Rapper "Pras" Michel, one-third of the legendary hip-hop group The Fugees, accused his lawyer from a recent federal criminal case of using AI in his closing arguments. Ars Technica reports that the "Ghetto Supastar" artist claims his one-time attorney, David Kenner, used an AI program with which the lawyer potentially had a financial interest. Pras, whose legal name is Prakazrel Samuel Michel, was found guilty in April of 10 counts of conspiring and acting as an unregistered foreign government agent and faces up to 20 years in prison. The rapper is seeking a new trial. Pras' motion for a new trial says Kenner "used an experimental artificial intelligence (AI) program to draft the closing argument, ignoring the best arguments and conflating the charged schemes, and he then publicly boasted that the AI program'turned hours or days of legal work into seconds.'"

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Pras Michel of the Fugees is seeking a new trial by arguing his former lawyer used artificial intelligence to generate his closing argument before the hip-hop artist was found guilty of helping a foreign national launder millions of dollars in illegitimate contributions to former President Barack Obama's campaign. Michel was convicted in April after being accused of taking part in an extensive conspiracy to use about $88 million in foreign funds to engage in illegal back-channel lobbying and make unlawful campaign contributions at the direction of the People's Republic of China. He filed a motion on Monday asking the court for a new trial on all counts.

A simple young farmboy gets a magic sword from an old wizard so he can defeat an evil knight, rescue a princess, and save the world. Granted, they don't always do it with knights. Sometimes the farmboy is a farmgirl. Sometimes the wizard is a scientist and sometimes the evil knight is a dragon or a cyborg. But Lucas knew all that. He was a Northern California kid who grew up watching movies and racing cars, a tyro moviemaker at a moment when American film had become very serious. The movies of the 1970s had genre goofs like The Exorcist and Rocky, but the gold-standard stories of were adult things about violence, sexuality, and the treachery of dreams. Heroes in these movies lost--like, all the time. Sometimes the whole movie got you to like bad guys, and sometimes they died anyway!

After years toiling away in secret on a car project, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has for the first time elaborated on the company's plans in the automotive market. "We're focusing on autonomous systems," Cook said in a June 5 interview on Bloomberg Television that amounted to his most detailed comments yet on Apple's automotive plans. "It's a core technology that we view as very important." He likened the effort to "the mother of all AI projects," saying it's "probably one of the most difficult AI projects to work on." The prospect of self-driving cars has seen a slew of technology companies push into the auto industry, according to McKinsey & Co. Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo unit has signed partnerships with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Lyft Inc. to develop the technology.

A visitor presses the new Apple's CarPlay touch-screen commands inside the Volvo Estate concept car displayed at the Swedish carmaker during the press day of the Geneva Motor Show in Geneva on March 4, 2014. SAN FRANCISCO -- Much-discussed and sometimes despaired of, there's finally official word that Apple is working on a self-driving car, joining the dozens of other tech and auto companies approved to test autonomous vehicles in California. The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant has long been rumored to be working on its own autonomous car as part of an initiative called Project Titan, but has never officially confirmed its plans. Apple was so mum about the project that some thought it may have been shuttered, said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Autotrader. However, on Friday the company appeared on the state's Department of Motor Vehicle's list of approved applicants to test autonomous vehicles.

A visitor presses the new Apple's CarPlay touch-screen commands inside the Volvo Estate concept car displayed at the Swedish carmaker during the press day of the Geneva Motor Show in Geneva on March 4, 2014. Apple has joined the dozens of tech companies seeking to test self-driving cars in California. The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant has long been rumored to be working on its own autonomous vehicle as part of an initiative called Project Titan, but has never confirmed its plans. However, the company appeared Friday on the state's Department of Motor Vehicle's list of approved applicants to test autonomous vehicles. That list had already included companies such as Tesla, Google and Uber, along with car makers including BMW, Ford, Honda and Volkswagen.

Apple has finally admitted it is investing'heavily' in building driverless cars Apple has finally admitted it is investing'heavily' in building driverless cars. Having made billions from bringing iPhones, iPods and iPads to the masses, the silicon valley giant is racing to bring self-driving cars to the roads. In a letter to US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the firm said it'was excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation'. Senior executive Steve Kenner said the firm wanted to'help define best practices for the industry' and urged the regulator not to penalise firms testing driverless cars on public roads. In a statement, Apple added that Mr Kenner had written to the US regulator because it is'investing heavily in machine learning and autonomous systems'.

As carmakers and tech companies race to perfect self-driving vehicles, Apple's program and its automotive intentions remain notably ambiguous. Like Washington's old rule about the National Security Agency, its very existence isn't to be mentioned – at least not by the company. Yet when Apple recently offered views on preliminary guidelines for autonomous vehicles in a letter to U.S. regulators, it let slip an interesting detail: Its "Titan" project team has a high-level Big 3 veteran with more than 30 years of industry expertise. The author of Apple's comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is Steve Kenner, identified in the letter as the company's director of product integrity. It confirms that Apple wants the option to test automated vehicles on public roads, though it doesn't mention a specific plan to do so or an intention to commercialize such technology.

There has been a considerable amount of speculation surrounding Apple's interest in creating a car and while the company has largely been silent about the venture, a letter from Apple to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) appears to confirm its exploration of the idea. The five-page letter, from Apple director of product integrity Steve Kenner, was sent to offer comment on the United States government's attempts to lay a policy foundation for self-driving cars on roads across the country. Also revealed in the letter, though, is the strongest clue yet that Apple is planning to get into the car business. "Apple uses machine learning to make its products and services smarter, more intuitive, and more personal. The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation," Kenner wrote.

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., left, is seen in a car with comedian James Corden during an event in San Francisco in September. Apple's courteous, albeit bland, letter to federal regulators weighing in on preliminary guidelines for development and testing of self-driving cars has again ginned up excitement and speculation about its eventual entry into the automotive space, yet revealed nothing about actual plans to do so. As CEO Tim Cook put it, it's still Christmas Eve. The letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from Steve Kenner, Apple's director of product integrity, confirms what was already known: the company has a program to develop automated driving systems. Should Apple want to run road tests of its self-driving technology, Kenner's letter emphasizes that official policies shouldn't discriminate against companies that haven't previously participated in the auto market or that intend to sell vehicles.