Beijing sharply rebuked Washington on Tuesday for adding some top Chinese artificial intelligence startups to its trade blacklist, dimming hopes for progress in high-level talks aimed at ending a 15-month trade war between the two economic giants. U.S. and Chinese deputy trade negotiators were due to meet in Washington for a second day of talks on Tuesday, laying the groundwork for the first minister-level meetings in over two months later this week. A report from the South China Morning Post said China had tamped down expectations ahead of the talks scheduled for Thursday with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, saying the Chinese delegation could leave earlier than planned because "there's not too much optimism." The mood soured this week after the U.S. Commerce Department widened its trade blacklist to include 20 Chinese public security bureaus and eight companies including video surveillance firm Hikvision, as well as leaders in facial recognition technology SenseTime Group Ltd and Megvii Technology Ltd.

Public healthcare organisations across the UK have teamed up with the vendor Thoughtonomy to launch the first National Health Service (NHS) marketplace for robotic process automations (RPAs). The project is the brainchild of Darren Atkins, CTO at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT). Atkins spent 18 months working with Thoughtonomy to develop a cloud-based platform that any NHS trust can use to share their existing bots and collaborate on new ones, automating tasks from GP referrals to patient appointment reminders. Read next: How an NHS Trust adopted'virtual workers' to process GP referrals Atkins says this approach allows automated processes to be quickly deployed and will cut costly consultancy companies and other third parties out of the implementation process. All the content on the marketplace is owned by the NHS and can only be used by healthcare organisations for no commercial gain.

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 19-1), is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after February 25, 2019. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 19-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced tremendously and today promises personalized healthcare; enhanced national security; improved transportation; and more effective education, to name just a few benefits. Increased computing power, the availability of large datasets and streaming data, and algorithmic advances in machine learning (ML) have made it possible for AI development to create new sectors of the economy and revitalize industries. Continued advancement, enabled by sustained federal investment and channeled toward issues of national importance, holds the potential for further economic impact and quality-of-life improvements.

Do you want to pursue graduate studies in Artificial Intelligence? Montréal, the university capital of Canada, is home to the world's largest concentration of academic researchers in deep learning as well as top international companies and players in AI. The city has a booming AI ecosystem thanks to the work of highly respected researchers helping to make Montréal one of the world's leading research hubs in AI. Learn about the graduate programs offered, admission requirements and immigration procedures to study in Montréal. Join us for poutine and Canadian beer and find out about Montréal's outstanding quality of life and unrivaled student experience.

Medical devices used outside of acute care settings, such as point-of-care ultrasound, and those whose rapid development has outpaced safety assessments, namely robots, are among the top health technology hazards that nonprofit ECRI Institute has identified in a new report. Leading the organization's list, however, are accidents associated with a decades-old technology, surgical staplers. Problems associated with staplers have led FDA to propose reclassifying the devices from Class I to Class II, a higher-risk category that would allow the agency to establish special controls and labeling requirements for the devices. An advisory panel for the agency endorsed the proposal in May, and Medtronic and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons both have voiced support for formal reclassification. ECRI annually compiles a list of its 10 biggest safety concerns from incident investigations and device testing as well as public and private event reporting databases.

A customer uses an automatic teller machine (ATM) inside a Wells Fargo & Co. bank branch in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. According to a Wells Fargo research report, robots will eliminate 200,000 jobs in the banking industry within the next 10 years. These numbers seem astounding and mind-boggling. However, the robot overhaul has been in motion for some time. While others use the term "robots," it's fair to say that this also refers to artificial intelligence, advanced technology and sophisticated software. Like many business sectors, banks are under siege from a confluence of factors working against them.

From Mexican immigrant to MIT, from Girl Power in Latin America to robotics entrepreneurs in Africa and India, the 2019 annual "women in robotics you need to know about" list is here! We've featured 150 women so far, from 2013 to 2018, and this time we're not stopping at 25. We're featuring 30 inspiring #womeninrobotics because robotics is growing and there are many new stories to be told. So, without further ado, here are the 30 Women In Robotics you need to know about – 2019 edition! There are 150 more stories on our 2013 to 2018 lists. Why not nominate someone for inclusion next year!

The U.S. government expanded its trade blacklist to include some of China's top artificial intelligence startups, punishing Beijing for its treatment of Muslim minorities and ratcheting up tensions ahead of high-level trade talks in Washington this week. The decision, almost certain to draw a sharp response from Beijing, targets 20 Chinese public security bureaus and eight companies including video surveillance firm Hikvision, as well as leaders in facial recognition technology SenseTime Group Ltd and Megvii Technology Ltd. The action bars the firms from buying components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval – a potentially crippling move. It follows the same blueprint used by Washington in its attempt to limit the influence of Huawei Technologies for what it says are national security reasons. U.S. officials said the action was not tied to this week's resumption of trade talks with China, but it signals no let-up in U.S. President Donald Trump's hard-line stance as the world's two biggest economies seek to end their 15-month trade war.

Australian singer Cody Simpson is currently making headlines globally for going public with his relationship with Miley Cyrus. And as the star becomes the talk of the town, Masked Singer Australia fans are now convinced he is the mystery Robot contestant. On Monday night's episode, a fresh batch of clues added to the growing pile of evidence that the iYiYi hit-maker is behind the elaborate costume. Cody Simpson (left) is The Masked Singer's Robot (right) according to a growing pile of evidence Cody has sung three times on the show so far, and remains in the competition against six celebrity rivals. With the clues mounting, fans believe the mystery singer is definitely Cody.

In developing artificial intelligence for use on the battlefield and throughout the defense enterprise, the U.S. military is challenging China and other adversaries to a multigenerational contest. At stake is nothing less than global dominance in the fast-arriving digital future. "We are in a contest for the character of the international order in the digital age," Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director of the Pentagon's new Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, told reporters at a recent briefing. "Our potential adversaries are moving very deliberately towards a future of artificial intelligence." To get an edge on the competition, the U.S. military plans to "democratize" access to AI development tools across the Defense Department, through a collaborative, cloud-based platform called the Joint Common Foundation.