In the US, today is Inauguration Day, and as Joe Biden prepares to take the oath as our 46th president, it's worth taking a look back at the discussions four years ago. Back then, the "most tech-savvy" president exited as all eyes turned to Donald Trump trading in his Android Twitter machine for a secure device. We know how things went after that. Donald Trump isn't tweeting anymore (at least not from his main accounts), and the country is struggling through a pandemic. The outgoing president just saw his temporary YouTube ban extended and, in one of his last official acts, pardoned Anthony Levandowski for stealing self-driving car secrets from Google's subsidiary Waymo.

Amazon is opening up its AI tech to automakers and other third-companies with a new product called Alexa Custom Assistant. It will allow brands to build their own custom intelligent assistants that "co-exist" with Alexa, according to Amazon. That will allow them to create unique wake words, voices and capabilities "to each company's unique personality and customer needs," the company wrote in a press release. Alexa Custom Assistant will let customers use both Alexa and their own branded assistant to do something called "simultaneous multi-assistant cooperation. "This allows the brand's assistant to act as the product specialist, while Alexa is still available to help with everyday needs," Amazon wrote.

Apple has shed more light on its $100 million pledge to improve racial equity. Today, the company announced that it will be making a $25 million contribution to the Propel Center, a learning hub designed for members of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). It will include a physical campus at the Atlanta University Center, a virtual platform for remote learning and events at partner institutions' campuses. In a press release, Apple said the Propel Center will teach a variety of subjects including AI and machine learning, app development, augmented reality, creative arts and entrepreneurship. Apple employees will help design the curricula and offer mentorship opportunities, including internships.

CES has gone all-digital for the first time this year. Unsurprisingly, some companies are using the format change to experiment with their live-streamed press conferences. LG, for instance, used an entirely virtual human called Reah Keem to promote some of its products today. Sporting a hoodie with the slogan "stay punk forever," she explained that travel was an important part of her life, and how desperate she was to roam around the world and perform once again. Keep used those wishes to transition into the LG CLOi UV-C Robot, an already-announced machine that uses ultraviolet light to disinfect public and generally popular areas.

Earlier today, Sony announced plans to expand its 360 Reality Audio platform. The key updates were a two-fold approach for expanding the limited content library, licensing tech to other companies and -- most importantly -- news that it would ship its own speakers built for the immersive sound this spring. At the time, the company said it didn't have any info beyond a few vague details, but that's wasn't entirely true. Sony's UK website has already posted full details for both the SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000 "premium wireless speakers." If you've been following our 360 Reality Audio coverage since 2019, you'll recognize the designs.

Waymo, a unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc., is saying good-bye to'self-driving'--not the technology, just the term. In a blog post Wednesday, the company announced it would now be using the phrase'autonomous driving' to avoid confusion that could lead a driver to take their hands off the wheel at a dangerous moment. 'It may seem like a small change, but it's an important one,' the company said in a blog post, 'because precision in language matters and could save lives.' But industry insiders believe the change is a jab at Elon Musk's Tesla, which began touting its'full self-driving' (FSD) option last fall - but is only capable of assisting drivers. Waymo announced it will no longer use the term'self-driving' in favor of'autonomous driving,' to avoid confusion.

OAKLAND, California, Dec. 14, 2020 /Press Release/ -- Silicon Valley Robotics, the world's largest cluster of innovation in robotics, announces the inaugural'Good Robot' Industry Awards, celebrating the robotics, automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) that will help us solve global challenges. These 52 companies and individuals have all contributed to innovation that will improve the quality of our lives, whether it's weed-free pesticide-free farming, like FarmWise or Iron Ox; supporting health workers and the elderly manage health care treatment regimes, like Catalia Health or Multiply Labs; or reimagining the logistics industry so that the transfer of physical goods becomes as efficient as the transfer of information, like Cruise, Embark, Matternet and Zipline. The categories Innovation, Vision and Commercialization represent the stages robotics companies go through, firstly with an innovative technology or product, then with a vision to change the world (and occasionally the investment to match), and finally with real evidence of customer traction. The criteria for our Commercialization Award is achieving $1 million in revenue, which is a huge milestone for a startup building a new invention. Tessa Lau, Founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics, an Innovation Awardee said "We're almost there. Dusty Robotics' FieldPrinter automates the painstaking, time-consuming process of marking building plans in the field, replacing a traditional process using measuring tape and chalk lines that hasn't changed in 5000 years. The company's vision of creating robot-powered tools for the modern construction workforce resonates strongly with commercial construction companies. Dusty's robot fleet is now in production, producing highly accurate layouts in record time on every floor of two multi-family residential towers going up in San Francisco. The SVR'Good Robot' Industry Awards also highlight diverse robotics companies. In our Visionary Category, Zoox is the first billion dollar company led by an African-American woman, Aicha Evans, and Robust AI shows diversity at every level of the organization. Diversity of thought will be critical as Robust AI tackles the challenge of building a cognitive engine for robotics that incorporates common sense reasoning. "Robotics and AI will shape the next century in the same way the Industrial revolution shaped the 20th century.

Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc. (OTCPK:AITX) is thrilled to announce that it has restructured the vast majority of its debt, which has saved the company a tremendous amount of dilution. Specifically, AITX has restructured over 85% of its convertible debentures into non-convertible notes and warrants. The remaining note holders have not made any conversions in over two years and the company does not anticipate any further conversions prior to restructuring the remaining balance of the debentures. "This announcement is the result of the extraordinary efforts and commitment by the entire RAD team in creating and building a company that we believe will be the breakthrough leader in an emerging multi-billion dollar industry," said Steve Reinharz, President and CEO of RAD and controlling shareholder of AITX. "I thank all of our clients, investors, supporters and fans for their incredible support throughout this journey. Moving forward, you will see additional announcements regarding additional restructuring and additional financing. We are now in a much stronger position to fulfill our mission."

DeepCube, the award-winning deep learning pioneer, today announced that its software-based deep learning acceleration platform has been recognized as a winner in several recent, prominent AI awards programs. These awards celebrate the top AI innovations and leaders across the globe. DeepCube's inclusion validates the immense potential of its patented deep learning acceleration platform that dramatically improves performance, latency and usability of deep learning on intelligent edge devices and in data centers. "Enterprises across industries are enticed by the potential for AI to unlock business impact and efficiencies; however, real-world, edge and data center deployments of deep learning remain out of reach, due to the immense size, processing power and memory requirements of these models," said Dr. Eli David, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, DeepCube. "It's a difficult technical challenge, but it's one we're committed to solving at DeepCube. In 2020, we've made significant strides – both for our business and for the industry as a whole."

MUNICH, Germany and ANTWERP, Belgium, Dec 14, 2020 – The Nemetschek Group, one of the world's leading software providers for the architecture, engineering, construction, and building operations (AECO) industry, announced that its subsidiary Spacewell – headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium – has acquired 100% of DEXMA. Based in Barcelona, Spain, DEXMA is a fast-growing provider of innovative SaaS solutions with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities for energy data management. The company enables over 4,000 customers in 30 countries worldwide to effectively measure, monitor, and manage their energy consumption and costs. "Buildings account for 30 percent of our total energy use and 28 percent of global carbon emissions. This acquisition is a huge benefit for our customers who are aiming to become more sustainable in their operations. Energy management is an important element in creating truly autonomous buildings that automatically adapt their behaviors to the occupants and stakeholders," says Koen Matthijs, Chief Division Officer, Operate & Manage Division at the Nemetschek Group.