Google has purchased DeepMind, a British artificial intelligence company whose goal reportedly is to make computers think like humans. The Mountain View, Calif., tech giant confirmed the deal with technology blog Recode, formerly known as AllThingsD, which first reported on the deal. The British Independent said Google is paying more than $500 million. The Independent also said Google beat out Facebook for the acquisition of the London startup. With the deal, Google appears more interested in talent than anything else.

The arms race in Silicon Valley is on for artificial intelligence. Facebook is working on a virtual personal assistant that can read people's faces and decide whether or not to let them in your home. Google is investing in the technology to power self-driving cars, identify people on its photo service and build a better messaging app. Now Apple is adding to its artificial intelligence arsenal. The iPhone maker purchased Emotient, a San Diego maker of facial expression recognition software that can detect emotions to assist advertisers, retailers, doctors and many other professions.

South Korean Go player Lee Sedol reviews the match after finishing the Google DeepMind Challenge Match against Google's artificial intelligence program, AlphaGo, in Seoul, South Korea, on March 15, 2016. Google's Go-playing computer program defeated its human opponent in a 4:1 victory. South Korean Go player Lee Sedol reviews the match after finishing the Google DeepMind Challenge Match against Google's artificial intelligence program, AlphaGo, in Seoul, South Korea, on March 15, 2016. Google's Go-playing computer program defeated its human opponent in a 4:1 victory. South Korean Go player Lee Sedol reviews the match after finishing the Google DeepMind Challenge Match against Google's artificial intelligence program, AlphaGo, in Seoul, South Korea, on March 15, 2016.

Science fiction writer David Brin calls it "a tsunami of lights" -- a future where tiny cameras are everywhere, lighting up everything we do, and even predicting what we'll do next. Unlike George Orwell's novel "1984," where only Big Brother controlled the cameras, in 2015, cheap, mobile technology has turned everyone into a watcher. A snowboarder with a GoPro can post a YouTube video of a friend's 540-degree McTwist in the halfpipe. But also -- as happened recently -- a Penn State fraternity can upload Facebook photos of partially naked, sleeping college women. A San Jose homeowner cowers behind a locked door while she watches an intruder stroll through her home on a surveillance video.

The great discovery of the twentieth century in art and physics alike, is a recoil from and transformation of the impersonal assembly-line of nineteenth century art and science. At a time like ours, in which mechanical skill has attained unsuspected perfection, the most famous works may be heard as easily as one may drink a glass of beer, and it only costs ten centimes, like the automatic weighing machines. Should we not fear this domestication of sound, this magic that anyone can bring from a disk at his will? Will it not bring to waste the mysterious force of an art which one might have thought indestructible? What is the difference between manipulation of the machine and collaboration with it? I have sometimes experienced a state of dynamic tension rising in me out of what would seem to be a state of mutual responsiveness between the machine and myself. Such a state could require hours of concentrated preparatory exploration, coaxing of machines, connecting, so to say, one's own sensibilities, one's own nerve endings to the totality of the tuned-up controls. And, suddenly, a window would open into a vast field of possibilities; the time limits would vanish, and the machines would seem to become humanized components of the interactive network now consisting of oneself and the machine, still obedient but full of suggestions to the master controls of the imagination. Everything seemed possible: one leaned on the horizon and pushed it away and forward until utter exhaustion would set in and, one by one, the nerve endings ceased to connect, the possibilities contracted, and an automatic reversal to routine solutions was a sure danger signal to quit. An affectionate pat on a control here and there was not to be resisted. If there is an unfinished bit of conversation between you and the machines, either take note of all the controls or leave them alone until tomorrow.

A man arrives at an airport for a flight, and as he goes through security the agent asks some questions. Did anyone help him pack his suitcase? What is the purpose of his trip? During the conversation, the agent enters answers and facial reactions into a computer pre-programmed with millions of pieces of information relating to the behavior of suspicious passengers. Such man-and-machine collaborations, in this instance to detect terrorists, are not yet in place at airports.

Convenience store chain Lawson and electronics maker Panasonic Corp. have started testing a staff-less register for which a machine settles the transactions and packs purchased items into a bag. The system, dubbed Reji Robo, short for register robots, debuted at an outlet of Lawson in Osaka Prefecture on Monday. Lawson plans to eventually introduce the machine at its stores nationwide to alleviate a staff shortage and for peak-time congestion. Autonomous cashiers have been introduced at some supermarkets in Japan, but shoppers have had to bag products by themselves after payment. The system introduced by Lawson is believed to be the first in which the packing is also automated.

He said the systems may draw on artificial intelligence jointly developed with a U.S. research body that allows humanoid robots to ride motorcycles. "We want to facilitate driving operations of our motorcycles and reduce the burden on riders to allow them to pay more attention to safety," Yanagi said. Yamaha hopes to reverse slumping domestic sales by adopting advanced technologies to reduce motorcycle accidents such as overturns and collisions. Such risks weigh on potential sales. "We'll use the expertise we've acquired from robots for our motorcycles," Yanagi said.

SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son aims to stay at the helm of his company longer than originally planned to focus on the burgeoning business field of artificial intelligence, but is now under increased scrutiny over his longer-term strategy after the surprise departure of his successor. Son faces a number of challenges, including turning around U.S. mobile network provider Sprint Corp., a SoftBank group company. And most recently, the abrupt resignation of SoftBank President Nikesh Arora, the heir apparent credited with making bold overseas investment decisions, has raised uncertainty about the conglomerate's investment business, analysts say. Arora's departure, coming less than two years since he joined SoftBank from Google Inc., caught many off guard, putting the company's succession planning back to square one. "SoftBank is known to do the unexpected," said Tsutomu Yamada, market analyst at kabu.com Securities Co. "The bottom line is he has been and will be the commander in chief. With Mr. Arora leaving SoftBank, there are more uncertain factors than before regarding its prospects," he added.

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA – Artificial intelligence and machine learning will create computers so sophisticated and godlike that humans will need to implant "neural laces" in their brains to keep up, Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told a crowd of tech leaders this week. While Musk's description of an injectable human-computer link may sound like science fiction, top tech executives repeatedly said that artificial intelligence was on the verge of changing everyday life, during discussion at a conference by online publication Recode this week. It is no secret that tech companies are diving into AI analytics research, an industry that will grow to $70 billion by 2020 from just $8.2 billion in 2013, according to a Bank of America report citing data from market researchers IDC. AI, which combs through large troves of raw data to predict outcomes and recognize patterns, is already used in web search systems, marketing recommendation functions and security and financial trading programs. The technology will spread to driverless cars and service robots in the future, the Bank of America report said.