Amazon has agreed to refund $70 million worth of in-app purchases made by children without their parents' knowledge or authorisation. The company was taken to court by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) back in 2014 for failing to clearly inform parents that apps that are free to download from its app store can still allow in-app purchases. A US federal judge ruled in the FTC's favour, and Amazon appealed the decision last year. The firm was found to have failed to provide enough protective measures to prevent Amazon device users from unwittingly spending money. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

It's been almost a year since the UK's Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) opened sign-ups for a driverless pod trial in Greenwich. The original plan was to start before Christmas, but given today's date that obviously didn't happen. Over the next three weeks, roughly 100 people will clamber aboard "Harry," a self-driving shuttle named after clockmaker John Harrison. It will take them around a two-mile course in North Greenwich, near The O2, to demonstrate how the technology could be used for "last mile" trips in urban areas. The shuttle is a repurposed Ultra Pod, which is already in operation at London's Heathrow Airport.

Members of the public are being given the opportunity to test a driverless vehicle for the first time. Around 100 people will travel in a prototype shuttle on a two-mile route near London's O2 Arena over the next three weeks. It is hoped the project could make it easier for smaller neighbourhoods in Greenwich to access existing public transport hubs. Around 100 people will travel in a prototype shuttle (pictured) on a two-mile route near London's O2 Arena over the next three weeks Around 100 people will travel in a prototype shuttle on a two-mile route near London's O2 Arena over the next three weeks. Five cameras and three lasers will help the vehicle navigate along a riverside path used by pedestrians and cyclists at up to 10mph.

The $711m in value accounted for 44% of the global total, a quadruple increase on the previous year (10%). AI, IoT and analytics and big data propositions collectively accounted for 56% of the total number of deals – around 70% of total value last year. UK market doubles The value of insurtech investments in the UK more than doubled year on year to almost $19m, although the total number of deals remained flat. Accenture said that Brexit had not had a material impact on the investment climate in 2016. After the UK, Germany and France are the next largest markets in Europe.

As a tech writer, I sometimes feel about new technology the way I suspect military historians must feel about war: You just can't say you love every aspect of your subject. My default model for "tomorrow" is built on the bright and exciting images of yesterday's tomorrow, from "Star Trek" and Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Tom Swift. As naïve as it may sound, I inherited from the books, films and TV shows of my childhood a basically progressive view: Despite bumps and missteps occasionally setting us back along the way, technology ultimately would lead to a better future. And I believe it has. Despite the anxiety we seem to thrive on these days, this is a safer world than the one I was born into nearly 70 years ago.

The present wave of automation, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) – the development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence – is creating a gap between current legislation and new laws necessary for an emerging workplace reality, states a report published today by the International Bar Association Global Employment Institute (IBA GEI). Gerlind Wisskirchen, IBA GEI Vice Chair for Multinationals and coordinator of the report, commented: 'Certainly, technological revolution is not new, but in past times it has been gradual. What is new about the present revolution is the alacrity with which change is occurring, and the broadness of impact being brought about by AI and robotics. Jobs at all levels in society presently undertaken by humans are at risk of being reassigned to robots or AI, and the legislation once in place to protect the rights of human workers may be no longer fit for purpose, in some cases.' She added:'The AI phenomenon is on an exponential curve, while legislation is doing its best on an incremental basis.

Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers recently took exception to current US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's views on artificial intelligence (AI) and related topics. The difference between the two seems to be, more than anything else, a matter of priorities and emphasis. Mnuchin takes a narrow approach. He thinks that the problem of particular technologies called "artificial intelligence taking over American jobs" lies "far in the future." And he seems to question the high stock-market valuations for "unicorns" – companies valued at or above US$1 billion that have no record of producing revenues that would justify their supposed worth and no clear plan to do so.

Will there be a time in the not-so-distant future when people won't need to learn a second language -- instead relying on machine translation powered by artificial intelligence to interpret real-time conversations? This is a key question, and a fear, for many businesses in the language industry. But panelists at a recent symposium on how the "internet of things" will affect media outlets and education, co-hosted by English language school chain Aeon Corp. and The Japan Times, agreed that AI and other technologies will never be able to completely replace humans. For those who want to study a second language, the goal is not simply to become fluent in the language, said Aeon President Yoshikazu Miyake. "It's to become confident enough to enjoy communication in a foreign language," Miyake said.

In a book that's become the darling of many a Silicon Valley billionaire -- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind -- the historian Yuval Harari paints a picture of humanity's inexorable march towards ever greater forms of collectivization. From the tribal clans of pre-history, people gathered to create city-states, then nations, and finally empires. While certain recent political trends, namely Brexit and the nativism of Donald Trump would seem to belie this trend, now another luminary of academia has added his voice to the chorus calling for stronger forms of world government. Far from citing some ancient historical trends though, Stephen Hawking points to artificial intelligence as a defining reason for needing stronger forms of globally enforced cooperation. It's facile to dismiss Stephen Hawking as another scientist poking his nose into problems more germane to politics than physics.

Members of the British public are getting their first extended trial of a driverless shuttle bus. Over the next three weeks, about 100 people will travel in a prototype shuttle on a route in Greenwich, London. The vehicle, which travels up to 10mph (16.1kmph), will be controlled by a computer. However, there will be a trained person on board who can stop the shuttle if required. Oxbotica, the firm that developed the shuttle, said 5,000 members of the public had applied to take part in the study. "Very few people have experienced an autonomous vehicle, so this about letting people see one in person," chief executive Graeme Smith told the BBC.