From stopping cyberattacks to operating autonomous vehicles to visually searching through a wine database, 140 startups using AI as a core part of their products raised $1.05B in funding in Q3'16. Since 2012, deals and dollars to AI startups have been on a rise, and this year is extending that trend. Our AI category includes companies applying AI solutions to verticals like healthcare, security, advertising, and finance as well as those developing general-purpose AI tech. Our list excludes robotics (hardware-focused) and AR/VR startups, which we've analyzed separately here and here. Our analysis includes all equity funding rounds and convertible notes.

Robots could soon be hiring and firing staff at the world's largest hedge fund under secret plans drawn up to improve efficiency. A team of engineers at US-based Bridgewater Associates is reportedly developing artificial intelligence which can run the firm without emotions getting in the way. Billionaire founder Ray Dalio is seeking to create a new business model where most employees are programmers and decisions are made by a computer, according to the Daily Mail. He appointed a clandestine team, called the Systemised Intelligence Lab, to work on the project early in 2015. It is overseen by David Ferruci, a renowned developer who created IBM's Watson supercomputer.

Travelers in the US and Canada may soon be forced to undergo a lie detector test as a standard part of airport security. The Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real Time (AVATAR) is currently being tested by the Canadian Border Services Agency and the US Department of Homeland Security. The robot -- programmed to look for physiological changes that indicate lying through eye-detection software and other sensors -- could help border agents catch terrorists or drug traffickers, according to San Diego State University researchers. "AVATAR is a kiosk, much like an airport check-in or grocery store self-checkout kiosk," San Diego State University management information systems professor Aaron Elkins told SDSU's News Center. "However, this kiosk has a face on the screen that asks questions of travelers and can detect changes in physiology and behavior during the interview. The system can detect changes in the eyes, voice, gestures and posture to determine potential risk. It can even tell when you're curling your toes," he added.

Silicon Valley and Washington are gearing up for an important year on tech policy. President-elect Donald TrumpDonald TrumpScarborough Twitter storm over New Year's Eve party stretches into second day Spicer: 'Zero evidence' Russia influenced election Bolton: Putin needs to change before relations with Russia can improve MORE and a GOP Congress are taking power and could revisit a number of controversial regulations, with net neutrality high on that list. Silicon Valley had high hopes for comprehensive immigration reform in the coming year, with the tech-backed lobbying group FWD.us pushing for action. But those hopes were dashed with Trump's election. The president-elect vowed to build a wall on the Mexican border and floated a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Tech groups have long pushed for policies that would make it easier for companies to attract workers.

Robots could soon be hiring and firing staff at the world's largest hedge fund under secret plans drawn up to improve efficiency. A team of engineers at US-based Bridgewater Associates is reportedly developing artificial intelligence which can run the firm without emotions getting in the way. Billionaire founder Ray Dalio is seeking to create a new business model where most employees are programmers and decisions are made by a computer. He appointed a clandestine team, called the Systemised Intelligence Lab, to work on the project early in 2015. It is overseen by David Ferruci, a renowned developer who created IBM's Watson supercomputer.

On October 4, 1986, the University of Alabama hosted Notre Dame in a game of football. Notre Dame had won the previous four contests, but this time Alabama was favored. It had a stifling defense and a swift senior linebacker named Cornelius Bennett. Ray Perkins, Alabama's head coach, said of him, "I don't think there's a better player in America." Early in the game, with the score tied, Bennett blitzed Notre Dame's quarterback, Steve Beuerlein. "I was like a speeding train, and Beuerlein just happened to be standing on the railroad track," Bennett told me recently. Football is essentially a spectacle of car crashes. In 2004, researchers at the University of North Carolina, examining data gathered from helmet-mounted sensors, discovered that many football collisions compare in intensity to a vehicle smashing into a wall at twenty-five miles per hour. Bennett, who weighed two hundred and thirty-five pounds, drove his shoulder into Beuerlein's chest and heard what sounded like a balloon being punctured--"basically, the air going out of him." Beuerlein landed on his back. He stood up, wobbly and dazed. "I saw mouths moving, but I heard no voices," he later said. After Bennett's "vicious, high-speed direct slam," as the Times put it, Alabama seized the momentum and won, 28–10. Following college, Bennett was drafted into the National Football League. Between 1987 and 1995, he played for the Buffalo Bills, and appeared in four Super Bowls. During his pro career, he made more than a thousand tackles, playing through sprains, muscle tears, broken bones, and concussions. I asked him how many concussions he'd had. "In my medical file, there are probably six." "I couldn't even begin to tell you." "I played a long time," he said. "Every week after a game, I got some sort of headache." In 1996, he signed a thirteen-million-dollar contract with the Atlanta Falcons. He received weekly injections of Toradol, an anti-inflammatory drug. "It was magic--it made me feel like I was twenty-four again," Bennett said. He helped carry Atlanta to the Super Bowl--his fifth. In 2000, at the age of thirty-five, Bennett retired and moved to Florida. He lived in a hotel in Miami's Bal Harbour area, worked on his golf handicap, and vacationed with his wife and friends in Europe and in the Napa Valley. Several of Bennett's football peers were having a far tougher time. Darryl Talley, a former Bills teammate, suffered from severe depression. Mike Webster, a Hall of Fame center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, had become a homeless alcoholic; he died, of a heart attack, in 2002. Three years later, Terry Long, another former Steeler, committed suicide by drinking antifreeze. Andre Waters, a former Philadelphia Eagles safety, killed himself with a gunshot to the head. A neuropathologist named Bennet Omalu autopsied Webster, Long, and Waters, and detected a pattern: each had a high concentration of an abnormal form of a protein, called tau, on his brain.

Whether it was a billion compromised Yahoo accounts or state-sponsored Russian hackers muscling in on the US election, this past year saw hacks of unprecedented scale and temerity. And if history is any guide, next year should yield more of the same. It's hard to know for certain what lies ahead, but some themes began to present themselves toward the end of 2016 that will almost certainly continue well into next year. And the more we can anticipate them, the better we can prepare. Here's what we think 2017 will hold.

Government launches new consultation on drone safety. The government plans to introduce new measures to ensure the successful uptake of drones is matched by strong safeguards to protect the public. The consultation will also consider whether there is a need for a new criminal offence for misuse of drones. The government is determined to make the most of this emerging technology, estimated to be worth around £102 billion by 2025. But ministers are clear it will only be a success if it is done safely, and with the consent of the public.

The year 2017 arrives and we humans are still in charge. The machines haven't taken over yet, but they are gaining on us. Google's DeepMind AlphaGo computer program recently beat the world champ at Go, a complex board game, while Japanese researchers plan to build the world's fastest supercomputer for use on artificial intelligence projects. It will do 130 quadrillion calculations per second, which is, um, really, really fast. She can explain it better than we can.

The first is a shortage of doctors and nurses - there simply aren't enough to meet demand. Data from a BBC Freedom of Information request shows that between 2013 and 2015, there has been a 50% increase in nursing vacancies, rising from 12,513 to 18,714. Meanwhile, the number of nursing vacancies across England, Wales and Northern Ireland reached 23,443 by the end of December - equivalent to 9% of the workforce. In comparison, the average vacancy rate across the UK economy was 2.7%. With a lack of qualified staff, the system struggles under demand, and a backlog develops.