"Should I tell the story about the killer robots?" "I love telling this story. A group of roughly 50 people listened raptly as Weinberg, president of a think tank called the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, addressed a public-policy luncheon in San Carlos, California, on Thursday afternoon. The event--whose guests of honor included Democratic lawmakers Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, and Tim Ryan, from the Thirteenth District of Ohio--was meant to foster a lively discussion about connecting Silicon Valley "to the heartland." There would also be a sneak peak of a report showing the economic impact of Bay Area companies on every single congressional district in America. Weinberg began his killer story as the crowd--including the mayor of Akron, Ohio; Silicon Valley municipal leaders; health care executives; business school academics; tech investors; representatives from Oracle and Palantir; and a Teamsters rep--made quick work of the carb-heavy boxed lunches.

The U.S. Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation into Uber's use of a software tool that helped its drivers evade local transportation regulators, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. Anthony Levandowski, shown here during a briefing at a garage owned by his self-driving truck company Otto, which Uber bought in 2016. SAN FRANCISCO -- A judge has ruled that Uber can continue testing its self-driving cars, although one of its lead engineers has been officially barred from working on a part of the project that led Google's self-driving car unit to sue the ride-hailing company over stolen trade secrets. The ruling is a partial victory for Uber after the judge overseeing the lawsuit last week ordered that the case be reviewed separately by the U.S. Attorney for possible criminal charges. The suit was brought by Waymo, the new name for Google's eight-year-old autonomous car program, in February after it says it discovered that a former self-driving project employee, Anthony Levandowski, had downloaded 14,000 files shortly before quitting.

US ride services company Lyft and Google parent Alphabet's self-driving car unit Waymo have launched a self-driving vehicle partnership, bringing together two rivals to dominant ride-sharing service Uber. Lyft, the No. 2 US ride service by ride volume, in a statement said a deal to launch self-driving pilots would accelerate its vision for transportation and Waymo, which is beginning tests of a self-driving car service in Phoenix, said the partnership would let its technology reach "more people, in more places". Neither offered many details of the agreement, which was reported earlier by The New York Times. The car industry and technology companies are racing to develop self-driving technology, which they expect in a number of years will transform transportation, cutting costs of ride services and changing the way people buy and use cars. Uber is the biggest US ride service by volume and has been developing self-driving technology, which it sees as a key to its future, as it expands its ride service with human drivers.

The man who accidentally saved the NHS from its huge cyber attack has been revealed. Marcus Hutchins is a self-taught computer genius who works in cyber security. The 22-year-old surfer lives with his parents and didn't attend university. He also managed to save the entire world from one of the most damaging cyber attacks in history. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

People watch a self-driving vehicle in London in 2016. The provincial government announced Monday it has launched a committee composed of academics and business leaders to guide the creation of an artificial intelligence research hub in Quebec. The 12-member committee will be co-chaired by Pierre Boivin, president and CEO of Claridge and Université de Montréal rector Guy Breton. The aim of the hub will be to promote research and innovation in the domain artificial intelligence as well as the creation of related businesses. Premier Philippe Couillard said the hub would allow Quebec and Montreal to position themselves as a scientific and economic centre for research, training and the creation high technology products in the artificial intelligence sector.

Internet of things technology was deployed in the Department of Defense long before IoT became a buzzword. But outdated technology stays in the field longer than might be desired, according to Charles Wells, who works on DOD projects at Symantec. Recent events, namely the Mirai botnet attack, have increased the urgency for securing devices that are connected to the internet, which typically means patching or updating software. But there are too many IoT devices in DOD to make that practical. "We've got a proliferation of sensors on the battlefield today," Wells told the audience at a May 9 IoT Tech Summit hosted by the Washington, D.C., Chapter of Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.

Waymo is seeking a preliminary injunction against Uber. The company that began as Google's driverless car project has reached a deal to collaborate with ride-hailing app Lyft on tests of self-driving vehicles. It also gives Lyft a powerful new ally in the self-driving car race against its more well-funded adversary Uber. And it places Waymo a step closer to becoming a business with real-world customers. Although details of the alliance between Waymo and Lyft were not released, the deal is expected to involve a pilot program in which consumers will ride in vehicles equipped with Waymo's self-driving system.

Welcome to California Inc., the weekly newsletter of the L.A. Times Business Section. That tailwind Wall Streeters are feeling is Friday's news that Americans stepped up their shopping last month. The Commerce Department said retail sales increased 0.4%, suggesting consumers are poised to spur faster growth in the April-June quarter after the economy barely expanded in the first three months of the year. Consumer prices rose a modest 0.2% after a 0.3% drop in March. Above the crowd: On Monday, a new terminal aimed at celebrities and wealthy travelers will open at Los Angeles International Airport.

One small mistake might have allowed the hack that brought chaos to the NHS. Health trusts across England were sent details of a patch that would have kept them safe from the ransomware used in the huge cyber attack, according to NHS Digital. The attack brought problems for huge swathes of the NHS, leaving almost 50 trusts without proper access to their computers. The problems led to appointments being cancelled, doctors unable to work and may even have caused deaths within affected hospitals. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

Desperate to overcome Japan's growing shortage of labour, mid-sized firms are planning to buy robots to automate a wide range of tasks. According to a Bank of Japan survey, companies are introducing robots in the hopes of boosting investment by 17.5 percent - the highest level on record. Tasks that will given to the robots include manufacturing, earth-moving and even hotel room service. Desperate to overcome Japan's growing shortage of labour, mid-sized firms are planning to buy robots to automate a wide range of tasks Kawasaki Heavy Industries says its two-armed, 170-centimetre tall robot is selling well because it can be adapted to a range of industrial uses by electronics makers, food processors and drug companies. Hitachi Construction Machinery says it is also getting a lot of enquiries for its computer-programmed digging machines.