Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL 0.58% is pitching an idea to store power from renewable energy in tanks of molten salt and cold liquid, an example of the tech giant trying to marry its far-reaching ambitions with business demand. Alphabet's research lab, dubbed X, said Monday that it has developed plans to store electricity generated from solar panels or wind turbines as thermal energy in hot salt and cold liquids, such as antifreeze. The lab is seeking partners in the energy industry, including power-plant developers and utilities, to build a prototype to plug into the electrical grid. Whether the project, called Malta, ever comes to market depends as much on a sound business model as it does on science. Academics said the technology is likely years away from market, if it ever makes it.

Alibaba's chairman and founder, Jack Ma, thinks that new technologies could be a threat to more than just jobs. During an interview with CNBC's David Faber on Wednesday, Ma said that new technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence could lead to the third World War. "The first technology revolution caused World War I," Ma told CNBC. "The second technology revolution caused World War II. This is the third technology revolution."

Brazil forward Neymar said he needed a new challenge, as he joined Paris St-Germain from Barcelona for a world record fee of 222m euros (£200m). The 25-year-old won seven major trophies in his four seasons at the Nou Camp, including the Champions League once and La Liga twice. He said his father, Neymar Sr, wanted him to stay at Barcelona. "I have won all that a player can win," said Neymar, who will earn 45m euros (£40.7m) a year on a five-year deal. Writing on Instagram, he added: "I have conquered everything an athlete can conquer. I have lived unforgettable moments. But a player [me] needs challenges. "And for the second time in my life, I'll contradict my father." Neymar's transfer smashes the previous record set when Paul Pogba returned to Manchester United from Juventus for £89m in August 2016. His £782,000-a-week wages mean PSG's total outlay is £400m. The French side have called a news conference for 12:30 BST on Friday, and Neymar will be introduced to fans at PSG's first game of the season against Amiens at Parc des Princes on Saturday. PSG reached the last eight of the Champions League last season - knocked out by a Neymar-inspired Barcelona - and were beaten to the French title by Monaco. Neymar said he has joined "one of the most ambitious clubs in Europe". "Paris St-Germain's ambition attracted me to the club, along with the passion and the energy this brings," he added. "I feel ready to take the challenge.

Optimus Prime--the software engine, not the Autobot overlord--was born in a basement under a West Elm furniture store on University Avenue in Palo Alto. Starting two years ago, a band of artificial-intelligence acolytes within Salesforce escaped the towering headquarters with the goal of crazily multiplying the impact of the machine learning models that increasingly shape our digital world--by automating the creation of those models. As shoppers checked out sofas above their heads, they built a system to do just that. Scott Rosenberg is an editor at Backchannel. Sign up to get Backchannel's weekly newsletter. They named it after the Transformers leader because, as one participant recalls, "machine learning is all about transforming data."

While most of us think we are consciously creating all of our thoughts and decisions through rational processes, research in the field of neuroscience has actually told us something else might be going on. Making decisions or forming opinions like this may not actually be the reality when it comes to our reactions to new situations, ideas or even products – really, in any situation in which you react emotionally. According to neuroscience, that's because most emotional decisions of this kind are made unconsciously. When you see something new, and you feel a certain way about it, do you think about why you should feel the way you do first – or do you just feel a certain way about that thing or situation and then try to find reasons for the reaction you are having? Most likely, you thought about your feelings a bit, and decided why you felt the way you did.

Datameer recently announced SmartAI that integrates Big Data with machine learning models to provide better data insights. The goal of SmartAI is to be able to operationalize AI for Big Data i.e. run AI algorithms at scale on big data, to enable business analysts to plugin AI models into analytic workflows, and to be able to do all this in a secure and compliant manner. InfoQ caught up with Andrew Brust, senior director, market strategy and intelligence at Datameer, regarding the general role of Big Data in AI in general and SmartAI in particular. InfoQ: Datameer has hitherto been in the Big Data space. Why move to AI? Is Big Data passe?

There is a great read by Ed Newton-Rex that outlines the differences between Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in simple terms. The recent article from Frank Chen on the expected use of artificial intelligence in startups highlights an upcoming shift in the industry. He compares, and rightfully so, the pervasiveness of AI to other game changers in the industry such as having a relational database in 1980 or rich Windows client in 1987 and so on. AI is nothing new in computer science -- modern AI research was born in 1956 at a Dartmouth workshop (coincidentally included two, now-famous, Carnegie Mellon professors with a building named after them -- Allen Newell and Herbert Simon). Even though we're still some ways away from building our one true AI overlord aka Skynet, over the past two decades we have seen significant advances in the field of machine learning (ML).

Artificial intelligence is progressing so rapidly that there are new developments, ideas, and breakthroughs almost every week. As AI becomes more present than futuristic and intertwines with our everyday lives, it's hard to stay on top of the most current research. But you don't need to miss out - here's an update to fill you in on what's been going on this week: Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's clash continues as they argue over the future of artificial intelligence. It would appear that the overly publicised disagreement comes down to one thing - both business men protecting their brands. Musk has been very vocal about his worries about the future of AI, saying "I keep sounding the alarm bell, but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don't know how to react."

Most superintelligent systems will by default develop instrumental subgoals that conflict with human interests. This could have catastrophic consequences. If we don't actively work on control mechanisms and safety of AI systems, this will most likely pose an existential risk to humanity. Artificial intelligence is all around us in many parts of every day life; our phones find the fastest way to move from A to B, spam is automatically filtered out of our email inboxes, and Netflix recommends movies and tv-shows tailored to our likings. For the near future, AI promises many changes of how we live: from self-driving cars to intelligent fridges. Obviously, there is a great interest in developing stronger, faster and more intelligent AI systems. Giant companies such as Alphabet (Google), Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, etc. have long realized how profitable and promising this field of research and development is. At the same time, governments have begun to invest in the military use of AI. Overall, there is a big hype around AI topics, especially when mentioning buzzwords such as deep learning.

We live in a world of chatbots. Chatbots improve human interaction with systems by giving a response based on the user input. This means chatbots are simple automated programs that can process simple user inputs and provide a meaningful output. But with time, chatbots evolved and now are impacting the industries around us. We live in a world of chatbots.