United States

Most self-driving car testing takes place in places like California, Arizona, and Nevada, and there's a reason for that. The sensors these cars rely on to navigate are less reliable in poor weather and other low-visibility conditions. But MIT claims to be developing new tech that could help with that. MIT's experimental sensor reads radiation at sub-terahertz wavelengths, which are between microwave and infrared radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum. That means they can be detected through fog and dust, according to MIT.

The human rights job landscape is changing rapidly. Current and future challenges in combating human rights violations require new skills and tactics. We have compiled a list of 7 free online courses and specializations that will equip you with the knowledge and skills for the human rights jobs of the future. Machine learning and artificial intelligence create new opportunities and challenges for the protection of human rights. Artificial intelligence can help make education, health and economic systems more efficient but also bears the risk to amplify polarization, bias and discrimination against certain groups.

President Donald Trump's new "American A.I. Initiative" is designed to place the United States at the forefront of artificial intelligence research. But the executive order itself is reportedly pretty broad about how the nation can actually achieve global A.I. superiority. According to Axios and other sources, there's no new federal funding allocated for artificial-intelligence and machine learning projects; instead, government agencies are asked to shift existing funding to A.I. research, as well as open up datasets, models, and other resources to researchers and other tech pros--potentially fueling new inventions. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is also tasked with creating standards for safe and reliable A.I. systems. Government agencies will introduce fellowships and skills programs that will retrain workers to deal with an A.I.-centric future.

I just got back from attending IBM Think in San Francisco. Though it was a quick trip across the country, I was inundated with IBM's vision, covering topics from A (i.e. Despite the wide-ranging discussion, IBM's main focus was on three areas: 1) hybrid cloud, 2) advanced analytics, and 3) security. For example, IBM's hybrid cloud discussion centered on digital transformation and leaned heavily on its Red Hat acquisition, while advanced analytics included artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive computing (Watson), neural networks, etc. To demonstrate its capabilities in these areas, IBM paraded out customers such as Geico, Hyundai Credit Corporation, and Santander Bank, who are betting on IBM for game-changing digital transformation projects.

AI startups experienced their best funding year ever, raising a record $9.33 billion, or nearly 10% of last year's total VC investments that reached $99.5 billion, an 18-year high since the dot-com era.Getty The Artificial Intelligence (AI) winter is definitely over. As venture capital (VC) funding nears record since the dot-com era, with U.S. companies raising $99.5 billion versus $119.6 billion in 2000 according to the latest PwC MoneyTree Report, AI startups also experienced their best year ever, raising a record $9.33 billion, or nearly 10% of last year's total VC investments. Since 2013, VC investments in AI startups had regularly increased over the following four years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 36%. However, AI-related funding significantly jumped last year, increasing 72% compared to 2017, despite a dip in deal activity, with 466 startups funded from 533 in 2017, and after increasing for four years. The report also reveals that seed-stage deal activity among AI-related companies rose to 28% in the fourth-quarter of 2018, compared to 24% in the three months prior, while expansion-stage deal activity jumped to 32%, from 23%.

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Amazon acquired another startup this week, the maker of the beloved tech product Eero, a mesh router that improves dead Wi-Fi spots in the home. To that, you might have said, OK, so? But, more importantly, it's an indication of how Amazon wants to go further than just making our homes "smart." It wants to turn our dwellings into the "Amazon Home."

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This week, President Donald Trump signed a new executive order on artificial intelligence and the Pentagon declassified part of its AI strategy. Neither was a first attempt at a national AI strategy. In 2016, the Obama administration published a comprehensive plan on the future of AI, which never had time to gain the momentum it needed in government. The Pentagon has been researching intelligent machines for the better part of 60 years, and only recently did it come to a consensus: Our future wars will be fought in code, using data and algorithms as powerful weapons. Using AI techniques, a military can "win" by destabilizing an economy rather than demolishing countrysides and city centers.

"We are proud of our cars and so we should be," Merkel said, adding, however, that many were built in the United States and exported to China. "If that is viewed as a security threat to the United States, then we are shocked," she told the Munich Security Conference to applause from the audience.

Amazon picked a tough moment to come to New York. Progressive groups were in the ascendant and they turned their fire on an obvious target: a plan to lure a company run by the world's richest man with $3bn in subsidies and tax breaks. The abrupt collapse of Amazon's plan for a new headquarters, or HQ2, in Long Island City was a milestone victory for leftwing insurgents over establishment Democrats who backed the deal. "This is a new day in New York City politics," said Sasha Wijeyeratne, executive director of Caaav: Organizing Asian Communities. "They sauntered in here and said HQ2 was inevitable," she said.