Google will give away about $25 million globally next year to humanitarian and environmental projects seeking to use artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up and grow their efforts. The'AI Impact Challenge' is meant to inspire organizations to ask Google for help in machine learning, a form of AI in which computers analyze large datasets to make predictions or detect patterns and anomalies. Google's rivals Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc tout'AI for good' initiatives too. Google announced on Monday that it would grant about $25 million globally next year to humanitarian and environmental projects seeking to use artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up and grow their efforts.

The "AI Impact Challenge" is meant to inspire organizations to ask Google for help in machine learning, a form of AI in which computers analyze large datasets to make predictions or detect patterns and anomalies. Inc (AMZN.O) tout "AI for good" initiatives too. Focusing on humanitarian projects could aid Google in recruiting and soothe critics by demonstrating that its interests in machine learning extend beyond its core business and other lucrative areas, such as military work. After employee backlash Google this year said it would not renew a deal to analyze U.S. military drone footage. Google AI Chief Operating Officer Irina Kofman told Reuters the challenge was not a reaction to such pushback, but noted that thousands of employees are eager to work on "social good" projects even though they do not directly generate revenue.

AT A CROSSING IN SHENZHEN, a giant screen displays the faces of pedestrians who dared to jaywalk, unaware they were being watched. But it wasn't police who caught them--it was street-side surveillance cameras equipped with the latest in facial recognition technology. The miscreants' mug shots are broadcast on the screen to shame others into compliance. The technology behind the stunt was provided by a local company called Intellifusion, one of the smaller players in China's advanced surveillance market. At the forefront of this booming industry are two other Chinese startups, SenseTime and Megvii, whose A.I.-powered facial recognition systems are likely the most powerful in the world.

AI'deep fake' software that can be used to make bogus videos that'threaten democracy' is being funded by a UK government research body. The AI technology - which has been described as a'propaganda weapon' - can mimic facial expressions and make it look like someone is saying something they're not. People are concerned it could be used to create fake news clips that falsely put words into the mouths of politicians or other powerful figures. The British firm developing this technology received £70,000 ($90,000) from a government-funded organisation this year, a new report has revealed. The AI technology (stock image) - which has been described as a'propaganda weapon - can mimic facial expressions and make it look like someone is saying something they're not Damian Collins, who chairs a UK select committee on fake news said deep fakes were'one of the most serious threats that democracy faces'.

NASA officials are finally coming to terms with the fact the Opportunity rover could be lost forever. The rover, which is located on the rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater, has been out of contact for four months after a raging dust storm encircled the red planet. Skies eventually cleared by mid-September, when America's space agency began a six-week listening programme to try and receive data from their device. However, that's already nearing expiration and the solar-powered robot remains dormant - with scientists set to stop trying to contact it in the coming days. Nasa's Opportunity rover has finally been lost on Mars four months after a raging dust storm encircled the red planet, the space agency has said Dr Lori Glaze, acting director of Nasa's planetary science division, suggested that attempts to recover the rover by sending daily signals would be coming to an end. 'The batteries may be getting too cold and that may be too much for'the little rover that could',' Dr Glaze told the Times.

One of the biggest hurdles in the field of artificial intelligence is preventing it from developing the same intrinsic faults and biases as its human creators, and in using AI to solve social issues instead of simply automating tasks. Now, Google, one of the world's leading organizations developing AI software today, is launching a global competition to help spur the development of applications and research that have positive impacts on the field and society at large. The competition, called the Google AI Impact Challenge, was announced today at an event called AI for Social Good held at the company's Sunnyvale, California office. Google is positioning it as a way to integrate nonprofits, universities, and other organizations not within the corporate and profit-driven world of Silicon Valley into the future-looking development of AI research and applications. The company says it will award up to $25 million to a number of grantees to "help transform the best ideas into action."

For decades, People's Daily, an official newspaper of the Communist Party, has been a must-read for China watchers – a window on the policies, people and perspectives the party wants to be the focus of attention. Now, an artificial intelligence programme designed by an economist with an influential US think tank is analysing the party's mouthpiece – and its propaganda – to provide those who report on the politics of China with a clearer idea of what Beijing is thinking and planning. An AI programme developed in 2016 by Weifeng Zhong, a research fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, with Julian Tszkin Chan of the Washington-based Bates White Economic Consulting firm, assesses the policy priorities of the Chinese government by observing what policies appear on the newspaper's front pages and how often. An algorithm in the newly launched programme has read and memorised all the articles in People's Daily, which was established in 1948, and in a precursor publication which existed for two years before the newspaper's official founding. If the algorithm is constantly "surprised" by the policies that appear on the journal's front page over a certain period, the conclusion is that the government is changing a policy – or adjusting the priorities underlying one.

On giant screens in the European parliament building in Brussels last week, the face of Mark Zuckerberg looked down on the world's data protection and privacy commissioners assembled there for their annual conference. What he said was cautious and rather bland, but the imagery was potent: a young Big Brother issuing a tailored message to those who administer the laws of many lands. Zuckerberg did not take questions – a Facebook executive in the chamber did, after Zuckerberg faded from the screens into the green and sunny background of his distant locale. An actual dialogue with the controller of Facebook might have been illuminating. For example, does Facebook anticipate, as others speculate, that the internet will split into two, or three – the US internet, the China internet and the EU internet?

Google's artificial intelligence chief Jeff Dean speaks at an event Monday. Google says it wants to help people do positive things with artificial intelligence. The search giant on Monday announced a new challenge for nonprofits, universities and other organizations working on AI projects that will benefit society. The contest is called the AI Global Impact Challenge, and the company has pledged $25 million in grants. The challenge is part of a new Google initiative called "AI for Social Good."

The Mayo Clinic and health technology vendor Eko are working together to develop and commercialize a machine learning-based algorithm that screens patients for low ejection fraction, which is linked to heart failure. A low ejection fraction number, often measured by an echocardiogram, suggests problems with the heart's pumping function. However, echocardiography is an expensive and time-consuming medical imaging test using ultrasound that is less accessible than a doctor with a stethoscope. "With this collaboration, we hope to transform the stethoscope in the pocket of every physician and nurse from a hand tool to a power tool," said Paul Friedman, MD, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Mayo Clinic. "The community practitioner performing high school sports physicals and the surgeon about to operate may be able to seamlessly tap the knowledge of an experienced cardiologist to determine if a weak heart pump is present simply by putting a stethoscope on a person's chest for a few seconds."