Useful quantum computers are closer to becoming a reality as some of the world's biggest corporations try to bring the technology from the lab into the practical world. A quantum computer utilizes subatomic particles called qubits to speed up the solving of complex computations. Near-term expectations for quantum computers range from solving optimization problems to quantum-encrypted communications, and more. With the help of CB Insights' investment, acquisition, and partnership data, we identified 18 corporate groups involved in the development of commercialized quantum computing hardware and software. They are a diverse group of players, ranging from tech industry behemoths to defense contractors to national telecommunications companies.

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) today announced additional programming for Innovate! Jointly produced by CTA and Tech.Co, the event's combined programming will feature event offerings from both organizers for an audience of industry influencers and innovative tech startups. "We are thrilled to bring Innovate! "Hosting our conference in Silicon Valley's backyard enables us to provide even more opportunities for startup founders from across the world to meet nationally recognized accelerators and investors, gain valuable knowledge and connect with resources that will help amplify their efforts to build a high-growth company," said Frank Gruber, CEO and Co-Founder Tech.Co. Registration is open for Innovate!

An Expert system solves problems that are normally solved by human experts. We believe that SERAPEUM is even better in the sense that the speed of responses is unmatched by a human being. An expert system consists of a knowledge base of the domain, in our case tax law that draws both from public databases or private, reasoning mechanisms to apply knowledge to problems that are proposed mechanisms to explain the users the reasoning used when providing a response and mechanisms of learning and acquiring new knowledge. SERAPEUM also provides references to information that is based (whether Judgments, Legislation and Consultations resolved by the Director General). To create a knowledge base is necessary to have at least one human expert's domain. In our case has been formed through questionnaires and experience accumulated over time of various professionals in tax law.

The sale of artificial intelligence-based platforms to business started off as a multi-million dollar pitch targeted toward the CEO, according to Nova Spivack, the founder and CEO of Bottlenose. The Los Angeles-based startup is looking to automate the application of AI to business intelligence, as well as much of the work of data scientists, currently in scarce supply. That should lower the price, a lot. In recent years, AI-driven applications have been targeted toward the CIO. In the future, Mr. Spivack says, they well may be sold directly to business leaders, and the price will drop to thousands or even hundreds of dollars per user, he told CIO Journal.

As cars become more computerized, they're also facing a greater risk of being hacked. That's why Volkswagen is founding a new cyber security company devoted to protecting next-generation vehicles. On Wednesday, the automaker said it would partner with a former Israeli intelligence agency director to jointly establish a new company, called Cymotive Technologies. It's unclear how much Volkswagen is investing in the new firm, but security experts have been warning that internet-connected cars and self-driving vehicles could one day be a major target for hackers. Even older cars from Volkswagen are vulnerable.

Tech investor Marc Andreessen took the stage Tuesday at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO – For tech entrepreneurs, these are both the best of times and the gnarliest of times. But only standout ideas with either unique intellectual property or quantifiable traction are likely to benefit in the form of investments or acquisitions from this buoyant climate. "Only strong companies are getting acquired," Greylock Ventures' Josh Elman told attendees at TechCrunch Disrupt Tuesday, citing the 1 billion price tags paid for self-driving car startup Cruise Automation (General Motors) and Dollar Shave Club (Unilever). Elman might have added another recent purchase to the list, Microsoft's 26 billion spend for professional networking site LinkedIn, founded by Elman's fellow Greylock colleague and panelist, Reid Hoffman.

The White House is lifting economic sanctions and restoring trade benefits to former pariah state Myanmar, officials said Wednesday, as Aung San Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner and now the nation's de facto leader, met with President Obama. Suu Kyi's party swept historic elections last November, and the visit by the 71-year-old Nobel peace laureate, deeply respected in Washington, is a crowning occasion in the Obama administration's support for Myanmar's shift to democracy, which the administration views as a major foreign policy achievement. The U.S. has eased broad economic sanctions since political reforms began five years ago but has retained more targeted restrictions on military-owned companies and dozens of officials and associates of the former ruling junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma. U.S. companies and banks have remained leery of involvement in one of Asia's last untapped markets. Human rights groups, however, say there are powerful reasons for retaining sanctions.

Suzanne Dworak-Peck, an internationally recognized leader in social work and a USC alumna, has donated 60 million to the USC School of Social Work, the university announced Wednesday. The gift is the largest donation from an individual to a social work school, according to USC, and changes the school's name to the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. "Today is about recognizing and celebrating social work -- as a focus for learning and research, as a profession and as an investment in the future of humanity," said Dworak-Peck, who has served as president of the National Assn. of Social Workers and is known for forging partnerships in the field around the world. "Our school will always be a destination for learning, where future generations of students will feel that we value and are invested in empowering their goals and their creativity and their growth. This is the feeling I took from USC and internalized throughout my career, and I really want to share that exceptional experience with others."

Narrative Science, winner of Qlik's 2016 Innovative Partner of the Year Award, and Bardess Group, winner of Qlik's 2016 Global Solution Provider of the Year Award, are joining forces to bring even more innovative products to our clients. Narrative Science is the leader in advanced natural language generation for the enterprise. Its QuillTM platform, an intelligent system, analyzes data from disparate sources, understands what is interesting and important to the end user, and then automatically generates perfectly written narratives for any intended audience, at unlimited scale. A diverse range of companies such as USAA, American Century Investments, MasterCard, and the U.S. intelligence community utilize Quill to increase efficiency through the elimination of time-consuming, manual processes related to analyzing data and communicating insights, freeing employees to focus on high-value activities and better serving their customers. Together, our solutions and experience will allow business professionals in any industry the capability to gain clear and natural insight into their data.

DETROIT -- Michigan is seeking to retain its leadership as the heart of the nation's auto industry in a new tech-driven age. But Google isn't happy with legislation aimed at fostering the development of self-driving cars. The California tech giant is contesting legislation the Michigan Senate passed last week aimed at making the state a hub for autonomous car research. Google sees some of the language as excluding companies like Google that are newcomers to making cars. In a letter, John Krafcik, head of Google's Self-Driving Car Project, took issue with two provisions and asked that they be amended: "One interpretation of that definition would exclude companies, like Google, that manufactures autonomous vehicles but do not currently sell them," Krafcik wrote. "That could be interpreted to exclude vehicles supplied by a vehicle manufacturer that another company, like Google, modifies with automated driving systems," Krafcik said.