As the world races to deploy speedy 5G mobile networks on the ground, some companies remain focused on floating cell towers in the sky. During the final session of the sixth annual Brooklyn 5G Summit on Thursday, Silicon Valley and telecom leaders discussed whether aerial drones and balloons could finally begin providing commercial mobile phone and Internet service from the air. That same day, Alphabet subsidiary Loon, a balloon-focused graduate of the Google X research lab, unveiled a strategic partnership with Softbank's HAPSMobile to leverage both solar-powered balloons and drones to expand mobile Internet coverage and aid in deploying 5G networks. No high-altitude network connectivity services have taken off commercially so far, but some Brooklyn 5G Summit speakers were optimistic that it would happen soon. "The opportunity is in our hands in terms of truly leveraging 5G in conjunction with the massive paradigm shift when it comes to UAS--drones--and also satellites," said Volker Ziegler, CTO at Nokia Bell Labs.

Artificial-intelligence researcher Oren Etzioni has suggestions for keeping enough AI faculty members around to train the next generation.Credit: Bret Hartman/TED Oren Etzioni is chief executive of the non-profit Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) in Seattle, Washington, and is on leave from the nearby University of Washington. He offers some recommendations for how to stem the outflow of artificial-intelligence (AI) researchers from academia to industry -- a loss that is damaging academia's ability to teach incoming undergraduates. It is a very sizeable trend for fresh PhD graduates and faculty members. In machine learning, you see some significant departures. Industry compensation packages are highly variable.

In early March, Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto signed an executive order mandating that firms testing self-driving vehicles submit materials outlining their testing methods every six months to the city's newly formed Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI). Findings from the first of these were quietly published this week, compiled in a survey ("Self-Driving Vehicle Testing in Pittsburgh Summary of Findings") to be issued once a year. According to the report, five companies -- Aptiv, Argo AI, Aurora, Carnegie Mellon University, and Uber -- are testing 55 driverless cars in 32 of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods and suburbs, with the greatest concentration in the city's Strip District and Lower Lawrenceville. The test vehicles range from modified BMW 540is and Chrysler Pacifica PHEVs to Ford Fusion Hybrids, Lincoln MKZs, Cadillac SRXs, and Volvo XC90s, all of which contain no fewer than five disengagement mechanisms including buttons in the consoles and steering wheels. Most of the cars fall under the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)'s level 4 designation, meaning that they're capable of performing all driving functions autonomously under certain conditions, and they drive on public roads mostly during weekdays (both during the day and at night) with occasional testing on weekends "only during favorable weather conditions."

Nvidia Senior Director of Enterprise David Hogan spoke at this year's AI Expo about how the company is seeing artificial intelligence adoption making an impact. In the keynote session, titled'What is the true adoption of AI', Hogan provided real-world examples of how the technology is being used and enabled by Nvidia's GPUs. But first, he highlighted the momentum we're seeing in AI. "Many governments have announced investments in AI and how they're going to position themselves," comments Hogan. "Countries around the world are starting to invest in very large infrastructures." The world's most powerful supercomputers are powered by Nvidia GPUs.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is proving to be a double-edged sword. While this can be said of most new technologies, both sides of the AI blade are far sharper, and neither is well understood. These technologies are starting to improve our lives in myriad ways, from simplifying our shopping to enhancing our healthcare experiences. Their value to businesses also has become undeniable: nearly 80 percent of executives at companies that are deploying AI recently told us that they're already seeing moderate value from it. Although the widespread use of AI in business is still in its infancy and questions remain open about the pace of progress, as well as the possibility of achieving the holy grail of "general intelligence," the potential is enormous.

Worker activists at Google held a "town hall" on Friday where they alleged that the company regularly retaliates against employees who speak out about workplace problems and announced plans for a "company-wide day of action" on 1 May. The meeting, livestreamed for Google employees in offices around the world, was announced after two of the organizers of the November 2018 global walkout circulated a letter internally alleging they were being punished for their activism. The two employees, Meredith Whittaker and Claire Stapleton, provided further details of their cases during the Friday event. Their statements, along with anonymous reports of retaliation of 11 other Google employees, were published in internal documents seen by the Guardian. "I didn't walk out because I'm against Google, I walked out because I'm for it – because I wanted to make it better," Stapleton said in her written statement.

Uber has unveiled the terms of a hotly anticipated stock market float which it hopes will value the ride-hailing service at more than $91bn (£70bn). While the target is $10bn less than some bankers suggested the 10-year-old firm might be worth, the valuation is more than double the value of the 116-year-old carmaker Ford and would be the largest float by a US tech company since Facebook's in 2012. Its Wall Street debut will gauge investors' excitement about the prospects of a company that has expanded rapidly from taxi services into food delivery and is now investing billions in developing driverless cars. If it hits the mark, Uber will raise around $9bn in new funds and some early investors will make big profits. Despite the scale of ts ambition, Uber lost $1.8bn last year even while its revenues surged by more than 40% to $11.3bn.

Fans of "The Walking Dead" will likely relish "Days Gone," the new video game thriller out Friday for Sony PlayStation 4. The post-apocalyptic premise is similar: Your character has survived a global pandemic, while millions have died or turned into ferocious predatory humanoids. If you've only seen the game depicted in TV commercials, at first glance you might be excused for considering these creatures as cousins of those "Walking Dead" zombies. But no, these beasts are transformed humans called "Freakers." "Days Gone" creative director and writer John Garvin explains: "What we have done here is actually create something that is new. They are not really mutants, they are certainly not demons or aliens or robots. They are not zombies either. They are their own thing."

That's because Tesla has created "the best chip in the world." Imagine if your car could get new features or even become faster or get to farther on a fill-up just while sitting parked outside. To the delight of Tesla owners everywhere, the electric car company continually offers over-the-air software updates to the cars they already have, making it feel as if they are walking out to a brand new vehicle, instead of having to wait a year or so for a new, improved model. And now, CEO Elon Musk is talking about creating a fleet of Uber-like "robotaxis" with just such an upgrade. In March, with the introduction of the base $35,000 Model 3, a Tesla update made all existing Model 3s faster, practically overnight.

You might say that when it comes to delivery, Amazon is flooding the zone. With Walmart and Target nipping at its heels, the e-commerce giant is determined to win the delivery wars by dropping off packages wherever, and whenever, a shopper might want to receive them. For the first time, this year, Amazon delivered items to Coachella. On a business trip but didn't pack your tie? Hilton Hotels are among the locations where you can have one shipped to an Amazon locker. In Snohomish County, Washington, a robot may bring packages to your door.