"In the nearest future we plan to unveil a whole line of neural network based products. A fully automated combat module based on that technology is to be unveiled during the ARMY-2017 forum," communications director of Kalashnikov Concern Sofiya Ivanova told TASS. Neural network technologies allow the module to identify targets and make decisions on its own, according to Ivanova. It remains unclear whether the module will actually open fire on its own or wait for a human to authorize it. Artificial neural networks are computing systems inspired by biological neural networks, e. g. actual brains.

In a bid to make its armed forces look even more intimidating, Russia has taken inspiration from science-fiction to create some futuristic-looking new combat suits. Developed by the state-owned Central Research Institute for Precision Machine Building, this very Star Wars-esque combat armor features a powered exoskeleton, ballistic protection from bullets and shrapnel and a heads-up display. While just a concept at the moment, the suit's designers hope it will enter full production in the next few years. While they haven't detailed what the heads-up display would be used for, the combat armor's powered exoskeleton helps the wearer carry heavy loads, bearing some of the brunt to lower the soldiers' fatigue. While its designers have clearly spent a lot of time playing video games, we've already seen that Russia's not alone in its bid to create an army of Master Chiefs.

Its DeepMind subsidiary has announced plans to expand its operations to Canada in order to accommodate the company's ever-growing research initiatives. "It was a big decision for us to open our first non-UK research lab," Hassabis said. "[W]e've had particularly strong links with the UAlberta for many years: nearly a dozen of its outstanding graduates have joined us at DeepMind, and we've sponsored the machine learning lab to provide additional funding for PhDs over the past few years." Over the past year, DeepMind has consistently made headlines with its impressive AlphaGo AI, which has so far wrecked legendary Go players, learned how to improve itself without human input, and sworn to cure cancer.

While the future promised by films such as Minority Report remains a fantasy, advancements in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) make a world where computers outsmart humans seem increasingly likely. Computer security is an arena that would be an obvious benefactor from AI. Computer code is riddled with flaws because it is inherently complex, poorly documented and of course…written by humans. Today, it is largely the task of humans to root out those same flaws and patch them – a costly and time-consuming process that ensures a large window of opportunity for hackers, should they uncover those flaws before they can be addressed. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was so interested in the potential impact of AI on computer security that it was willing to place a £44M bet to find out what that potential was. It held the Cyber Grand Challenge at the famed DEFCON security conference last summer with £4M in prize money on the line.

It's rare for Canadians to come out and assert global leadership in anything (barring hockey and winter coats), but here we are, on the brink of adding artificial intelligence (AI) to the list. This is no small measure. It requires us to move away from the understated modesty that often defines our national character and demands that we take action to be able to declare our place on the world stage. Thankfully, we have the goods to declare. Seminal breakthroughs such as deep learning and reinforcement learning, which have resulted in unprecedented technological transformation and are currently fuelling the AI engine, were brought to life by Canadian universities.

Google and Facebook are household names around the world. Ya-Qin Zhang, president of China's leading search business, says Chinese companies can become worldwide Internet powerhouses too. One of the biggest fish in China's market of 730 million Internet users, Baidu is trying to open new revenue streams both domestically and abroad by investing heavily in artificial intelligence. The company employs more than 1,700 AI researchers, including some at a Silicon Valley research center opened in 2014, and was chosen by the Chinese government to run a new national lab intended to make the nation more competitive in machine learning. Zhang even predicts that the self-driving cars Baidu is developing might be in widespread public use before those introduced by U.S. competitors.

Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence team has been based in the UK ever since it was acquired in 2014. However, it's finally ready to branch out -- just not to the US. DeepMind has announced that its first international research lab is coming to the Canadian prairie city of Edmonton, Alberta later in July. A trio of University of Alberta computer science professors (Richard Sutton, Michael Bowling and Patrick Pilarski) will lead the group, which includes seven more AI veterans. As Recode observes, you can chalk it up to a combination of familiarity and political considerations.

In the future, depending on the company size and business type, many organizations will need to consider adding the role of chief artificial intelligence officer. While a full-time dedicated position might seem to be excessive now, the role of a senior leader who is deeply knowledgeable in the broad domain of artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming critical.

It's rare for Canadians to come out and assert global leadership in anything (barring hockey and winter coats), but here we are, on the brink of adding artificial intelligence (AI) to the list. This is no small measure. It requires us to move away from the understated modesty that often defines our national character and demands that we take action to be able to declare our place on the world stage. Thankfully, we have the goods to declare. Seminal breakthroughs such as deep learning and reinforcement learning, which have resulted in unprecedented technological transformation and are currently fuelling the AI engine, were brought to life by Canadian universities.

IoT & Endpoints: IoT devices and other endpoints, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops within enterprise networks, pose a specific threat to individuals and organizations. Today's connected devices lack supporting infrastructure for robust security protocols. Old-school approaches to defending these devices include pushing security updates from the cloud to the device, but with the dynamic nature of malware today, connected devices do not have enough memory or computing power to effectively store protocols to deal with the multitude of threats that come their way. Instead, the new-school approach involves utilizing machine learning algorithms that can monitor network device traffic to model a baseline of "normal" device behavior, and subsequently flag when the normal behavior of an IoT ecosystem is compromised. Startups addressing the threats facing IoT and endpoints include: Fortscale Security, Tanium, and CUJO.