Google's self-driving car project that began in 2009 is well known as the incubator that kickstarted a multi-billion dollar race to perfect this 21st automotive technology. Along the way, it also helped Google amass hundreds, perhaps thousands, of patents covering every aspect of software, hardware and on-road behavior for automated vehicles. The blistering lawsuit filed against Uber and its Otto driverless truck unit by Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo alleging trade secret theft, based on alleged actions by a former Google engineer now at Uber, also makes clear that the company intends to aggressively protect that patent trove and big head start. Automated vehicle tech will be a game changer, creating the possibility of huge reductions in traffic deaths, ubiquitous low-cost urban transportation and potential relief for drivers from the soul-crushing tedium of congested highways. Like any transformative technology, scores of companies smell revenue opportunities and are jumping into the space quickly.

It seemed like such a simple thing. Yet another company had suffered a data breach, leaking its customers' private information all over the interwebs. You've probably been subject to such a leak yourself. This one was a bit different because it involved robots. Okay, nothing so dramatic as clanking mechanical men, but "bots" in the sense of automated software agents that converse with actual humans.

Is artificial intelligence a benign and liberating influence on our lives – or should we fear an impending rise of the machines? And what rights should robots share with humans? Christopher Markou, a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law, suggests an urgent need to start considering the answers. Get used to hearing a lot more about artificial intelligence. Even if you discount the utopian and dystopian hyperbole, the 21st century will broadly be defined not just by advancements in artificial intelligence, robotics, computing and cognitive neuroscience, but how we manage them.

As far as career choices go, working in mortgage financing at one of the country's top banks seemed like a solid bet. She figured there would be more job security than many other professions and plenty of opportunities to climb the corporate ladder in Toronto. Over the next seven years, she says she had a front-row seat to watch automation -- most often intelligent software -- take over nearly every aspect of mortgage processing. Tory Shoreman worked at one of Canada's top banks and says she watched automation take out 40 per cent of her department. "I witnessed about 40 per cent of my department get laid off and the reason they were given was automation," the 32-year-old told CBC News.

UBER WAS HAVING a bad month even before Waymo, Google's self-driving car outfit, filed a bombshell lawsuit accusing the ridesharing giant of swiping gobs of its autonomous driving tech.

Get used to hearing a lot more about artificial intelligence. Even if you discount the utopian and dystopian hyperbole, the 21st century will broadly be defined not just by advancements in artificial intelligence, robotics, computing and cognitive neuroscience, but how we manage them. For some, the question of whether or not the human race will live to see a 22nd century turns upon this latter consideration. While forecasting the imminence of an AI-centric future remains a matter of intense debate, we will need to come to terms with it. For now, there are many more questions than answers.

In George Orwell's classic dystopian novel, "1984," every house is equipped with a Telescreen, a monitoring device enabling government surveillance. Amazon is trying to prevent its Echo/Alexa from turning into just that. Amazon is hoping to keep its Alexa devices from being a tool of government listening, which could inhibit people from buying them. Accordingly, the Seattle-based company has filed a motion to prevent recorded audio from an Echo being used as evidence in a criminal trial. Last year, police in Arkansas sought to obtain recordings captured by Echo as evidence in a 2015 murder case.

Lily Robotics, which promised an autonomous flying camera, is shutting down operations. Lily Robotics, the hyped drone startup that shutdown last month amid a consumer-protection civil suit from the San Francisco District Attorney's office, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. In documents submitted to a U.S. district court in Delaware, Lily Robotics outlined its intentions to auction off intellectual property and refund customers, which it said was its first priority. "[Lily] wants to ensure no customers are harmed in this process," wrote Curtis Solsvig, a managing director at Goldin Associates who is named as the company's chief restructuring officer. Lily amassed more than $38 million in pre-orders from 61,450 customers in more than 80 countries, according to the filing.

The Amazon Echo can seem like your best friend--until it betrays you. That's because this device is different from anything else in your house. Alexa, the voice assistant that powers Echo and more, is always listening, sending what you say after using a "wake" word to Amazon's servers. Of course, Echo isn't the only voice-assistant speaker on the market, but it sits in millions of homes, and Alexa is headed to devices from companies like Ford, Dish, Samsung, and Whirlpool. Veteran civil trial attorney Gerald Sauer is a founding partner at Sauer & Wagner LLP of Los Angeles.

People always express a distaste for lawyers but nobody really elaborates as to why. The main reason is that lawyers know you have to use their services so they do stupid isht like charge ridiculous rates and bill you just to have a conversation with them. When we think about lawyers, we often think about that dude in the bathroom at the nightclub who is trying to hand you paper towels after you wash your hands. He's trying to interject himself into your life in hopes that you'll tip him a dollar for handing you a paper towel and offering you some cologne. He's nothing special because any other dude like him could offer the exact same service.