Artificial intelligence has always been a hot topic. The problem of creating a machine that can think, make its own decisions and at the same time lacks human limitations, has always aroused controversies. Because what is the artificial intelligence, what do we know about it? Is it going to be human's best friend or maybe the worst enemy? We all remember what the infamous Skynet has done to our planet in Terminator series, right? We can also recall this nasty feeling of a cold shiver running down our spines when Neo has woken up from the Matrix.

Compared with Amazon's Echo, Google Home--a compact speaker you can ask to turn off the lights, check the weather, and play music--might seem like a latecomer to the smart home party. It doesn't arrive until November, while the Echo has been conversing with connected home enthusiasts for nearly two years and has two spin-off devices, the Echo Dot and Tap. But the 129 Google Home has one huge advantage over the Alexa-powered Echo, Siri, and every other personal digital assistant on the market: Google already knows everything about you and pretty much everything that's on the Internet. That omnipotence was on full display at Home's debut in San Francisco yesterday, where PCMag got to play with it. All you have to do is say is "OK, Google, tell me about my day," and the diminutive speaker launches into a monologue about your life. It will tell you the weather, how long it will take you to get to work, what's on your calendar, and a news briefing from a source of your choice.

Samsung has joined the race to develop an artificially intelligent assistant for its gadgets after buying the firm behind Apple's Siri. The South Korean tech firm announced its plans to buy Viv Labs, which helped to develop the iPhone's voice assisted software. According to Samsung, it wants to incorporate the Californian firm's Viv AI assistant into its Galaxy smartphones and expand voice assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices. Samsung has announced plans to buy Viv Labs, which helped to develop the iPhone's voice assisted program. San Jose-based Viv Labs Inc was one of the firms which helped to develop Apple's voice assisted program, Siri.

SEOUL: Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Thursday it is acquiring U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) platform developer Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc's Siri voice assistant programme. Samsung said in a statement it plans to integrate the San Jose-based company's AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices. Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially via voice. Alphabet Inc's Google is widely considered to be the leader in AI, but others including Amazon.com, Apple and Microsoft have also launched their own offerings including voice-powered digital assistants. Samsung, the world's top smartphone maker, is also hoping to differentiate its devices, from phones to fridges, by incorporating AI.

Up until now, marketing and advertising investments have been targeted at individuals, of the human kind. In the age of artificial intelligence, more and more buying decisions will be taken by virtual personal assistants, based on algorithms defined or even learned from their'bosses', namely consumers as we know them today. Back in STEP2016, Luca Allam, Managing Director of PHD UAE, took us through a journey into the future of advertising where optimization is not set to human eyes and minds but to the machine, with all the implications this has on skill sets and disciplines.

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it will buy Viv Labs, founded by the creators of Apple's Siri service

Kittlaus has described Viv as a computer science breakthrough, capable of creating its own programming. By his gauge, other assistants responses are hardcoded, while Viv seeks to understand its user, and then figure out how to respond. He demonstrated the technology at TechCrunch Disrupt in May, and told the site today, that Samsung's scale (shipping 500 million devices a year) creates the ubiquity necessary for Viv to thrive. There's no word on how much Samsung spent to bring the tech into its fold, but now the real question is how quickly can the company deliver it to customers -- its Mobile CTO Injong Rhee says to expect Viv on phones in the second half of 2017.

Samsung said Thursday it was buying a prominent US artificial intelligence (AI) start-up founded by the creators of Siri -- the voice-based digital assistant used on the iPhones of arch-rival Apple. The South Korean giant said the acquisition of California-based Viv Labs would bolster voice-based services across the full range of its electronics products that include smartphones, TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. Samsung offered no details regarding the cost or financing of the deal. Viv Labs was co-founded in 2012 by Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham who had previously created, and then sold, Siri to Apple. Rhee In-Jong, the chief technology officer at Samsung's mobile unit, said the acquisition would provide AI-based voice assistance services its customers can use across all Samsung devices and products.

Samsung has agreed to acquire Viv, the next-gen AI assistant that was developed by Siri co-founders Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer. TechCrunch reports that it will continue to operate as an independent company, providing services to Samsung and its platforms. Viv made numerous headlines earlier this year, when the team demonstrated the power of its assistant. In one scenario, it was able to successfully order a pizza over the Internet customized with toppings from several employees with a few simple voice commands. Here are some excerpts from Kittlaus' Medium post regarding the acquisition: Samsung, as you surely know, is the market leader in smart devices across a wide range of use cases and industries.

NEW YORK Texas-based Factom, Inc., a blockchain technology company that secures data, said on Wednesday it has raised 4.2 million in financing from a slew of global investors led by billionaire investor Tim Draper.