The European Commission's Joint Research Center is working on a tool that could use tweets and artificial intelligence to collect real-time data on floods. In a paper released on Arvix.org, EU scientists explain how their Social Media for Flood Risk (SMFR) prototype could help emergency responders better understand what's happening on the ground in flooded areas and determine what trouble spots might need immediate attention. The tool works in collaboration with Europe's Flood Awareness System (EFAS). When EFAS identifies areas with heightened flood risks, it triggers SMFR to begin collecting flood-related tweets from users in those areas.

Ant Financial, the payment services provider owned by Chinese online retail giant Alibaba, has indicated that it will invest approximately $150 million in Indian firm, Zomato. This places the value of Zomato, a food delivery firm, at $1 billion. Zomato offers its services in a total of 24 countries and will allocate the funds to the improvement of products as well as technology. The investment by the Alibaba unit in Zomato comes in the wake of the e-commerce giant partnering with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University to put up its first joint research center located abroad. The center will focus on the development of artificial intelligence aimed at solving modern challenges such as urban transport and ageing societies.

On February 28, Chinese tech giant Alibaba and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) established a joint research institute in Singapore. The institute will focus on AI applications, including health care, smart home and urban transportation. According to Alibaba, the institute is the firm's first joint research center outside of China. It will be located on the NTU campus, and its first 50 researchers will be from Alibaba and NTU. AI applications developed by the institute will be tested within NTU, and across Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Chinese tech giant Alibaba on Wednesday said it set up a joint research institute in Singapore, together with a local university. The research institute will focus on developing artificial intelligence applications in a variety of areas including health care, smart homes and urban transportation. Alibaba said that the institute, launched with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU), was the firm's first joint research center outside China. It will be housed on the university's campus. Initially, the center would start with 50 researchers from Alibaba as well as the university.