Having invented the first machine gun, Richard John Gatling explained (or at least justified) his invention in a letter to a friend in 1877: With such a machine, it would be possible to replace 100 men with rifles on the battlefield, greatly reducing the number of men injured or killed. This sentiment, replacing soldiers--or at least protecting them from harm to the greatest extent possible through the inventions of science and technology--has been a thoroughly American ambition since the Civil War. And now, with developments in computing, artificial intelligence and robotics, it may soon be possible to replace soldiers entirely. Only this time America is not alone and may not even be in the lead. Many countries in the world today, including Russia and China, are believed to be developing weapons that will have the ability to operate autonomously--discover a target, make the decision to engage and then attack, without human intervention.

The European Space Agency has released the first image taken by its Trace Gas Orbiter showing the ice-covered edge of a vast Martian crater. Scientists combined three pictures of the Korolev Crater taken from an altitude of 400 kilometers (249 miles) on April 15. Lead researcher Nicolas Thomas said Thursday the colors in the resulting image were also adjusted to best resemble those visible to the human eye. In this image provided by the European Space Agency, ESA, The ExoMars Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS, captured this view of the rim of Korolev crater (73.3ºN/165.9ºE) The European Space Agency has released its first image taken by a probe orbiting Mars, showing the ice-covered edge of a vast crater.

The 2nd edition of the AI for Good Global Summit will be organized by ITU in Geneva on 15-17 May 2018, in partnership with XPRIZE Foundation, the global leader in incentivized prize competitions, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and sister United Nations agencies including UNESCO, UNICEF, UNCTAD, UNIDO, Global Pulse, UNICRI, UNODA, UNIDIR, UNODC, WFP, IFAD, UNAIDS, WIPO, ILO, UNITAR, UNOPS, OHCHR, UN University, WHO, UNEP, ICAO, UNDP, The World Bank, UN DESA, CTBTO, UNISDR, UNOG, UNOOSA, UNFPA, and UNECE. The AI for Good series is the leading United Nations platform for dialogue on AI. The action -oriented 2018 summit will identify practical applications of AI and supporting strategies to improve the quality and sustainability of life on our planet. The summit will continue to formulate strategies to ensure trusted, safe and inclusive development of AI technologies and equitable access to their benefits. While the 2017 summit sparked the first ever inclusive global dialogue on beneficial AI, the action-oriented 2018 summit will focus on impactful AI solutions able to yield long-term benefits and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Last week, things began stirring inside the truck-size box that sat among melting piles of snow at the airport in Fairbanks, Alaska. Before long, the roof of the box yawned open and a weather balloon took off into the sunny afternoon, instruments dangling. The entire launch was triggered with the touch of a button, 5 kilometers away at an office of the National Weather Service (NWS). The flight was smooth, just one of hundreds of twice-daily balloon launches around the world that radio back crucial data for weather forecasts. But most of those balloons are launched by people; the robotic launchers, which are rolling out across Alaska, are proving to be controversial.

SAN FRANCISCO – Alphabet Inc. is pushing efforts to roll back the most comprehensive biometric privacy law in the U.S., even as the company and its peers face heightened scrutiny after the unauthorized sharing of data at Facebook Inc. While Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg were publicly apologizing this month for failing to protect users' information, Google's lobbyists were drafting measures to de-fang an Illinois law recognized as the most rigorous consumer privacy statute in the country. Their ambition: to strip language from a decade-old policy that regulates the use of fingerprints, iris scans and facial recognition technology, and insert a loophole for companies embracing the use of biometrics. Google is trying to exempt photos from the Illinois law at a time when it's fighting a lawsuit in the state that threatens billions of dollars in potential damages. The world's largest search engine is facing claims that it violated the privacy of millions of users by gathering and storing biometric data without their consent.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced the multi-million-pound deal today, which aims to put the UK at the forefront of AI. The deal includes almost £300m of private sector investment and newly allocated government funding for AI research. The announcement follows on from the government's recent Industrial Strategy, in which AI was highlighted as one of the country's four'grand challenges'. The EC strategy paper, released today, focuses heavily on skills, including funding for the training of 8,000 computer science teachers, 1,000 government funded AI PhDs by 2025. Furthermore, the government has committed to developing a global Turing Fellowship programme to attract and retain AI research talent to the UK.

The Commission is proposing a three-pronged approach to increase public and private investment in AI, prepare for socio-economic changes, and ensure an appropriate ethical and legal framework. This follows European leaders' call for a European approach on AI. The EU (public and private sectors) should increase investments in AI research and innovation by at least EUR 20 billion between 2018 and the end of 2020, according to the Commission's official press release. To support these efforts, the Commission is increasing its investment to EUR 1.5 billion for the period 2018-2020 under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. This investment is expected to trigger an additional EUR 2.5 billion of funding from existing public-private partnerships, for example on big data and robotics.

Key players and experts from the artificial intelligence realm gathered in Dubai on Wednesday at the start of Artelligence - The Artificial Intelligence Forum 2018 - to discuss various topics surrounding the technology and how societies can benefit from it. AI investments in the UAE is expected to hit Dh33 billion in 2017, with the figure growing over 70 per cent over the past 3 years. Business Insider says the government would be using AI to account for around 50 per cent savings in costs. "You need to get your feet wet with AI," Wesam Lootah, chief executive officer of Smart Dubai Government, said in his keynote speech. "AI is not something for tomorrow; it's available today. The possibilities are there, and it can touch every aspect of life."

Google leads the pack in applying for AI patents, and Microsoft is the most prolific in filing for patents, but the race is on in AR/VR, cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles, and more. It's no exaggeration to say these five companies are racing to own the future. Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft are not just the most valuable companies in technology. They're also driving innovation that will have massive impacts on business and society. Trends like autonomous vehicles and AI are still in their infancy and have the potential transform our lives. But how deeply is each company involved in pushing the boundaries in these areas? Where can we go to learn what tech they're prioritizing and where the next bleeding-edge innovations will come from?

Business Secretary Greg Clark and Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Matt Hancock (second left) talk with Alistair Cohen (left) and Brent Hoberman, Chairman of the Founders Factory (right), as they meet with artificial intelligence companies at Northcliffe House in Kensington, London as part of the launch for the Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal. Britain wants you to know that even as it stumbles towards Brexit, it's racing ahead on one of the most important technological innovations of our time - artificial intelligence. The U.K. government announced Thursday that it had put together "an AI deal worth more than £1 billion" that includes public and private funding. The money is going towards research and grants, with around £145 million from two foreign venture capital firms going into British, emerging-tech startups. It comes a couple of weeks after France announced its own commitment to AI.