In fact, it's been a while since the song-identifying software squeezed its way into the iOS App Store's top 10. So, why has Apple confirmed it is "combining" its business with that of the smaller London company? It has not revealed the price it is paying, but the sum is rumoured to be as much as $400m (£300m), which would make it one of Apple's most expensive takeovers to date. The US technology giant also hasn't disclosed its motivations beyond saying that it has "exciting plans in store". But there are several reasons the deal may have appealed.

Russia's next president could be an artificially intelligent robot that claims'enemies of the people will be shot'. Forty thousand Russians have nominated a piece of AI software on their phones to stand against Vladimir Putin for the 2018 Russian presidency. The AI assistant known as Alisa, similar to the Apple's voice-activated Siri, was created by Russian technology company Yandex. Russia's next president could be an artificially intelligent robot that claims'enemies of the people will be shot'. Since the AI's launch in September, Alisa has stirred controversy on social media, with users sharing a series of contentious statements from the software.

The other day I received a voice notification that my Amazon order for Vitamin D pills (getting ready for a Portland winter) had shipped and was en route to my home. It was a simple gesture that was also communicated via email. But for someone who sends billions of notifications a day, the voice alert got my juices flowing because it represented an exciting future that's starting to come into view. After years of science fiction exposing us to the idea of voice-powered apparatus, we finally live in an era where smart speakers such as Amazon Echo, Google Home and other devices (like Apple's forthcoming HomePod) are at our beck and call to deliver news, music and movies in one moment and then, a few seconds later, change the temperature of our living room. And get ready for more notifications.

Ask anyone what Google is and the most likely answer will be that it's a search engine, which is pretty hard to argue with. The tech giant's most important platform is called Google Search, where people type in queries and get search results in return. Except the nature of search is drastically changing, as Google further integrates machine learning and artificial intelligence into everything it does. We now get personalised search results based on our location, user history and content preferences. We get content recommendations popping up on our phones and alerts for the latest news, sports results and travel updates.

If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA TODAY's newsroom and any business incentives. Amazon's 12 Days of Deals continues on with a slew of offers for "music lovers, avid readers, and film buffs" and we've cherry-picked the best offers on the best products from the lineup. For the person you want to splurge on, tech is just the ticket. And whether they're the type who always has music playing, prefers reading to TV, or is obsessed with the latest technology, one of these things is sure to be the perfect fit.

Now, bear in mind that this technology is equipped only to work with Bixby, Samsung's voice assistant. In my humble opinion, Project Ambiance is one small step at the start of a long, productive road toward smart technology's full capabilities. Other manufacturers are working on similar initiatives (such as Baidu DuerOS and Amazon Alexa, which have created tools for developers to build these AI assistants into applications and products) -- eventually, and hopefully, we'll reach a point where technology is developed that can work with any number of voice assistants.

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People used to dream about robot secretaries. Futurists imagined a world where computers obeyed our every command. When the Amazon Echo hit the market, that dream became a reality: Alexa was obedient, personable and all-knowing. She could carry out a myriad of basic tasks, with a personality as professional and unflappable as a human assistant. This year, Echo is more popular than ever, and despite competition from Google, Amazon still dominates 75 percent of the virtual assistant market.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of machines or computers to emulate human thinking or decision-making. After years of speculation into the technology and its possibilities, AI is starting to deliver on its promise. Here are eight stats that prove natural language processing, machine learning and cognitive computing are helping businesses to deliver excellent customer service. Over the last decade, the biggest tech companies have concentrated their efforts on making smartphones the gateway to our digital lives. However, by switching focus to machine learning, Google is acknowledging that AI is the new future and those companies that fail to invest now risk falling behind the curve.

Just as electricity transformed the way industries functioned in the past century, artificial intelligence -- the science of programming cognitive abilities into machines -- has the power to substantially change society in the next 100 years. AI is being harnessed to enable such things as home robots, robo-taxis and mental health chatbots to make you feel better. A startup is developing robots with AI that brings them closer to human level intelligence. Already, AI has been embedding itself in daily life -- such as powering the brains of digital assistants Siri and Alexa. It lets consumers shop and search online more accurately and efficiently, among other tasks that people take for granted.