Clearview AI has been provided with the go-ahead signal for securing a federal patent for its facial recognition software, as reported by Politico. The US Patents and Trademarks Office sent a "notice of allowance" to Clearview on December 1, implying that the patent will be awarded once the organization pays the necessary administrative fees. The patent will, among other things, cover its method of obtaining information, specifically, its "automated web crawler" tool that scans social networking sites and the internet, the same process that has led the company to face extensive backlash from numerous privacy advocates. "There are other facial recognition patents out there -- that are methods of doing it -- but this is the first one around the use of large-scale internet data," Ton-That, the founder of Clearview AI, told Politico in an interview. Clearview AI has more than 10 billion photos in their database, which was confirmed by Ton-That, much more than the previous estimate of 3 billion images.

Facial recognition software has been the subject of debate for a long time now. Despite the controversy, law enforcement has been using such AI-powered software to catch criminals all around the world, and most particularly in large nations with less strict privacy laws. The use is prevalent despite the fact that the software may not work accurately when used on ethnic communities, youngsters and even women. One company which is leading the news headlines these days is Clearview AI founded by an Australian entrepreneur Hoan Ton-That. Although Clearview AI hasn't devised a groundbreaking facial recognition app, what it sells can be deemed as useful to law enforcement agencies.

Cease and Desist Letter Automation Introduction: On Friday, April 20th LegalRnD will host the "Measuring Lawyer Quality and Setting an Empirical Research Agenda for Legal Technology and Innovation" Conference from 9 am to 12 pm at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. Students from Dan Linna Jr.'s Litigation: Data, Theory, Practice, Process Course will present on legal technology tools that have been developed to address real-world problems Students were taught the Kata method to help identify potential solutions for the legal problems that they were provided. Students were also trained in both Think Smart and Neota Logic artificial intelligence platforms, so that these solutions could be built for the project partner. My group consisted of Erica Porter, Kaitlyn Huber and myself. We were given the following problem by Jeffrey Sharer of the Akerman Law Firm .

George Hotz, the latest Silicon Valley startup founder to get a multimillion-dollar check from venture capitalists, went for a ride in a Rolls-Royce around San Francisco on Monday. At 26, Hotz thinks he could teach the legendary vehicle a few tricks. Braking should be smoother, he says. The vehicle should run each time as if the best limo driver in the world was behind the wheel. "You don't want the champagne to spill," Hotz says.