With organizations like the Partnership on AI, we're already starting to see signs that companies recognize and want to address the dangers of an AI race. But for now, the Partnership is comprised mainly of western organizations, while companies in many countries and especially China are vying to catch up to ― and perhaps "beat" ― companies in the U.S. and Europe. How can we encourage organizations and research teams worldwide to cooperate and develop safety standards together? How can we help teams to monitor their work and ensure proper safety procedures are always in place? AI research teams will need the feedback and insight of other teams to ensure that they don't overlook potential risks, but how will this collaboration work without forcing companies to reveal trade secrets? What do you think of the Race Avoidance Principle?

You don't have to look far to find statistics and predictions on the future impact of artificial intelligence (AI). But while self-driving cars and augmented reality headsets have excited consumers, enterprise headlines have focused more on the risk that it poses to workers. Analyst giant Forrester have claimed that 16% of jobs in the U.S. will be lost to artificial intelligence by 2025. Meanwhile, a recent report from PwC stated 30% of jobs in the UK were under threat from AI breakthroughs, putting 10 million British workers at risk of being'replaced by robots' in the next 15 years. We shouldn't expect a wide-scale revolution of robot workers across the entire workplace, of course.

Five members of the Italian Tesla owners club claim to have set a new distance record, travelling 670 miles on a single charge in a Tesla Model S. The feat, which they say beats the previous record set in Belgium in June by 110 miles, used a longest-range Tesla Model S 100D and required the five drivers to employ so-called "hypermiling" techniques, which saw them use as little energy as possible by maintaining a constant speed, using low rolling-resistance tyres and trying not to use the brakes. The team said they drove without air conditioning at an average speed of just 25mph (40kmph), reaching 670 miles before coming to a stop with 0% charge on the meter. Luca Del Bo, president of the club, said: "To complete the 1,078km record distance, we used 98.4 kW/h of electricity, which is equivalent to eight litres of gas. "This has been possible thanks to the very high output of the electric engine that transforms 95% of the energy into motion. Just consider that the most efficient combustion engines today do not exceed 30% efficiency."

Amazon believes drones are the future of parcel deliveries. But before the company can roll out drone deliveries on a large-scale, it has some major technical challenges to overcome. A key problem is how to keep drones in the air for a long as possible, while keeping them maintained and fully charged. A new patent by Amazon claims to provide a solution; a mobile fleet of drones workstations based on boats, vans and trains. These workstations could repair drones while they are being sent - along with their packages - to areas of high demand.

In a screed that rocketed around Silicon Valley this weekend, a software engineer at Google blasted the company's efforts to increase the number of minorities and women in its ranks and leadership positions. The essay, reported by Motherboard and posted by Gizmodo, was posted on an internal Google forum by a male software engineer and titled "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber." The author has not been publicly identified, but his words have sparked a backlash. Critics say his sentiments reflect a tech company culture that's unwelcoming or even hostile to women and minorities. Another fear: The engineer's words reflect the unspoken thoughts of many others in an industry dominated by white men.

A quick, hassle-free way to stay on top of robotics news, our robotics digest is released on the first Monday of every month. Sign up to get it in your inbox. From wacky talking Einsteins to clumsy security'bots, from speedy drones to the underwater operations at Fukushima, it's been another busy month. So let's kick off our July review with a look at robots in action! You'd be forgiven for missing this first one.

There are few sights more dispiriting than a long queue at ticket offices or machines when you're rushing to catch a train. However, technology is now offering an ingenious solution. A facial recognition system is being developed that uses two invisible, near-infrared lights flashing at high speed to help a single camera capture a 3-D image of a face in astonishing detail. It will register the smallest details, down to tiny blemishes and wrinkles, and can recognise individuals even if they are wearing glasses or moving quickly along a platform. The image can then be checked against a customer database.

Japanese technology company SoftBank Group Corp. has reported a 98 percent drop in its April-June profit on losses stemming from investments in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. SoftBank said Monday its quarterly net profit was 5.5 billion yen ($50 million), down from 254 billion yen the previous year. Quarterly sales added 3 percent to 2.19 trillion yen ($20 billion). The Tokyo-based company's operating profit, which highlights core operations, logged a 50 percent increase year-on-year as its U.S. mobile carrier Sprint boosted profitability. Softbank, which sells the Pepper robot, did not give an annual forecast, which is not unusual for the company.

HR professionals must grapple with a number of disruptive forces in the workplace – and in particular must become the masters of people analytics, according to an expert panel debating the future of work. At an event organised by the University of Bath, HR professionals and academics considered the way technology and the new economy will affect businesses and the people profession in particular. Analytics, AI and the shift to a contingent workforce were identified as particularly profound issues. And Juani Smart, professor in human capital management at the University of Bath, said ownership of data was a vitally important matter for HR. "We no longer work within a single set of organisational boundaries – we work in a very networked way," said Smart.

An application that can, at the touch of a finger, draw on facial recognition technology to help a blind person "see" who or what is directly in front of him. A device that can gauge a person's risk of depression just by detecting his facial movements and tone of voice. A decade ago, such inventions that tap advanced systems like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning would have been impossible feats for most tertiary students. But the rise of cloud computing systems and mixed-reality products has powered the ability of students to add such capabilities to their applications, more than 50 of which were on show at the Microsoft Imagine Cup World Finals in Seattle, Washington, two weeks ago. Since 2003, technology giant Microsoft has organised the Imagine Cup, which brings together aspiring developers, entrepreneurs and technologists from all academic backgrounds. The contest spurs them to develop new technology applications, create a business plan and understand what is needed to bring a concept to market.