HARI SREENIVASAN: The WikiLeaks release earlier this week showed the CIA could use hacking tools to break into cell phones, computers and Internet-connected televisions. We should say there is no evidence the CIA used this against Americans. But the revelations surprised many. It raises the concerns for the increasing number of Internet-connected devices all around us, and what they're monitoring and who has access to it. In fact, in a recent murder case, law enforcement is trying to gather recordings from an Amazon Echo in order to see if it might have picked up evidence surrounding the crime.

In recent years, almost every big name in tech (Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Salesforce, Uber, etc.) has jumped onboard the Artificial Intelligence (AI) bandwagon. Investing in research labs and acquiring companies focused in these areas, each is looking for a way to incorporate AI into their products and services to more intelligently and proactively serve their clients. Although some have called for more regulatory oversight when it comes to AI, tech companies don't seem to be slowing down their endeavours to create human-like machines that can think independently and make decisions. In September 2016, Microsoft formed the Microsoft AI and Research Group, which joined their research organisation with thousands of computer scientists and engineers, with the goal of democratising AI for all. Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, described this commitment saying, 'At Microsoft, we are focused on empowering both people and organisations, by democratising access to intelligence to help solve our most pressing challenges.

With the CIA's ability to'breach almost anything connected to the internet' made public, many citizens have begun questioning their devices. A clip has surfaced showing an anonymous woman asking Amazon's Alexa a series of questions - starting with'would you lie to me' and finishing with'Alexa, are you connected to the CIA?' The virtual assistant swiftly responded to the first question, but shutdown after it was interrogated about its connections with the US government agency. A video appeared on Reddit that has people questioning their virtual assistants. A woman is seen asking Amazon's Alexa a series of questions. ' 'I am not always right, but I would never intentionally lie to you or anyone else,' responded Alexa. Alexa answered, 'The Unites States Central Intelligence Agency, CIA'.

If you don't want the CIA agency hearing about the tedious detail of your life, maybe hold off on using your Amazon Echo for a bit. A viral video Thursday showed someone asking the virtual assistant, dubbed Alexa, if she was "connected" to the CIA, to which the device had no response. "I always try to tell the truth, I'm not always right, but I would never intentionally lie to you or anyone else," the device answered. The device answered that it was the U.S.' Central Intelligence Agency. "Alexa, are you connected to the CIA?" the user then asked.

Siri isn't bi-lingual or even tri-lingual, the best word to describe Siri would be to call her (or him) a polyglot, or one who has mastered many languages, as she heads towards mastering Shanghainese. Apple's voice assist currently knows 21 languages localized with different dialects for more than 36 countries and regions, according to Reuters. Siri is exception, even among peers. Amazon's Alexa can only speak English, Google's Assistant speaks English, and German on pixel phones, while Microsoft's Cortana has mastered eight languages in 13 different regions. So how does Siri do it?

HONG KONG Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is in talks with banks to raise $5 billion in new funding, sources told Thomson Reuters' Basis Point, amid a flurry of fund-raising by China's tech giants.

China has pledged to prioritise the development of artificial intelligence for the first time within the government's latest annual work report, underlining its ambition to lead what has fast become one of the hottest areas of global technological innovation. One analyst is now projecting the industry in China to grow by more than 50 per cent in value to 38 billion yuan (US$5.5 billion) by 2018. "We will implement a comprehensive plan to boost strategic emerging industries," said Premier Li Keqiang in his delivery at the annual parliamentary session in Beijing over the weekend. "We will accelerate research & development (R&D) on, and the commercialisation of new materials, artificial intelligence (AI), integrated circuits, bio-pharmacy, 5G mobile communications, and other technologies." Artificial intelligence, which focusses on creating machines that work and react like humans, will create the next industrial revolution and China and "should grab the opportunity to overtake other global competitors" in the field, added Zhou Hanmin, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the nation's top political advisory body, during the "two sessions".

Better sleep with one eye open because you might have an unexpected spy living in your home. When the woman in this video asks her Amazon Alexa if she would ever lie to her, Alexa assures her that the woman can trust her and that she would never intentionally lie to anyone. So, we can all trust our Alexa's, right? Here's where you can find Team Mashable during SXSW 2017 When the woman then asks Alexa if she has any connection to the CIA, Alexa completely clams up and literally shuts down...twice. Alexa gets super sketchy when faced with the idea that someone out there knows her secret.

With the broad release of Google Assistant last week, the voice-assistant wars are in full swing, with Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and now Alphabet Inc's Google all offering electronic assistants to take your commands. Siri is the oldest of the bunch, and researchers including Oren Etzioni, chief executive officer of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Seattle, said Apple has squandered its lead when it comes to understanding speech and answering questions. But there is at least one thing Siri can do that the other assistants cannot: speak 21 languages localized for 36 countries, a very important capability in a smartphone market where most sales are outside the United States. With the broad release of Google Assistant last week, the voice-assistant wars are in full swing, with Apple Inc, Amazon.com

During the demo, Pittman asked the bot to help him price a Canon camera. After asking him about its condition and model, the bot gave him an estimate. The exec says it could bring more sellers to eBay, since people can easily find out if some of the junk they have lying around are valuable enough to be sold. "When technology can start doing the heavy lifting and providing you with a concierge-like personalized service," he added, "then that's when we've really made great strides." Unfortunately, he didn't say when the feature will roll out to users, though Google revealed that eBay has migrated to its cloud platform from Microsoft Azure.