The internal Google email chain also notes that several big tech players competed to win the Project Maven contract. Other tech firms such as Amazon were in the running, one Google executive involved in negotiations wrote. Rather than serving solely as a minor experiment for the military, Google executives on the thread stated that Project Maven was "directly related" to a major cloud computing contract worth billions of dollars that other Silicon Valley firms are competing to win. The emails further note that Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing arm of Amazon, "has some work loads" related to Project Maven. Jane Hynes, a spokesperson for Google Cloud, emailed The Intercept to say that the company stands by the statement given to the New York Times this week that "the new artificial intelligence principles under development precluded the use of A.I. in weaponry."

To use an animal analogy, AI and ML look alike as much as a horse resembles a zebra, but that's where the similarity ends. Artificial intelligence refers to the ability of machines to perform tasks that require intelligence. Machine learning is a subset of AI based on the concept that technology can enable computers to learn and adapt through experience.

China's drone-killing lasers have successfully destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from 1,000 feet (300 metres) away. The feat was demonstrated at a recent arms conference in Kazakhstan and comes amid growing tensions with the US. Sources say the portable laser weapon can intercept low-altitude drones and could also gun down moving targets and naval vessels. However, details about exactly how it works have yet to be revealed. China's drone-killing lasers have successfully intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from 1,000 feet (300 metres) away.

Google's Project Maven program for AI-based military drone image recognition program could net the company up to $250 million per year, according to internal memos seen by The Intercept. That's a lot more than the $9 million Google reportedly told employees the contract was worth. What's more, the program may be tied to a much bigger contract, possibly the US military's JEDI Cloud program. The information came from an email chain between Google Cloud head scientist Dr. Fei-Fei Li and other employees. "Total deal $25-$30M, $15M to Google over the next 18 months," Li wrote.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning have taken the healthcare industry by storm. They aren't just illusional tech any more, they are practical tools that can help organizations improve their service, optimize the standard of care, reduce risk, and generate more revenue. Nearly all the big companies in the healthcare arena have embraced the technology. For people, smartbands and smartwatches can help them stay fit by tracking their health and activity level, calorie count, nutrient intake, sleep cycle and more. With a market anticipated to grow to $27.11 billion by 2023, it's apparent that remote monitoring and control will illustrate the future of healthcare.

SINGAPORE – India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has renewed calls for a maritime agreement that would make international waters more secure amid increasingly tense territorial disputes in the South China Sea. After meeting Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday, Modi says they reiterated their commitment to a rules-based order for maritime security and called for an open, fair and transparent agreement. China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial to global trade. Beijing has rejected accusations it's militarizing the area and has been working with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reach a code of conduct to avoid frictions. Modi will give a keynote address on Friday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security conference.

A majority of people are uncomfortable with the idea of artificial intelligence being used in decision making in public services, according to the results of a poll carried out for the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). It has also urged in a report that the public should be engaged early about the increased use of AI in an effort to build confidence in the responsible use of the technology. A survey carried out for the RSA by polling firm YouGov, which took in responses from 2,000 people, showed that small numbers were aware of the role of automated decision systems in public services: 9% for criminal justice, 14% for immigration, 18% for healthcare and 19% for social support. On being asked if they supported its use, the numbers were only a little higher, or lower in one case: 12% for criminal justice, 16% for immigration, 20% for healthcare and 17% for social support. For each service area there was a majority of 50-60% saying they opposed its use with the rest saying they were unsure, although for healthcare the figure in opposition was 48%. The main concerns about the increased use of AI is that it does not have the empathy required to make important decisions affecting people and communities (61%), that it reduces people's responsibility and accountability (31%) and there is a lack of oversight or government regulation of the decisions (26%).

NANJING: China has been invited to test its artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in Singapore and work together to help the region tackle everyday problems in areas such as healthcare and banking. Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat made this invitation at the first Sino-Singapore Artificial Intelligence Forum in Nanjing on Friday (Jun 1), which was attended by about 350 AI experts from both countries. During his speech, which was partly delivered in Chinese, Mr Heng said that there was big potential for both countries to develop AI. "For example, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has a financial technology (Fintech) sandbox for companies to develop new financial solutions before launching them in the market," said Mr Heng, who is also in China for a series of meetings. Sandboxes are platforms that allow software to be securely tested in an environment where legal and regulatory requirements are relaxed. The Land Transport Authority is also testing driverless vehicle systems in such sandboxes in Singapore, Mr Heng said.

IMAGE: A new approach developed by Zak Costello (left) and Hector Garcia Martin brings the the speed and analytic power of machine learning to bioengineering. Scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to use machine learning to dramatically accelerate the design of microbes that produce biofuel. Their computer algorithm starts with abundant data about the proteins and metabolites in a biofuel-producing microbial pathway, but no information about how the pathway actually works. It then uses data from previous experiments to learn how the pathway will behave. The scientists used the technique to automatically predict the amount of biofuel produced by pathways that have been added to E. coli bacterial cells.

What will artificial intelligence do to us and the way we do business? It depends on who you ask, and the overall context. Henry Kissinger -- yes, that Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State -- just penned a piece in The Atlantic suggesting that AI is unleashing dark forces onto our world. "Automation deals with means; it achieves prescribed objectives by rationalizing or mechanizing instruments for reaching them," he writes. "AI, by contrast, deals with ends; it establishes its own objectives. To the extent that its achievements are in part shaped by itself, AI is inherently unstable."