Microsoft today further proved its commitment to artificial intelligence through the acquisition of Maluuba. Maluuba -- a Montreal-based startup that impressed during TechCrunch's 2012 San Francisco Startup Battlefield competition -- uses natural language processing and machine learning to achieve a singular goal: achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI is the unicorn, at least so far, in the artificial intelligence and machine learning segments but if (once) achieved it'll lead to machines that can perform tasks at least as well as humans. TNW Conference won best European Event 2016 for our festival vibe. See what's in store for 2017.

Just how old is that hooptie in your driveway? The average vehicle on American roads is nearly 12 years old, market research shows, as drivers hold on to their old, reliable wheels for longer stretches of time. That has held true even as more people than ever bought new cars last year -- 17.5 million of them. If you're not a consumer who bought new in recent years, the showroom floor and its wares may look different from what you've seen in the past. The most popular vehicles today are getting bigger in size, generating reams of data and, more and more often, pestering you to drive better. The vehicles built for the future -- those that are merely bold concepts today -- will be even more peculiar and provocative.

MEPs have voted to propose granting legal status to robots, categorising them as "electronic persons" and warning that new legislation is needed to focus on how the machines can be held responsible for their "acts or omissions". The draft report, tabled by Mady Delvaux-Stehres, a socialist MEP from Luxembourg, states current rules are "insufficient" for what it calls the "technological revolution", and suggests the EU should establish "basic ethical principles […] to avoid potential pitfalls". Ms Delvaux-Stehres's resolution was easily passed by the European Parliament's legal affairs committee, and a vote by the full parliament on the resolution is likely to take place in February. The report suggests that robots and other manifestations of artificial intelligence such as bots and androids are poised to "unleash a new industrial revolution, which is likely to leave no stratum of society untouched". "The more autonomous robots are, the less they can be considered simple tools in the hands of other actors (such as the manufacturer, the owner, the user, etc.)," they said.

While many big tech companies use varying degrees of artificial intelligence to help provide security for their cloud-computing operations, some are taking it to another level. In a research paper, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) division Google revealed that two neural networks had learned to build their own form of encryption, while a third was unable to crack that code. This is significant because they weren't taught about encryption or given any examples of encrypted and decrypted messages. Two neural networks were instructed to send communications to each other, and keep that information secret from the third. This is likely an early development toward a dynamic system that learns to protect itself.

While many big tech companies use varying degrees of artificial intelligence to help provide security for their cloud-computing operations, some are taking it to another level. In a research paper, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) division Google revealed that two neural networks had learned to build their own form of encryption, while a third was unable to crack that code. This is significant because they weren't taught about encryption or given any examples of encrypted and decrypted messages. Two neural networks were instructed to send communications to each other, and keep that information secret from the third. This is likely an early development toward a dynamic system that learns to protect itself.

Before he took office in 2008, Barack Obama vowed to end America's grueling conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his second term, he pledged to take the country off what he called a permanent war footing. "Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue," he said in May 2013. "But this war, like all wars, must end. But Obama leaves a very different legacy as he prepares to hand his commander-in-chief responsibilities to Donald Trump. U.S. military forces have been at war for all eight years of Obama's tenure, the first two-term president with that distinction. He launched airstrikes or military raids in at least seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Yet the U.S. faces more threats in more places than at any time since the Cold War, according to U.S. intelligence. For the first time in decades, there is at least the potential of an armed clash with America's largest adversaries, Russia and China.

LAUREL, MD. – Deep in the woods of suburban Maryland the men and women of the security details for President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence are preparing for the worst on Inauguration Day. "We train for the scope of issues that can come up," one senior U.S. Secret Service special agent told Fox News before a training exercise Tuesday at the agency's James J. Rowley Training Center. Minutes later, while driving on a massive lot that doubled as a mock Pennsylvania Avenue, dozens of special agents, and the re-enactors playing those they were protecting, were run through a gauntlet of scenarios along the imitation parade route. Fox News embedded with the Secret Service for a training exercise that encompassed nearly 40 different scenarios that could take place over the course of the presidential ride from the steps of the U.S. Capitol to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Organizers of the operation spared no detail, setting up rows of barricades in front of spectators that flanked the route, complete with protestors and unruly onlookers. From a routine ankle sprain for the First Lady to an all-out armed assault on the motorcade, the security details – as with real life protective situations – were preparing to tackle anything and everything that could come their way on January 20.

Social media posts have revealed that ISIS has modified commercial drones to drop bombs. Coalition air forces have hit ISIS-made drones and drone production sites in both Syria and Iraq. According to press releases from the Combined Joint Task Force, coalition military forces conducted 32 strikes against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq on January 12th alone, hitting an ISIS drone launch site in Northwestern Iraq. A US central command official told Defense One: 'Over the last two months, coalition forces have observed about one adversary drone every day around Mosul' With the exception of just one day (January 10th), the forces have hit ISIS drones, drone launch sites or drone production sites daily since January 7th. A US central command official told Defense One: 'Over the last two months, coalition forces have observed about one adversary drone every day around Mosul. 'The Coalition has struck a number of what we believed to be unmanned aerial vehicle facilities in Mosul.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. Intuition Robotics, a startup pioneering social companion technologies, today emerged from stealth debuting Elli•Q, an artificial intelligence-based robot companion that keeps older adults active and engaged. Elli•Q, whose design intentionally avoids the look and feel of a traditional robot, seamlessly enables older adults to use a vast array of technologies, including video chats, online games and social media to connect with families and friends and overcome the complexity of the digital world.

High and low rollers alike can climb aboard what officials say is the first driverless electric shuttle operating on a public U.S. street. The oval-shaped shuttle that carries 12 people began a 10-day, free pilot program Tuesday along Fremont Street in the downtown entertainment district. The driverless electric shuttle has begun carrying passengers in a test program in a downtown Las Vegas entertainment district. Arma shuttles began providing free rides along a three-block stretch of Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, a vintage part of Sin City that is a tourist attraction away from the casino-lined main strip. The pilot public transit program will last a week, and was touted as the first time a fully autonomous, electric powered shuttle was left to its own devices to deal with traffic on a public street in the United States.