TEL AVIV--Israeli venture-capital firm OurCrowd is investing tens of millions of dollars to start an artificial-intelligence business in the United Arab Emirates, in the latest sign of deepening commercial ties between the two neighbors after they established diplomatic relations two years ago. OurCrowd said it is partnering with Abu Dhabi Investment Office, a government entity responsible for facilitating investment in the U.A.E. The two entities will invest $60 million in total for the expansion, the bulk of which would be used to set up the new AI business, named Integrated Data Intelligence Ltd., according to Jon Medved, founder and chief executive of OurCrowd. The new company will serve as a technical hub for businesses seeking AI as a service. The story of the Abraham Accords isn't one-way investment, Mr. Medved said, but of "how we build stuff together."

As the climate gradually grows warmer and cattle farming becomes less and less attractive a solution for world food production, scientists and innovators are working to develop suitable alternatives that can feed the world without wasting too many of its resources. While modern seafood farming -- or "aquaculture" -- is a step in the right direction, its current methods are problematic in their own right. If aquaculture's problems can be solved, though, it stands to revolutionize the way we feed the world. In search of this holy grail are some of Israel's brightest minds: aquaculture technology companies and innovators developing new, better ways to yield sustenance from the sea. Biologist Roni Hochman Sussman is the director of AquaculTech, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Economy and Industry Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, the Israel Innovation Authority and the Israel Innovation Institute.

The incidence of construction workers' deaths in Israel has increased recently in 30% (annually). According to Workers' Hotline statistics, Israel is in third place among developed nations in terms of fatal construction accidents – 2.5 times that of the EU nations per capita. Despite their declarations of measures to be taken to deal with these accidents, it seems the authorities can't find effective solutions to the problem. Besides special training programs, legislation, increased enforcement and penalization, they should consider getting the startup nation involved in introducing advanced technologies to increase safety at construction sites and prevent these unnecessary accidents. The digital revolution we're in the midst of facilitates the application of technologies including autonomous equipment, drones and sensors that can monitor the safety of equipment, cranes and elevators, and even monitor wind speed and precipitation at the construction site.

McDonald's is looking to supercharge sales by using A.I. backed software capable of tailoring products to customers in real-time. America's most iconic fast food chain announced that it has acquired an Israeli company, Dynamic Yield, whose software will use machine-learning to adapt digital menus to feature products based on time, location, preference, demand and more. The Wall Street Journal reported that McDonald's deal to purchase Dynamic Yield was closed at $300 million but neither company has confirmed. McDonald's has revamped its image across the world by deploying a mobile app, renovating stores, and now buying a tech company to help personalize menu items. McDonald's purchase Israeli company, Dynamic Yield which employs data and analytics to increase sales.

Seven Israeli and Israeli-founded companies were among over 400 firms featured by US business magazine Fast Company on its annual "World's Most Innovative Companies" for 2019. The monthly publication's editors and writers said they sought out groundbreaking businesses across 35 industries in every world region, listing the top 10 in 41 categories such as AI, Biotech, Branding, Health, Robotics, Food, Security, and Middle East, for a total of 410 organizations. Fast Company also released its annual "50 Most Innovative Companies" but no Israeli firms made that list. In 2018, Israeli-founded navigational app Waze was featured in the top 50 alongside giants such as Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify, and Israel had its own category with 10 top startups. An additional 5 Israeli companies and startups were featured in other categories.

Here's why Intel just offered $15.3 billion for Mobileye, an Israeli company that specializes in machine vision and learning for cars. The automobile is being dismantled, reimagined, and rebuilt in Silicon Valley. Intel's proposed $15.3 billion acquisition of Mobileye, an Israeli company that supplies carmakers with a computer-vision technology and advanced driver assistance systems, offers a chance to measure the scale of this rebuild. In particular, it shows how valuable on-the-road data is likely to be in the evolution of automated driving. While the price tag might seem steep, especially with so many players in the automated driving space today, Mobileye has some key technological strengths and strategic advantages.

This article is a guest post on NoCamels and has been contributed by a third party. NoCamels assumes no responsibility for the content, including facts, visuals, and opinions presented by the author(s). Mor Assia is a founding partner at iAngels, an Israeli VC and angel investment firm, and iCapital, an investment platform dedicated to blockchain opportunities. Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain are possibly the two most influential technologies currently fueling innovation at this very moment and are expected to create radical shifts in almost every industry. Israeli startups are at the forefront of both of these sectors, receiving notable attention and investments from global players which are further propelling Israeli development in these industries.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution gathers pace, we will soon be living in a world where virtually everything is connected to the internet and the cloud – cars, homes, televisions, coffee machines, and even our showers. "Even babies are controlled by the Internet," Israeli cyber-security guru Gil Shwed said recently at Israel's CyberTech conference, referring to a WiFi-enabled crib he had bought. The increase in wireless connections among objects and people is phenomenal. Research firm Gartner estimates that the number of connected devices and objects will grow from 6.4 billion in 2016 to nearly 21 billion by 2020 – and that excludes smartphones, tablets and computers. The numbers are undoubtedly staggering, and Israeli companies are significantly contributing to these statistics. According to venture capital firm Innovation Endeavors, there are roughly 330 Israeli IoT companies in a myriad of markets, such as AgTech, healthcare, transportation, smart homes, and consumer products ranging from sportswear to pet care.

The Sino-Israeli Robotics Institute (SIRI) was inaugurated in mid-December when a delegation of nine Israeli companies -- led by Ariel University Prof. Zvi Shiller, chair of the Israeli Robotics Association, and Technion Prof. Moshe Shoham, founder of Mazor Robotics and a world leader in medical robotics -- participated in the second Sino-Israeli Robotics Innovation Conference in Guangzhou, China. Intended as "home base" for Israeli robotics companies entering the Chinese market, SIRI is located at the Guangzhou International Robotics Center (ROBOHUB), a government-supported, 4,800-square-meter robotics incubator and demonstration center including a large exhibition and demo area, innovation lab, training center, and corporate offices. "This is an exciting time for the Israeli robotics industry," Shiller said. "We are committed to establishing a true partnership with SIRI and ROBOHUB, and we look forward to broadening this strategic cooperation, which will serve as a fast track for transforming ideas into products and for moving products into the Chinese market." The conference attracted some 100 robotics companies from Guangdong Province, more than 40 of which held B2B meetings with the Israeli companies.

This means that programmers must account for every type of road situation a car may encounter. MIT's Technology Review spoke with Amnon Shashua, CTO and cofounder of the technology firm to learn more about the initiative. Mobileye has been in the news of late for another reason--its system was the one being used by the Tesla vehicle that was involved in a car crash in Florida recently--the incident is still under investigation by the NHTSA. Tesla publicly blamed Mobileye, and because of that, a rift developed between the companies, which are now no longer partners. Shashua does not believe that will harm the company's new initiative, though--building a system based on neural networking, which, if all goes according to plan, will allow a car or truck to learn how to drive in much the same way that humans do. First, by observing someone else doing it, and then by practicing (which the company calls reinforcement learning).