty fuels, and many still cook over paraffin and three-stone fires, burning their rubbish in the street. Researchers believe that more than 700,000 Africans die each year as a result of air pollution – and the number continues to grow. Few African cities even measure air pollution, but those that do routinely rank among the dirtiest on the planet. Nigeria is home to four of the worst, including Onitsha, which holds the dubious distinction of the Earth's most toxic air.