Within the next two years, annual spending on AI would rise to more than $2 billion and funding for quantum computing would increase to $860 million, according to the White House plan. The proposed increases in AI spending include more than $850 million at the National Science Foundation, $125 million at the Department of Energy's Office of Science and $100 million at the Agriculture Department, among other agencies. The budget also proposes $50 million in AI and quantum education and job training initiatives, including partnerships with community colleges. "Early-stage research is a high priority," Kelvin Droegemeier, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said about proposed AI and quantum funding on a media conference call Monday. U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios, also speaking on the call, said the country is facing a "global power competition" for AI, quantum computing and other critical technologies.

Fiat Chrysler, in partnership with Chinese-based AutoX, wants to launch robo-taxis in China later this year, according to an announcement. The automobile maker, one of the "Big Three" in Detroit, has been casting a wide net for autonomous vehicle tech, and wants to keep pace with rivals in Detroit. Hong Kong's AutoX said it plans to integrate self-driving vehicle tech into a fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans -- the same vehicle that Waymo, Alphabet's subsidiary known for its work on autonomous vehicles, has often chosen to use. The two companies said they plan to offer up the self-driving cars this year in numerous Chinese cities, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, later in 2020. AutoX -- a lesser-known startup than others in the field -- was founded in 2016 by Jianxiong Xiao, a former Princeton professor who specializes in 3D learning, computer vision and robotics. According to a Medium post by the company, he goes by the nickname Professor X. AutoX has attracted high-profile investors like China's Dongfeng Motor Group and eCommerce giant Alibaba.

Charlton McIlwain, a vice provost and a professor of media, culture and communication at NYU, said he believes the tech community isn't fully committed to diversifying its workforce. Diversity efforts have been under way for years, he said, speaking Thursday at an event in New York organized by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. However, he added, "we're still at the same place, if not a little bit behind. Because there's not a commitment to the long [process], from beginning to end about what has to be done to produce that kind of diverse workforce that [extends] from the bottom all the way up to the top, which is necessary." In an interview after his speech, Mr. McIlwain said increasing diversity starts with companies recognizing that a diverse workforce, especially in engineering positions, helps them "see a broader range of problems that affect a broader range of people."

Innovation Saskatchewan plans to use robots to help reduce the amount of solid waste that is placed in landfills. The group unveiled its new technology at Innovation Place on the University of Regina campus on Tuesday from its two winners of the 2019 Innovation Saskatchewan challenge. Prairie Robotics used artificial intelligence and cameras to capture waste data in real time while researchers at the U of R created a system designed to handle Saskatchewan's extreme weather all while being able to weigh moving vehicles. The province expects the two solutions to be beneficial in help to reduce sold waste dumped into landfills by 30 per cent by 2030. "Our tech community has developed a tracking and reporting mechanism using artificial intelligence which can reduce the expense of landfill operations and lead to long-term environmental efficiencies," Innovation Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor said.

As the thousands of high-flying dunks, alley oops and fadeaway jumper clips come out of NBA All-Star weekend, chances are the highlights were created by artificial intelligence. The league says they are using machine learning to create more highlights than ever before this All-Star weekend. Since 2014, the NBA has been employing and experimenting with technology from an Israeli company called WSC Sports to analyze key moments of each game and spit out some of the best highlights. As social media has emerged as an important destination to reach fans, the need for more and customized highlights has grown. This All-Star weekend, the software will automatically create multiple clips and content for every single player.

The European Patent Office recently turned down an application for a patent that described a food container. This was not because the invention was not novel or useful, but because it was created by artificial intelligence (AI). By law, inventors need to be actual people. This isn't the first invention by AI – machines have produced innovations ranging from scientific papers and books to new materials and music. That said, being creative is clearly one of the most remarkable human traits.

Wellington, Feb 12: New Zealand Police in a step to modernise its services unveiled its first Artificial intelligence (AI) officer named "Ella"on Wednesday. "Ella is a digital person that is powered by AI and uses real-time animation to emulate face-to face interactions," said Bush. Ella, which stands for'Electronic Lifelike Assistant', is part of two new digital kiosks the New Zealand Police has designed to help reduce queues in stations and to provide a modern way to connect with the public, NZ Herald reported. Ella will be stationed in the lobby of New Zealand Police's National Headquarters from next week assisting the concierge team and talking to visitors about Police topics such as the 105 nonemergency number and police vetting. Touch-screen electronic service points called Police Connect was also revealed on Wednesday, which will provide basic non-emergency services to the public 24 hours a day.

Artificial intelligence--code that learns--is likely to be humankind's most important invention. It's a 60-year-old idea that took off five years ago when fast chips enabled massive computing and sensors, cameras, and robots fed data-hungry algorithms. We're a couple of years into a new age where machine learning (a functional subset of AI), big data and enabling technologies are transforming every sector. In every sector, there is a big data set behind every question. Every field is computational: healthcare, manufacturing, law, finance and accounting, retail, and real estate.

In this lightning paced digital age where companies rise and fall in the blink of an eye, no one wants to get left behind by making the wrong decision. Decisions and thus strategies are now driven by data and the insights drawn from them, with instinct now taking a back seat for failing too many times. It is in this context that Machine Learning - and its ability via algorithms to process data, learn from the past and better predict the future even to high degrees of accuracy - has risen to such significant prominence as the Sultan of Strategy for many companies. In the US, the presence of the job title Machine Learning Engineer on Indeed in the US rose by a staggering 344% between 2015-2018, and 29% alone between May 2018 – May 2019; showing the importance companies are placing on these skills to help them understand their data, predict outcomes and react accordingly to succeed. It is with this demand for Machine Learning expertise that Tim Heathcote, Director of Contract Business for Morgan Philips Germany & Austria, spoke to Dr. Alexandra Kirsch, Artificial Intelligence, Exploration und Prototyping Expert at Intuity Media Lab Gmbh.

Prudential Singapore is offering a free machine learning (ML) course for its 1,200 employees in Singapore, according to a report on Singapore broadsheet The Straits Times. Called "Machine Learning for Humans", the 30-hour course is developed together with Ngee Ann Polytechnic. With training by data scientists from both the public and private sectors, the online course offers assessments are offered for participants to apply what they have learned. It is understood that more than 170 employees have signed up so far. A foundational course called "AI in Finance" offered last year was taken by over 200 employees from Prudential.