New center aims to boost the tech ecosystem in northern Israel by giving entrepreneurs access to the most advanced AI-based computing tools.

Making Israel one of the world's five leading countries in artificial intelligence (AI) will require a NIS 1-2 billion annual investment by the government, out of the NIS 10 billion invested in this sector in Israel, according to the recommendations of a committee headed by Maj. The committee was formed at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Parts of the committee's draft report were revealed to "Globes", and were presented in brief as part of the AI Week held at Tel Aviv University in cooperation with the Israel Innovation Authority and Intel. The committee has 15 subcommittees, on which 300 senior people from the government, the IDF, institutions of higher education, and the technology industry serve. Its recommendations are slated for submission to the government in January 2020, if there is a government at that time.

The car manufacturing industry is undergoing a huge transformation after having been free of significant disruptions for about 100 years, since the first mass-manufactured car was marketed by Ford Corp. in 1903. The first change is the replacement of the internal combustion engine, the workhorse that has powered cars since the early twentieth century, with an electric engine. A continuous increase in the production and purchase of electric vehicles is to be expected over coming years, a 2017 report by Israel's Innovation Authority published on Monday said. Get The Start-Up Israel's Daily Start-Up by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up The second change is the autonomous vehicle revolution, which will push the world to transfer the driving of cars from humans to machines and bring a "dawn of a new transportation age," the report said. Most car manufacturers have set the early 2020s as the target for entering the market with cars that will drive autonomously 90-95 percent of the time.