A quartet of tech experts arrived at a little-noticed hearing at the U.S. Capitol in May with a message: Quantum computing is a bleeding-edge technology with the potential to speed up drug research, financial transactions and more. To Rep. Adam Kinzinger, though, their highly technical testimony might as well have been delivered in a foreign language. "I can understand about 50 percent of the things you say," the Illinois Republican confessed. Kinzinger's quip drew chuckles from his peers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but it also illustrated an unavoidable challenge on Capitol Hill. Increasingly, members of Congress are confronting a wide array of complex policy debates posed by inventions like artificial intelligence and problems like the rise of Russian propaganda online.

Please join ECIPE and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) for a panel discussion on the future of AI and AI policy development in Europe. As Europe considers strategies for AI, what policy frameworks are needed? European policy proposals rightly emphasize ethics, the need for humans to maintain meaningful control of consequential decisions, providing incentives for investment in AI technologies, building up AI research centers, and addressing the shortage of AI-expertise and talent. In a tribute to these forward-looking policies, companies are setting up AI labs and research centers in Europe. In this panel discussion, Andrea Glorioso (DG Connect) will discuss the European Commission's AI-related workforce-related initiatives, Professor Jeroen van den Hoven (Delft University of Technology) will talk about ethical considerations, and Alex Cesar (Thomson Reuters) and Elisabeth Ling (RELX) will describe what they are already doing to bring the benefits of AI to European businesses and consumers and what they need from policymakers to encourage the further deployment of AI.

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime has raised $620m (£465m) in funding, a month after raising $600 million from e-commerce giant Alibaba. SenseTime, which is headquartered in Beijing, develops a facial recognition product which is used by the Chinese government for its surveillance system. Other SenseTime customers include Honda, which uses the technology in its driverless cars, and Chinese smartphone companies Huawei and Xiaomi. The latest investment in SenseTime came from Fidelity International, Hopu Capital, Silver Lake and Tiger Global. Qualcomm also invested in the latest round of funding through its Qualcomm Ventures division.

RE•WORK's fifth global Machine Intelligence Summit kicked off today in Hong Kong, hosted alongside the AI in Healthcare Summit, which saw a mix of researchers, industry experts and startups explore the latest machine learning, AI tools and techniques. With two tracks, a full day of presentations, workshops, networking and a VC session, there was plenty to capture everyone's attention. Leading minds from NASA, eBay, and HSBC lead the way on topics such as deep learning for eCommerce and using GANs in algorithmic trading. The morning began with attendees grabbing breakfast and sitting down to listen to the Deputy Government CIO at The Government of the HKSAR speak on how they are using big data and AI to develop Hong Kong as a smart city. Their main goal is to use AI to make more informed decisions which will improve both the quality of public services and the quality of life of Hong Kong's citizens.

This series on diversity and inclusion is sponsored by Amway, which supports a prosperous economy through having a diverse workplace. Companies committed to diversity and inclusion are better equipped to innovate and drive performance. Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of organizational success, rates of innovation, social mobility, and equality before the law. The good news is that our society is becoming more diverse, more inclusive, and more tolerant. The bad news is that we still have much progress to make before we can consider our society truly equitable.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the soon-to-come widespread introduction of robots and artificial intelligence (AI)? Endless queues of people waiting to get unemployment benefits? Or the opposite: idleness and equality provided by the labour of mechanical slaves? In all likelihood the reality will be less flashy, though that doesn't mean we should ignore the social consequences of the technological changes taking place before our very eyes. The Fourth Industrial Revolution with its robotics, bio and nanotechnologies, 3D printing, Internet of things, genetics, and artificial intelligence is rapidly spreading across the world [1]. The coming technological changes will have direct consequences for a number of existing professions and promise in the very least to transform the labour market in developed countries.

As the planet continues to warm, climate change impacts are worsening. In 2016, there were 772 weather and disaster events, triple the number that occurred in 1980. Twenty percent of species currently face extinction, and that number could rise to 50 percent by 2100. And even if all countries keep their Paris climate pledges, by 2100, it's likely that average global temperatures will be 3 C higher than in pre-industrial times. But we have a new tool to help us better manage the impacts of climate change and protect the planet: artificial intelligence (AI).

As the planet continues to warm, climate change impacts are worsening. In 2016, there were 772 weather and disaster events, triple the number that occurred in 1980. Twenty percent of species currently face extinction, and that number could rise to 50 percent by 2100. And even if all countries keep their Paris climate pledges, by 2100, it's likely that average global temperatures will be 3 C higher than in pre-industrial times. But we have a new tool to help us better manage the impacts of climate change and protect the planet: artificial intelligence (AI).

The European Union is set to cap the cost of international phone calls and text messages between member states, in its latest bid to break down the borders between its constituent countries. Representatives of the European Parliament and member state governments agreed a package of reforms on Wednesday that would cap calls between EU countries at 19 euro cents (17p) per minute and text messages at 6 cents (5p). The measures, if formally approved by MEPs and the European Council, would follow the abolition of roaming charges for travellers across the EU, a popular Brussels policy which came into effect in 2017. Post-Brexit roaming charges will cost business'up to £778 per month' They are part of a larger package of measures, expected to be signed off at a summit of EU leaders in October, to encourage the growth of 5G telecoms and superfast fibre broadband across the bloc. The deal between the Parliament and Council negotiators was struck after 12 hours of talks spanning Tuesday and the early hours of Wednesday.

The more companies become digital and global, the more finance organizations need to step up their game. It's just not enough to report numbers, pay the bills, and secure steady cash flow. They must also deliver self-explaining, reliable financial information that provides the full story of how the business is performing in real time. But all too often, many financial teams struggle with isolated business systems full of inconsistent – and sometimes conflicting – information. From the perspective of Smitha Chowdavarapu, senior manager at Deloitte Consulting LLP, CFOs should consider process automation to serve the business more efficiently. Finance teams have access to such a massive volume of data that they are well-positioned to use digital technology – such as machine learning – to analyze and interpret information more quickly and accurately.