Ford says it is going to shift production of all of its small cars, like these Focus compacts, to Mexico. Here, a lineup of Ford Focus vehicles is seen on an assembly line at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich. In a move that could draw fresh fire in the presidential race, Ford Motor (F) says it is shifting all North American small car production from U.S. to Mexico. CEO Mark Fields also says the automaker is committing 4.5 billion to develop more than a dozen new electrified models by 2020. "Over the next two to three years, we will have migrated all of our small car production to Mexico and out of the United States," Fields said.

Earlier this month, tens of millions of Indian workers staged a one-day general strike that unions billed as the biggest work stoppage in human history. By the unions' count, 180 million workers stayed home to demand a slew of changes to labor laws, including establishing a 270 monthly minimum wage for unskilled laborers and ensuring social security for every worker. The 24-hour strike cost the Indian economy up to 2.7 billion, by one estimate, and affected electricity, mining, telecommunications, banking and insurance operations in several states. It was the latest salvo in an escalating battle between India's leading public-sector trade unions and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, which they accuse of pursuing a pro-business agenda while ignoring workers' rights. The unions represent several million workers in a country of 1.25 billion people.

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres' condition was showing slight improvements after he suffered a major stroke, with his physicians saying Wednesday that he had regained consciousness and squeezed his doctor's hand, while the nation rallied in prayer and support for the 93-year-old elder statesman and Nobel Peace laureate. Dr. Yitzhak Kreiss, director of the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, said Peres' condition remained serious Wednesday afternoon, 24 hours after the stroke. But he said Peres' neurological signs were improving. He said that Peres, who had been placed in and out of a medically induced coma, was regaining consciousness from time to time and reacting to stimulation. Peres remained on mild sedatives and a respirator, Kreiss said.

New robot-style tech is designed to "think like a lawyer" Uber-traditional magic circle outfit Slaughter and May has become the latest firm to put pen to paper on a deal that will see it use artificial intelligence (AI). The system (or cool robot as Legal Cheek likes to think of it) is called Luminance, and has been created by a team of lawyers and mathematicians. Thanks to financial backing from Invoke Capital -- a technology investment fund -- and research and development courtesy of the University of Cambridge, Luminance will, according to its creators, "transform the legal due diligence process." Luminance, which appears to be some sort of super legal mind, will be able to read (and understand) hundreds of pages of complex legal documentation every minute. According to Luminance's CEO, Emily Foges, the AI system will be "trained to think like a lawyer."

U.S. stocks were slightly higher Wednesday morning as utility companies climbed. Energy companies were trading lower as the price of oil continued to slip. Stocks are at their lowest levels in two months after large losses in two of the last three days. The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 31 points, or 0.2%, to 18,097 as of 10:05 a.m. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,132.

Amazon has confirmed its virtual assistant Echo speakers are coming to the UK, Germany and Austria. Until now, the company sold its voice-controlled devices only in the US. The machines can answer questions, control other internet-connected devices, build shopping lists and link in to dozens of third-party services including Spotify, Uber and BBC News. Experts say they appeal to early adopters' sense of curiosity but tend to be a harder sell to others. "[Echo's] been relatively successful in the US because it is so easy to use," said Jessica Ekholm from the Gartner consultancy.

LONDON – 14 September 2016 – New research commissioned by IP EXPO Europe, Europe's number one enterprise IT event, shows that although 37% of respondents think that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be a main technology theme for enterprises in 2017, there are mixed signals in terms of business application, investment levels and impact on society from UK IT decision makers (ITDMs). The results reveal that a significant 32% of respondents claim they are concerned about AI replacing human jobs overall, with 19% admitting that they are more worried about their own job being overtaken by a robot than they were 12 months ago. In addition, there is a clear perceived risk factor, with almost a third worried about the unknown impacts of increased AI. 22% of respondents also voiced concerns about AI providing another route for cyber security attacks. Interestingly, 1 in 10 UK ITDMs thought that no form of artificial intelligence was of value to business. However, the results also indicate that any hesitancy in uptake perhaps comes from a lack of immediately recognised business/organisational applications and perceived cost.

Spending thousands of hours playing Grand Theft Auto might have questionable benefits for humans, but it could help make computers significantly more intelligent. Several research groups are now using the hugely popular game, which features fast cars and various nefarious activities, to train algorithms that might enable a self-driving car to navigate a real road. But the stunningly realistic scenery found in Grand Theft Auto and other virtual worlds could help a machine perceive elements of the real world correctly. A technique known as machine learning is enabling computers to do impressive new things, like identifying faces and recognizing speech as well as a person can. But the approach requires huge quantities of curated data, and it can be challenging and time-consuming to gather enough.

At the recent VentureBeat MobileBeat conference on July 13, a panel of executives assembled to discuss the impact of emerging technologies on the future of commerce. Three executives from high-profile companies - Holger Luedorf, senior vice president of Business Development at Postmates; Nichele Lindstrom, director of Digital Marketing at Whole Foods Market; and Eric Moujaes, senior director of Global Digital Product at McDonald's - chimed in and gave their insights on what they believe to be the most overhyped and promising technologies that will impact commerce in the near term. Their perspectives fell on the spectrum of the slightly surprising (drones will not be the future delivery vehicle of choice) as well as in alignment with current'hot' trends (chat bots look to be in like flynn). All three executives' opinions shed light on the potential future of our role as consumers and on businesses as providers in a'brave new world'. With companies like Amazon and Google forecasting the use of drones for delivery (any day now), people may be expecting these unmanned aerial vehicles to be a serious part of the future of commerce, but McDonald's Eric Moujaes believes differently.

If you ordered it from Silicon Valley's Zume Pizza, the answer is yes. The startup, which began delivery in April, is using intelligent machines to grab a slice of the multibillion-dollar pizza delivery market. Zume is one of a growing number of food-tech firms seeking to disrupt the restaurant industry with software and robots. Silicon Valley's Zume Pizza, which began delivery in April, is using intelligent machines to grab a slice of the multibillion-dollar pizza delivery market. The startup will soon add robots to prep the dough, add cheese and toppings, take pizzas out of the oven, cut them into slices and box them for delivery.