Keeping vehicles in good working order is about more than just getting to work on time for the US Army. A breakdown in the middle of a combat zone could prove deadly. So, to help keep on top of repairs, the army is testing artificial intelligence to predict when a vehicle might need a new part. The army is monitoring several dozen Bradley M2A3 vehicles using a machine learning algorithm from Uptake Technologies. It hopes the Asset Performance Management application will reduce unscheduled maintenance and make repairs more efficient and productive, in part by predicting when components will fail.

China's government and businesses are trying to attract top-caliber engineers, scientists and other skilled technical workers, particularly U.S.-based Chinese professionals, according to officials, recruiting agents and those being approached. Silicon Valley, with its nexus of big tech firms, research labs and venture investors, is a prime target. Early this year, a leading Chinese government adviser on technology policy addressed a packed convention center hall here to promote the prospects created by China's demand for cutting-edge technologies and its deep pockets. "We've gathered you all here to explore new opportunities for cooperation," said Ye Tianchun, speaking in Mandarin. Over 300 people, the majority of them Chinese and Chinese Americans, showed up to hear Mr. Ye, who guides China's research into semiconductors.

A panel of AI experts have been grilled on the impact and importance of artificial general intelligence by the US House of Representatives on Tuesday. The hearing was ominously named "Artificial Intelligence – With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." Narrow AI for specific tasks has been rapidly advancing and the committee wanted to know how far off artificial general intelligence (AGI), where a system can learn multiple actions and do them better than humans, would be. Greg Brockman, co-founder and CTO at OpenAI, defined AGI as "highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work". Progress is spearheaded by three areas: data, computation, and algorithms. A recent OpenAI study estimated there had been a 300,000-times increase in the amount of compute used to train AI systems since 2012.

Recent legislation signed by Gov. Pete Ricketts outlines a framework for autonomous vehicle manufacturers to test their products in Nebraska. The law will allow state officials to learn about regulations needed for driverless vehicles in order to prevent any fatalities on the road.

Salesforce Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff at Salesforce Dreamfest 17. Employees at Salesforce sent a letter to Benioff asking him to reconsider the company's contract with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. SAN FRANCISCO – Employees at Salesforce signed a letter to their CEO Marc Benioff asking him to reconsider the company's contracts with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the latest in a string of staff protests at major tech companies over government contracts. More than 650 employees signed the letter, according to Bloomberg and Buzzfeed, which obtained a copy. The letter says Salesforce employees are aware that certain company products and tools are being used by CBP, and they are particularly concerned about Salesforce's Service Cloud being used in border activities. "Given the inhumane separation of children from their parents currently taking place at the border, we believe that our core value of Equality is at stake and that Salesforce should re-examine our contractual relationship with CBP and speak out against its practices," the letter said.

A former top U.S. Defense Department official said Tuesday he was "alarmed" by a recent decision by Alphabet Inc.'s Google to withdraw from work on a department initiative applying artificial intelligence tools to analyzing drone footage. "I fully agree that it might wind up with us taking a shot, but it could easily save lives," said Deputy Defense Secretary Robert O. Work, who started the initiative known as "Project Maven." "I believe the Google employees created an enormous moral hazard for themselves." More than 4,000 Google employees signed a petition calling for the cancellation of the Project Maven contract, citing Google's history of avoiding military work and worries about autonomous weapons. The company has since pledged not to use its AI for weapons, illegal surveillance and technologies that cause "overall harm," while saying it will continue to pursue government work in other areas.

Artificial intelligence may put an end to a long-running industry: human trafficking. The average age a minor enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14 years old–many of the victims being runaway girls who were sexually abused. Thankfully, Attorney Generals in the U.S. and Mexico are planning to implement a new system that will help to locate victims of human trafficking. Trust Stamp, an Atlanta-based startup, will be providing the'meat and potatoes' of the life-saving technology. According to the company website, "[Trust Stamp] creates proprietary artificial intelligence solutions; researching and leveraging facial biometric science and wide-scale data mining to deliver insightful identity & trust predictions while identifying and defending against fraudulent identity attacks."

A Tesla Model S electric car that crashed and burned last month in Florida, killing two teenagers, was traveling 116 miles per hour three seconds before impact and only slowed to 86 mpg as the air bags were inflated, according to federal investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board, in a preliminary report on the crash, also said that the car missed a curve with a 25 mph speed limit, crashed into a wall twice, and witnesses reported that it erupted in flames. The driver and front-seat passenger, both 18, were killed in the May 8 crash in Fort Lauderdale. A rear-seat passenger was ejected and injured. According to the report released Tuesday, the car's lithium-ion battery re-ignited twice after firefighters extinguished the flames, once as the car was being loaded for removal from the scene and again in a storage yard.

Artificial intelligence could help the US military keep track of its equipment. Uptake Technologies has announced a $1 million pilot contract to monitor the mechanical health of a few dozen Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The machine learning software will try to predict when the vehicles need repair.

The Orlando Police Department said it would not immediately renew a pilot program with Amazon.com for controversial facial-recognition technology, a decision that civil rights advocates claimed as a victory. Orlando had deployed software, known as Rekognition, in five cameras at police headquarters and three cameras downtown during a six-month trial period. "The City of Orlando is always looking for new solutions to further our ability to keep our residents and visitors safe," the city of Orlando and the Orlando Police Department said in a joint statement Monday. "Partnering with innovative companies to test new technology -- while also ensuring we uphold privacy laws and in no way violate the rights of others -- is critical to us as we work to further keep our community safe." The existence of the pilot program was first revealed last month, when the American Civil Liberties Union published documents detailing Amazon's sale of powerful facial-recognition tools to several law enforcement agencies, including in Orlando and Washington County, Ore.