WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger users are being tricked into sending out a message by a scam. The hoax claims that people need to send out a message otherwise theyl'l be forced to pay for each one they send to their friends in future. If they don't copy and paste the post then the apps will presume that they are not an "avid user" and so will move towards charging them, the post claims. But it's entirely untrue and neither Facebook or WhatsApp is moving to charging for messages. Both are expected to remain entirely free – which they need to do, since Facebook's business model is capturing information on its users and then using that to charge advertisers for marketing.

BMW AG will dispatch a fleet of autonomous vehicles to U.S. and European cities in this year's second half, the next step in its partnership with Mobileye NV and Intel Corp. to introduce fully self-driving vehicles by 2021. The German automaker will put 40 of its 7 Series sedans on the road and train them to drive in urban areas, Klaus Froehlich, BMW's head of development, said in an interview. The goal is to apply the gathered data toward producing the iNext, which will supplant the 7 Series as the BMW brand's flagship model and be capable of full autonomy four years from now. Automakers and technology companies are rushing to form partnerships to compete against the likes of Alphabet Inc.'s Google, which has clocked 2 million self-driving miles on public roads, and Tesla Motors Inc., with 1.3 billion miles of data from Autopilot-equipped vehicles. BMW is appealing to other carmakers to adopt its approach to help shoulder research costs, speed development by sharing data and ensure they don't become also-rans.

Do you know what is common between San Bernardino's shooting spree and the terrorist attacks in Paris last month? Jillennials, Jihadis who are Millennials. We mine data worldwide, a lot of it, a ton of it, every day and every night, and we do this for a living at PredictifyMe. We have partnership with the United Nations to protect school-goers in Pakistan, Nigeria, Sudan and Lebanon using our proprietary software SecureSim and Soothsayer . When the Paris attacks unfolded, we asked ourselves (and our database), how can we use data sciences to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Can we find out what factors influence an otherwise ordinary citizen to become radicalized?

Amazon customers have been warned they could lose hundreds of pounds if they fall for a "convincing" fake email scam. Action Fraud, the UK's fraud and cyber-crime centre, said the spoofed emails from "service@amazon.co.uk" claims recipients have made an order online and mimic an automatic customer email notification. The number of people who have been sent the fake email is unclear, however Action Fraud said it had received several reports about the scam. The email claims shoppers have ordered products including an expensive vintage chandelier, Boses stereos, iPhone's and luxury watches. In order to get a shopper's financial information, the email cleverly states that if the recipient didn't authorised the transaction they can click on the help centre link to receive a full refund.

South Korea will develop a laser weapon system to shoot down drones sent by North Korea, the country's defense ministry said Friday. This comes as Seoul has repeatedly alleged Pyongyang of building large drones that have greater range capability to be flown remotely using flight controllers. The development of the laser weapon system is expected to begin by 2018 and it is expected to be ready by 2020, the defense ministry said, according to Yonhap News Agency. The technology will be part of its broader laser weapon system, the report added. The North operates about 300 observation drones and around 10 machines capable of conducting attacks with weapons as per South Korea's estimates, military officials told Yonhap.

After two days of media-only events, the Consumer Electronic Show officially began with thousands of innovative gadgets from both well known names and emerging brands. Smart assistants have so far been a major theme of the show, but the first day also brought video-recording glasses, adorable robots, and lots of virtual reality. Depending on Olly's mood, its face will light up in different colors. It also swivels around on its base to look at you when you're speaking to create a more personal experience, the Olly team told Dailymail.com Among the many devices on display today was the'emotional' Olly smart assistant.

Fukoku Mutual Life, a Japanese medical insurance company, published a press release detailing its plans to introduce artificial intelligence software into its payment assessment-related department. The department currently has 131 employees, and has already begun reductions to make way for its new ones. But Fukoku Mutual Life is not just taking a blind leap of faith. Research shows that by introducing AI software, productivity will be increased by 30 percent. And though the company will spend close to 2 million dollars to install, and roughly 130 dollars annually to maintain their new superhuman system, they expect to get a return on their investment in under two years. Most of that is probably coming from the 1.2 million per year they'll be saving by cutting the staff.

Barbed wire surrounds the site of a cancelled Ford auto manufacturing plant, one day after the U.S. auto company announced the project was called off, in Villa de Reyes, outside San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. The perception in this region was largely that President-elect Donald Trump, who had promised for months to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. while at the same time disparaging Mexicans, had made good before even settling into the White House. Barbed wire surrounds the site of a cancelled Ford auto manufacturing plant, one day after the U.S. auto company announced the project was called off, in Villa de Reyes, outside San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. The perception in this region was largely that President-elect Donald Trump, who had promised for months to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. while at the same time disparaging Mexicans, had made good before even settling into the White House. Alfredo Martinez, left, a 22-year-old robot technician at General Motors, and Angel Rodriguez, 19, who had hoped to find work at the now-cancelled Ford plant, get their hair cut at the barbershop of Omar Rojas, right, in Villa de Reyes, outside San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017.

A future in which human workers are replaced by machines is about to become a reality at an insurance firm in Japan, where more than 30 employees are being laid off and replaced with an artificial intelligence system that can calculate payouts to policyholders. Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance believes it will increase productivity by 30% and see a return on its investment in less than two years. The firm said it would save about 140m yen (£1m) a year after the 200m yen (£1.4m) AI system is installed this month. Maintaining it will cost about 15m yen (£100k) a year. The move is unlikely to be welcomed, however, by 34 employees who will be made redundant by the end of March.

Nissan is the latest in a now long line of automobile companies to go public with plans -- sketchy as they may be -- for autonomous cars. The Japanese company will begin testing driverless cars in Japan and put them into commercial operation by 2020, according to Carlos Ghosn, who spoke at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday. He is chairman and chief executive of Nissan, chairman and CEO of Renault and chairman of Mitsubushi. The only substantial difference between Nissan's announced plans and those of Ford, FCA, General Motors, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and several other companies is a plan to put "humans in the loop" based on technology developed at NASA. The director of the Nissan Research Center in Silicon Valley, Maarten Sierhuis, said human "mobility managers" will intervene if an autonomous car encounters a situation it can't handle, like having to cross a double yellow line when a lane is blocked.