Renault has started a public trial of its on-demand car service on the Paris-Saclay urban campus, according to a press release on Monday (Oct. A panel of around 100 people will use the service -- provided by two electric, autonomous and shared Renault Zoe Cab prototypes -- on the campus from Oct. 14 through Nov. 8. Two cars with different features will be tested, with passengers able to hail them using the mobile app, Marcel Saclay, which was designed specifically for the ZOE Cab experiment. Users can request a car on demand, or book it in advance. The cars will stop en route to pick up another passenger.

Germany, France and Japan have joined forces to fund research into "human-centered" artificial intelligence that aims to respect privacy and transparency, in the latest sign of a global split with the U.S. and China over the ethics of AI. The three countries' funding agencies have put out a joint call for research proposals, backed by an initial 7.4 million euros ($8.2 million). They stressed that they "share the same values" and warned that the technology has the potential to "violate individual privacy and right to informational self-determination." Observers see the move as part of a wider divergence in AI research priorities, with Europe, plus Japan and potentially Canada, taking the lead on its ethical development. "We share the same beliefs and the same standards," said Susanne Sangenstedt, a program officer at the German Research Foundation who is helping to oversee the collaboration.

An organization that won the Nobel Prize in 2017 for its work to eliminate nuclear weapons is sounding the alarm about the possibility of artificial intelligence leading to unintended wars. Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, is worried that hackers could breach A.I. technologies that are used in nuclear programs or that they could use A.I. to dupe countries into launching attacks. For example, deepfakes, or realistic-looking computer-altered videos, may be used to "create a perceived threat that might not be there," she warns, prompting governments to overreact. Fihn told Fortune that she wants to convene a meeting in the fall with nuclear weapons experts and some of the leading companies in A.I. and cybersecurity. Participants in the off-the-record event, she said, would produce a document that her group would use to inform governments and others about the danger.

An organization that won the Nobel Prize in 2017 for its work to eliminate nuclear weapons is sounding the alarm about the possibility of artificial intelligence leading to unintended wars. Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, is worried that hackers could breach A.I. technologies that are used in nuclear programs or that they could use A.I. to dupe countries into launching attacks. For example, deepfakes, or realistic-looking computer-altered videos, may be used to "create a perceived threat that might not be there," she warns, prompting governments to overreact. Fihn told Fortune that she wants to convene a meeting in the fall with nuclear weapons experts and some of the leading companies in A.I. and cybersecurity. Participants in the off-the-record event, she said, would produce a document that her group would use to inform governments and others about the danger.

DETROIT/PARIS - French automaker Renault SA, its partner Nissan Motor Co. and tech giant Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo have agreed to assess the feasibility of a partnership to develop and use self-driving vehicles to transport people and goods in France and Japan, the companies said on Thursday. The potential venture could also be expanded to other markets, the companies said. If the partnership is realized, it will have ramifications for other alliances and other self-driving projects, most of which have yet to hit the road. Automakers across the world are rethinking independent autonomous vehicle efforts, and are instead looking for partners to share rising investment costs and regulatory risks. A potential competitor to a Renault-Nissan-Waymo venture in Japan would be Monet Technologies, a self-driving project involving Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. backed by SoftBank Group Corp. SoftBank and Honda have also invested in General Motors Co.'s Cruise self-driving car unit. The initial agreement among Waymo, Renault and Nissan aims to "develop a framework for deployment of mobility services at scale," according to Hadi Zablit, business development chief of the Renault-Nissan alliance.