SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 7, 2021 /CNW/ -- The benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) technology have been validated in many domains, where AI has helped reduce costs, improve efficiency and productivity, and solve real-life problems. However, international communities are challenged by adverse factors such as US-China competition, changes in the supply chain, and the impact of COVID-19--and Taiwan's enterprises and their development are no exception. In such circumstances, the role of the government is even more important. In response, the Taiwanese government has adopted various measures to support industrial AI research and development (R&D) and encourage companies to introduce AI technology by executing subsidy and public-private partnership (PPP) programs. "The use cases for AI are growing rapidly, but enterprises may still be reluctant to risk adoption. Government programs that support AI companies and startups, as well as the adopting enterprises, are an important way to increase the development of the industry," said Georgia Edell, Consulting Analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 7, 2021 /CNW/ -- The benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) technology have been validated in many domains, where AI has helped reduce costs, improve efficiency and productivity, and solve real-life problems. However, international communities are challenged by adverse factors such as US-China competition, changes in the supply chain, and the impact of COVID-19--and Taiwan's enterprises and their development are no exception. In such circumstances, the role of the government is even more important. In response, the Taiwanese government has adopted various measures to support industrial AI research and development (R&D) and encourage companies to introduce AI technology by executing subsidy and public-private partnership (PPP) programs. "The use cases for AI are growing rapidly, but enterprises may still be reluctant to risk adoption. Government programs that support AI companies and startups, as well as the adopting enterprises, are an important way to increase the development of the industry," said Georgia Edell, Consulting Analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Coco, the robot based delivery service, announced the official launch of COCO 1, a larger, more advanced version of its signature pink bot. The COCO 1 is a first of its kind delivery robot designed and manufactured in partnership with the largest micro mobility hardware manufacturer, Segway. Coco is currently deploying 1,000s of COCO 1 robots to serve local merchants in multiple cities, over the next few months. With its increased carrying capacity, the COCO 1 will deliver larger orders for a wider range of merchants, further eliminating the need for car-based delivery. Compared to the current model, the COCO 1 offers a number of added features including a more efficient drivetrain and a larger battery capacity that allows for an increased delivery radius of up to three miles, nearly double the radius of the original model.

Social bots - machines that interact as social partners for us humans - are increasingly encountered in everyday life. So far, they mainly appear as software robots in social media, where they like, retweet, but also text and comment. Therefore, they have natural language capabilities and can even communicate synchronously with users as chatbots. However, what happens when they leave the cyber world and suddenly appear face to face with us? How does this affect us as interaction partners and how will our interactions with the machines develop?

Kavli Foundation President Cynthia Friend (front row center) and Director of Public Engagement Brooke Smith (second row right) visited UC Berkeley in November to discuss the new Kavli Center with campus researchers. Every day, algorithms select which news stories appear in our social media feeds. Airplanes allow global travel at nearly the speed of sound while emitting greenhouse gases that accelerate the impacts of climate change. And recent advances in DNA sequencing and editing enable us to understand our fundamental genetic programming -- and potentially change it. While it may be challenging to anticipate where science might lead us next, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are taking steps to ensure that the public has a greater say in future scientific advances, and that questions of ethics and social equity take a prominent role in scientific decision-making. UC Berkeley announced today that the campus will be home to a new Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public, which, alongside a second center at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, will connect scientists, ethicists, social scientists, science communicators and the public in necessary and intentional discussions about the potential impacts of scientific discoveries.

Before Amazon's Alexa became known as the e-commerce giant's voice assistant, it was the name of the company's web ranking site. It was established in 1996 and became famous sometime ago for analyzing web traffic and listing the most popular websites around the world. The service also offers paid subscriptions for those who want detailed SEO analytics and insights. Now, Amazon has announced that it's retiring Alexa.com on May 1st, 2022, just a month after it celebrates its 26th anniversary. "Twenty-five years ago, we founded Alexa Internet. After two decades of helping you find, reach, and convert your digital audience, we've made the difficult decision to retire Alexa.com on May 1, 2022. Thank you for making us your go-to resource for content research, competitive analysis, keyword research, and so much more."

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative co-founders and co-CEOs Mark Zuckerberg '06, L.L.D. '17 and Priscilla Chan '07, announced today a gift to establish the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard. The new institute, which will have dedicated space in the recently completed Science and Engineering Complex in Allston (see "A 500-Year Building"), is named after Karen Kempner Zuckerberg, the mother of the Meta CEO and founder (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are Meta Platforms Inc.'s best-known apps) and her parents. According to Jeff MacGregor, vice president of science communications for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the Kempner Institute will receive $500 million in funding during the next 15 years. The gift will support 10 new faculty appointments, new computing infrastructure, and resources for students--from undergraduates to post-doctoral fellows--that will allow them to pursue knowledge in an uninhibited way across labs and disciplines. Zuckerberg and Chan, a pediatrician, will donate an additional $2.9 billion to support biomedical research focused on improving human health, with the aim of ultimately ending all human disease.

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced the research use only (RUO) launch of three new automated digital pathology algorithms, uPath Ki-67 (30-9), uPath ER (SP1) and uPath PR (1E2) image analysis for breast cancer, which are important biomarkers for breast cancer patients. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world with an estimated 2.3 million new cases in 2020¹ and is the most common cancer in women globally¹,². These new algorithms complete the Roche digital pathology breast panel of image analysis algorithms. This includes a whole slide analysis workflow with automated pre-computing of the slide image prior to pathologist assessment, and a clear visual overlay highlighting tumour cells with and without nuclear staining. Intended for use with Roche's high medical value assays and slides stained on a BenchMark ULTRA instrument using ultraView DAB detection kit, the uPath Ki-67 (30-9) image analysis, uPath ER (SP1) image analysis and uPath PR (1E2) image analysis algorithms are ready-to-use and integrated within Roche's uPath enterprise software and NAVIFY Digital Pathology, the cloud version of uPath.

The fashion technology outfit co-founded by José Neves plans to use AI to improve made-to-order fashion supply chain. PlatformE, a fashion technology group co-founded by Farfetch's José Neves, is buying start-up Cambridge-based Catalyst AI for an undisclosed sum. According to the announcement, the deal will bring Catalyst AI's machine learning tools for optimizing fashion supply chains to PlatformE's services, which focus on on-demand and made-to-order fashion. "We're delighted to strengthen our capabilities with Catalyst AI's innovative intellectual property, and will benefit immensely from the team's expertise and their network of talent in one of the world's leading data science ecosystems," PlatformE co-founder and chief executive officer Gonçalo Cruz said in a statement. For Catalyst AI co-founder and CEO Raymond Siems, "Gonçalo has an unwavering vision for the future of fashion."

Cambridge startup AdeptID, formed last year to build an AI-backed talent-matching service for companies, announced a seed funding round on Thursday. The eight-person company raised $3.5 million in a deal led by Zeal Capital Partners and including Better Ventures, Boston nonprofit JFF's Employment Technology Fund, and other angel investors. AdeptID's software is designed to help companies find workers who have the proper skills for a job opening even if they lack the seemingly required experience or credentials, such as a college degree. Cofounders Fernando Rodriguez-Villa and Brian DeAngelis met at agriculture tech startup Indigo Ag, which acquired Rodriguez-Villa's previous startup, TellusLabs, in 2018. The pair both "had enough of a screw loose required to go and start something new," Rodriguez-Villa, now CEO of AdeptID, said.