In this paper we study the well-known greedy coordinate descent (GCD) algorithm to solve $\ell_1$-regularized problems and improve GCD by the two popular strategies: Nesterov's acceleration and stochastic optimization. Firstly, we propose a new rule for greedy selection based on an $\ell_1$-norm square approximation which is nontrivial to solve but convex; then an efficient algorithm called ``SOft ThreshOlding PrOjection (SOTOPO)'' is proposed to exactly solve the $\ell_1$-regularized $\ell_1$-norm square approximation problem, which is induced by the new rule. Based on the new rule and the SOTOPO algorithm, the Nesterov's acceleration and stochastic optimization strategies are then successfully applied to the GCD algorithm. The resulted algorithm called accelerated stochastic greedy coordinate descent (ASGCD) has the optimal convergence rate $O(\sqrt{1/\epsilon})$; meanwhile, it reduces the iteration complexity of greedy selection up to a factor of sample size. Both theoretically and empirically, we show that ASGCD has better performance for high-dimensional and dense problems with sparse solution.

That's Harder Than It Sounds Proposed regulations in China would mean the end of flush handles on car doors, with precious little time to roll out the changes. Car door handles seem innocuous. Tesla's electronic, retractable ones--since imitated by plenty of global automakers--have become a symbol of the automaker's willingness to work from design-first principles, reimagining what the car of the future might look like, electric-style. But in September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into the Tesla 2021 Model Y's door handles. More than 140 consumers have complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the door handles, according to a Bloomberg report published last month.

Retired Charlottesville Fire Chief Charles Werner joins'Fox & Friends First' to discuss drones being used as first responders as Energy Sec. Sean Duffy highlights U.S. drone dominance. Delivery drones could soon take to the skies in full force, following a landmark proposed rule by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The long-anticipated rule is aimed at allowing drones to operate beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) -- a move designed to counter China's dominance in unmanned aviation. Currently, operators must obtain individual FAA waivers -- only 657 issued so far -- to fly drones beyond where they can physically see them, hampered by months of delay and bureaucratic setbacks. "Because of that complication, I don't think we saw the innovation that we should have in America," said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday.

Lifted inference algorithms for probabilistic first-order logic frameworks such as Markov logic networks (MLNs) have received significant attention in recent years. These algorithms use so called lifting rules to identify symmetries in the first-order representation and reduce the inference problem over a large probabilistic model to an inference problem over a much smaller model. In this paper, we present two new lifting rules, which enable fast MAP inference in a large class of MLNs. Our first rule uses the concept of single occurrence equivalence class of logical variables, which we define in the paper. The rule states that the MAP assignment over an MLN can be recovered from a much smaller MLN, in which each logical variable in each single occurrence equivalence class is replaced by a constant (i.e., an object in the domain of the variable).

The outgoing administration of United States President Joe Biden is proposing a new framework for the export of advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence, an attempt to balance national security concerns about the technology with the economic interests of producers and other countries. But the framework proposed Monday also raised concerns of chip industry executives who said the rules would limit access to existing chips used for video games and restrict in 120 countries the chips used for data centres and AI products. Mexico, Portugal, Israel and Switzerland are among the nations that could have limited access. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters previewing the framework that it's "critical" to preserve America's leadership in AI and the development of AI-related computer chips. Fast-evolving AI technology enables computers to produce novels, make scientific research breakthroughs, automate driving and foster a range of other transformations that could reshape economies and warfare.

The Biden administration announced a bold and controversial new export control scheme today, designed to prevent the advanced chips and artificial intelligence models themselves from ending up in the hands of adversaries such as China. The administration's new "AI Diffusion rule" divides the world into nations that are allowed relatively unfettered access to America's most advanced AI silicon and algorithms, and those that will require special licenses to access the technology. The rule, which will be enforced by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, also seeks to restrict the movement of the most powerful AI models for the first time. "The US leads the world in AI now, both AI development and AI chip design, and it's critical that we keep it that way," the US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said ahead of today's announcement. The list of trusted nations are the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden and Taiwan.

Identifying causal relations is crucial for a variety of downstream tasks. In additional to observational data, background knowledge (BK), which could be attained from human expertise or experiments, is usually introduced for uncovering causal relations. This raises an open problem that in the presence of latent variables, what causal relations are identifiable from observational data and BK. In this paper, we propose two novel rules for incorporating BK, which offer a new perspective to the open problem. In addition, we show that these rules are applicable in some typical causality tasks, such as determining the set of possible causal effects with observational data. Our rule-based approach enhances the state-of-the-art method by circumventing a process of enumerating block sets that would otherwise take exponential complexity.

For decades, real estate commissions have been somewhat standardized, with most home sellers paying 5% to 6% commission to cover both the listing agent and the buyer's agent. A landmark agreement from the National Assn. of Realtors paved the way for a new set of rules that will likely shake up the entire industry, affecting sellers, buyers and the agents tasked with pushing deals across the finish line. The most pivotal rule change pertains to how buyers' agents are paid. Traditionally, home sellers have paid for the commission of both their agent and the buyer's agent, which critics argue stifled competition and drove up home prices. The new rule prohibits most listings from saying how much buyers' agents are paid, removing the assumption that sellers are on the hook for paying both agents.

Many companies and platforms are wrangling with how to handle AI-generated content as it becomes more prevalent. One key concern for many is the labeling of such material to make it clear that an AI model whipped up a photo, video or piece of audio. To that end, YouTube has laid out its new rules for labeling videos made with artificial intelligence. Starting today, the platform will require anyone uploading a realistic-looking video that "is made with altered or synthetic media, including generative AI" to label it for the sake of transparency. YouTube defines realistic content as anything that a viewer could "easily mistake" for an actual person, event or place.

Airbnb has announced a complete ban on indoor cameras in host properties. Hosts were allowed to have cameras in communal spaces, but they were supposed to be banned from bedrooms and bathrooms. Hosts were also supposed to disclose any cameras in the rental, which may not always have happened. The company says it established the new rules "in consultation with our guests, hosts and privacy experts" and that it'll continue to seek feedback. Hosts also have to disclose any outdoor cameras (that can't point indoors or be in areas with a "greater expectation of privacy" -- think showers and saunas).