About 8 months ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned his troops that building the Model 3 would require "production hell." For once, the man known to sometimes be a bit too optimistic about timelines nailed it. Last year's Tesla's production numbers were dismal; now, according to numbers released this week, they're looking up. Meanwhile, WIRED's Transpo team explored why self-driving car crashes look different from human ones; how the electric car could fare after Environmental Protection Agency rolled back fuel economy standards this week; and why an electronic logging rule has truckers shaking their horn-honking fists at the Trump administration. It was a messy week.

Thousands of Google employees have signed a letter demanding the company withdraws from the'business of war' in light of involvement in a Pentagon-led AI project. The letter, first seen by The New York Times, was signed by more than 3,100 employees and follows news last month that Google would lend its TensorFlow programming kits to be used in a US Department of Defense project, dubbed Project Maven, aimed at improving military drone performance by analysing footage via computer vision algorithms. Addressed to CEO Sundar Pichai, the letter stated: "We believe that Google should not be in the business of war. Therefore we ask that Project Maven be cancelled, and that Google draft, publicise and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology." The letter's signatories argue Google's involvement may cause "irreparable damage" to its brand, while raising deep ethical concerns "amid growing fears of biased and weaponized AI" - caustically citing the company's infamous motto'Don't Be Evil'.

One area where AI and machine learning can be applied is in the ongoing fight against cybercrime. AI provides a significant advantage over traditional systems, which rely on static rules to identify patterns and flag suspicious activities. AI, on the other hand, is always learning--using intelligent algorithms to detect and identify new attack patterns and incorporating that knowledge to flag cyberattacks more quickly and with much higher accuracy. While AI is making media headlines almost daily, adoption of AI technology it is still in its nascent stages; a recent study by Accenture and Ponemon noted that in the financial services industry, just over a quarter of firms have deployed AI-based security solutions. But there's a defensive case to be made for AI investment, too.

The European Union says that Facebook has told it that up to 2.7 million people in the 28-nation bloc may have been victim of improper data sharing involving political data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica. Now the EU says that it will ask the data protection authorities in its various countries to work together and investigate the site for the abuse of data. As the data sharing scandal has spread, estimates of the number of people caught up in it have increased. This week, Facebook said that at least 87 million people across the world had been affected by it. Many of those people are outside of Europe.

Elon Musk has famously compared AI to'summoning the devil'. Now the Tesla billionaire claims the technology could lead to the creation of immortal robot leaders from which humanity can never escape. His comments were made in the new documentary'Do You Trust This Computer?' by Chris Paine which premiered in Los Angeles last night. Elon Musk has famously compared AI to'summoning the devil'. The documentary explores the potential advantages and dangers of AI.

March 25--U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Willsboro, has introduced a bill to designate a special commission to review artificial-intelligence development in the United States. The independent National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence would be included in the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act and be comprised of private sector experts, academics and former Department of Defense officials. The commission's primary responsibilities would be to review advancements in AI across the country, identify national security needs that could be addressed with AI, ensure the United States remains competitive with development, and recommend ways to use such technology more effectively. Ms. Stefanik, who chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, said it is important to create this new commission as the world, including China and Russia, continues to make progress on artificial intelligence development. "The purpose is to jump-start and ignite a national assessment of what our machine learning capabilities need to be to make sure we are a global leader," she said.

Thousands of Google employees have signed an open letter asking the internet giant to stop working on a project for the US military. Project Maven involves using artificial intelligence to improve the precision of military drone strikes. Employees fear Google's involvement will "irreparably damage" its brand. "We believe that Google should not be in the business of war," says the letter, which is addressed to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. "Therefore we ask that Project Maven be cancelled, and that Google draft, publicise and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology."

Elon Musk has famously compared AI to'summoning the devil'. Now the Tesla billionaire claims the technology could lead to the creation of immoral robot leaders from which humanity can never escape. His comments were made in the new documentary'Do You Trust This Computer?' by Chris Paine which premiered in Los Angeles last night. Elon Musk has famously compared AI to'summoning the devil'. The documentary explores the potential advantages and dangers of AI.

"Fake news" has become a buzzword, thanks to social media. This becomes even more worrisome in light of the recent scandal about Facebook's shady data-sharing and advertising practices. But we haven't seen anything yet. Because of the latest technological breakthroughs in AI, reality itself--or our perception of it--could be at stake. With tools that are available right now, AI-driven "fake" videos are ready for primetime.

Despite these ongoing discussions, governments seem more and more inclined to continue to invest time, effort, and money in developing cyber capabilities, less concerned about trying to deter hostile activities and more concerned about being able to dominate them. Indeed, much of the publicized comments by senior officials from leading cyber powers demonstrates less concern about defending against attacks and more about being able to execute them. Such a focus makes trying to dissuade hostile actors a nominal token at best, hoping that the sheer volume of cyber fire power may be enough to deter nefarious state cyber activity. In late February 2018, Admiral Rogers – the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command – testified before Congress that the President had not give him specific orders or authority to strike back at Russian cyber operations at their source ahead of the midterm elections. Presumably the intimation was that in the sake of guarding itself, Cyber Command would initiate offensive attacks intent on changing the calculus and behavior of these Russian operations.