The Pentagon has awarded an $11 million contract to build a'combined-arms squad' of human and robotic capabilities. Under the new agreement, Six3 Advanced Systems will'design, develop, and validate' prototypes of the new system, which is expected to be completed by mid-2019. It comes as experts have increasingly warned that robotic weapons will soon play a much larger role in warfare than they already do, and could even overtake human presence on the battlefield in the next decade. The Pentagon has awarded an $11 million contract to build a'combined-arms squad' of human and robotic capabilities. Under the new agreement, Six3 Advanced Systems will'design, develop, and validate' prototypes of the new system.

Starship Technologies' delivery bots have been dropping off lunches in Europe and the US with increasing regularity, and governments are slowly warming to the idea. State legislatures in Virginia and Idaho recently granted official permission for small delivery robots to operate on sidewalks, and now Estonia(!) has offered its approval as well. The measure passed 86 to 0 in the country's parliament yesterday, making Estonia the first country in the EU to officially bless these adorable, food-slinging robots. There are, obviously, a few stipulations. The robots in question can't be taller than one meter, longer than 1.2 meters, or weigh more than 50 kilograms.

Floral tributes to Spanish national Ignacio Echeverria, 39, lay on London Bridge in London. Facebook said Thursday it's cracking down on terrorist activity on its platform. SAN FRANCISCO -- With attacks on Western targets increasing pressure on Facebook, the giant social network says it's making a new push to crack down on terrorist activity by using sophisticated algorithms to mine words, images and videos to root out and remove extremists' propaganda and messages. Artificial intelligence can't do the job alone, so Facebook says it has amassed a team of 150, including counterterrorism experts, who are dedicated to tracking and taking down propaganda and other materials. It's also collaborating with fellow technology companies and consulting with researchers to keep up with the ever-changing social media tactics of the Islamic State and other terror groups.

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed to Bloomberg Businessweek why the HomePod wasn't positioned as a competitor to Amazon's Echo devices and his experience with President Donald Trump. Cook sat down with Businessweek on June 5 during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. The full interview will be released in the June 19 edition of the magazine. On Thursday, Businessweek released some snippets of the conversation. Read: Alexa, Siri, Apple TV: Are Amazon And Apple Putting Their Rivalry Aside?

Advanced 3D printed bionic hands for child amputees could be available in Britain on the NHS following a world first trial. Thanks to pioneering technology, better and more affordable prosthetics are on the horizon which would transform the lives of young patients. The current options available free on the NHS – which include plastic moulded limbs with hooks – are branded'medieval' or'prehistoric' by many. Robotic hands with multi-grip functionality are available privately, but the price tag of £3,000 to £60,000 ($4,696 to $93,930) makes them too expensive for most. But that all that could change now 3D printing has brought the cost of high tech arms to under £5,000.

Not too long ago, robots were considered a possible but surreal feature of a distant future. But take stock for a moment and it's clear that artificial intelligence and machine learning has already pervaded our lives. From high-frequency trading in financial markets to customised playlists on Spotify, machines are able to receive, process and act upon data intelligently. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are at the forefront of drastic change, and the world's largest technology companies, from Google and Amazon to Dyson, are focussed on harnessing artificial intelligence to revolutionise business and consumer services. Recognising its sea-change capabilities, the British Government is also committed to advancing artificial intelligence, predicting it could add £654 billion to the UK economy by 2035.

Mosquitos kill more humans every year than any other animal on the planet and conventional methods to reduce mosquito-borne illnesses haven't worked as well as many hoped. So we've been hard at work since receiving this USAID grant six months ago to reduce Zika incidence and related threats to public health. Our partners at the joint FAO/IAEA Insect Pest Control Lab in Vienna, Austria have been working to perfect the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in order to sterilize and release male mosquitos in Zika hotspots. Releasing millions of said male mosquitos increases competition for female mosquitos, making it more difficult for non-sterilized males to find a mate. We learned last year at a USAID Co-Ideation Workshop that this technique can reduce the overall mosquito population in a given area by 90%.

The US Department of Defense is struggling to get its arms around all of the new security issues that have come with our current technological explosion. One unexpected consideration on the table is placing stricter limitations on investment capital from China flowing into American companies that are working on artificial intelligence. Technology is the fastest growing industry in the American economy according to recent data. And with all the political talk about "JOBS, JOBS, JOBS," it's a bit surprising to see the government floating plans to limit investment in American companies. But that's exactly what the Pentagon is proposing according to Reuters. Of particular concern is China's interest in fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which have increasingly attracted Chinese capital in recent years.

Artificial intelligence is the key to unlocking the challenge and promise of self-driving cars, NVIDIA told Congress today. In testimony before a packed hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Rob Csongor, vice president and general manager of the company's Automotive business, said that AI will in the years ahead enable self-driving cars that save tens of thousands of lives, provide mobility to the disabled, improve urban design and save vast amounts of unproductive time. "Today, we are working with virtually every automaker on research and development of advanced self-driving vehicles using AI," said Csongor at the start of the two-hour hearing, which was attended by more than a dozen senators, and some 150 staffers, lobbyists, reporters and a few stray tourists. "Our technology is being used by more than 225 automotive companies worldwide, including Audi, Tesla, Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes and others. We are now at the point where we can create AI systems that have levels of perception and performance far beyond humans, and importantly, do not get distracted, fatigued or impaired," he said.

When Hollywood inevitably makes a biopic about Travis Kalanick, the embattled CEO of Uber--the most valuable private company in the world--screenwriters will have a hard time toning down reality to make it sound halfway believable. In the past few months alone, details have emerged about stolen trade secrets from Google regarding self-driving cars, sneaky tracking techniques for evading authorities, and, most alarmingly, allegations of ignored sexual harassment complaints and the most noxious office environment west of Wall Street. There were even reports that a top executive obtained the medical report of a woman who was raped by an Uber driver--and that CEO Travis Kalanick viewed the document. It all culminated in the company tapping former US attorney general Eric Holder to conduct an independent investigation into Uber's policies and culture. On Tuesday morning, during a highly anticipated all-hands meeting at Uber's headquarters in San Francisco, the board of directors shared the results of Holder's investigation: a 13-page document filled with recommendations for how to fix Uber's culture, including ceding some of Kalanick's power to a chief operating officer, who has yet to be hired, one of more than a dozen executive roles that are now empty.