Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday issued a statement on the growing controversy around Cambridge Analytica's acquisition and use of tens of millions of people's personal Facebook data. In the 935-word statement, Zuckerberg reassures users that "the good news is that most important actions to prevent this from happening again" were already taken in 2014, when the company limited the amount of data that could be acquired by third-party apps on the social media platform. While the statement acknowledged the company "made mistakes," it avoided an explicit apology or the word "sorry." Zuckerberg's move comes four days after the New York Times reported that Cambridge Analytica, a company that provides political operators detailed information on millions of voters, obtained data on more than 50 million American Facebook users from a University of Cambridge researcher named Aleksandr Kogan. Cambridge Analytica's connections to Republican megadonor Robert Mercer and Steve Bannon, an ex Trump campaign chairman and a senior White House adviser, may have allowed the Trump campaign to access and use the data to target potential voters, according to the Times.

South Africa is joining global non-profit organisation, City.AI, which organises gatherings of artificial intelligence (AI) practitioners on a quarterly basis across over 40 cities to share challenges and lessons in applied AI. SA is the newest member of the organisation and Cape Town will host its first City.AI event on 27 March. City.AI also plans to announce events in Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana soon. City.AI's goal is to make AI better by proactively tackling the issue of application of AI with the right people in cities across the globe using local ambassadors to grow and advance the AI community. "Our goal is to multiply the AI talent pool and allow for better application of AI globally," City.AI says on its Web site.

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas – As a SWAT team closed in, the suspected bomber whose deadly explosives terrorized Austin for three weeks used one of his devices to blow himself up. But police warned that he could have planted more bombs before his death, and they cautioned the city to stay on guard. Mark Anthony Conditt, an unemployed college dropout, had been tracked down using store surveillance video, cellphone signals and witness accounts of a strange-looking customer making purchases in a disguise that included a blonde wig and gloves. His motive remained a mystery. Police finally found the 23-year-old early Wednesday at a hotel in a suburb north of Austin known as the scene for filming portions of "Friday Night Lights."

In most cases, Obama supporters who signed on to the campaign's mailing list were asked to authorize the campaign's Facebook app, allowing it to access certain aspects of their profile, including their posts, likes, photos, demographics and similar data from their Facebook friends. The Obama data was used in voter turnout efforts, with a focus on young voters in key battleground states, and former campaign officials said the data was kept secure and not sold to or acquired from third parties.

US President Donald Trump often tweets from his iPhone about pressuring China to address its $375bn trade surplus with the United States. But a closer look at the Apple smartphone reveals how the headline figure is distorted. The big trade imbalance - at the heart of a potential trade war, with Trump expected to impose tariffs on Chinese imports this week - exists in large part because of electrical goods and tech, the biggest US import item from China. Apple Inc's iPhone, however, illustrates how a big portion of that imbalance is due to imports of American-branded products - many of which use global suppliers for parts, but are put together in China and shipped around the world. Take a look at the iPhone X. IHS Markit estimates its components cost a total of $370.25.

As policymakers debate the government's role in developing artificial intelligence, a House bill aims to shed light on the emerging technology's role in strengthening national security. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence Act would create an independent panel to explore recent advancements in artificial intelligence and assess the economic and national security impacts of the budding technology. Introduced Tuesday by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who heads the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, the legislation would provide direction for agencies looking to steer the growth of AI in the coming years. With some experts calling artificial intelligence "the biggest economic and technological revolution" of our lifetimes, maintaining an edge in the field could prove critical to America's position on the world stage. "Artificial intelligence is a constantly developing technology that will likely touch every aspect of our lives," Stefanik said in a statement.

The engineering research wing of the United States Defence Department DARPA wants to use machine learning to develop new technologies for use in combat. AIs can now be used not just to recognise objects that already exist but also to devise new ones. Machine learning is already used in some engineering and design contexts, and DARPA wants to expand that usage. AIs programmed to understand fundamental physics will be set engineering challenges, giving them free rein to supply out-of-the-box solutions that will help with innovative design. It is hoped that AI will greatly assist the US government in developing new machines and components for military purposes.

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. In the last Cold War, nations tried to see who could make the biggest nuclear bomb. In the current international rivalry, the race is aimed at something you can't see. In fact, China is spending big on AI as one component in its strategy for building a force-projecting military. Chris Taylor, CEO of the data and analytics firm Govini, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk more about China's mission.

In June of 1956, A few dozen scientists and mathematicians from all around the country gathered for a meeting on the campus of Dartmouth College. Most of them settled into the red-bricked Hanover Inn, then strolled through the famously beautiful campus to the top floor of the math department, where groups of white-shirted men were already engaged in discussions of a "strange new discipline"--so new, in fact, that it didn't even have a name. "People didn't agree on what it was, how to do it or even what to call it," Grace Solomonoff, the widow of one of the scientists, recalled later. The talks--on everything from cybernetics to logic theory--went on for weeks, in an atmosphere of growing excitement. What the scientists were talking about in their sylvan hideaway was how to build a machine that could think. The "Dartmouth workshop" kicked off the decades-long quest for artificial intelligence. In the following years, the pursuit faltered, enduring several "winters" where it seemed doomed to dead ends and baffling disappointments. But today nations and corporations are pouring billions into AI, whose recent advancements have startled even scientists working in the field. What was once a plot device in sci-fi flicks is in the process of being born. Hedge funds are using AI to beat the stock market, Google is utilizing it to diagnose heart disease more quickly and accurately, and American Express is deploying AI bots to serve its customers online.

She wants Zuckerberg's assurances that Facebook is prepared to take the lead on security measures that protect people's privacy -- or Congress may step in. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also wants Zuckerberg to testify. But Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, won't commit to asking Zuckerberg to appear. Republicans on the Commerce Committee also have sent letters requesting information from Facebook and Cambridge parent SCL Group.