The year 2024 saw the global economy stabilise following the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as growth in many countries lagged pre-2020 levels. Amid a patchy recovery, more than 2 billion people were eligible to vote this year, and economic issues, particularly rising living costs, were a top concern for voters around the world. Meanwhile, governments grappled with how to regulate potentially transformational technology such as artificial intelligence, and Donald Trump's victory in the United States' presidential election heralded a sharp turn towards protectionism. Trump has indicated that he will pursue an even more aggressive version of the "America First" protectionism that fuelled his rise to power during his second stint in the White House. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to impose tariffs of 60 percent or higher on Chinese goods and a blanket 20 percent tariff on all other imports.

Amazon is the latest tech giant to donate to Donald Trump's inaugural fund. The company plans to give 1m to the fund, first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Amazon follows Meta, Facebook's parent company, also handing over 1m to Trump's inaugural committee. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Friday that he, too, would make a personal donation of 1m, first reported by Fox News. As Trump prepares to enter office for a second time, several tech titans are cozying up in hopes of favorable treatment for their businesses.

You've seen them over sporting events, music festivals and political rallies; aerial drone displays have lit up night skies since the technology's 2012 debut at Ars Electronica Futurelab. No longer a niche entertainment spectacle, these light shows can feature massive swarms that are often presented right alongside traditional fireworks displays. And as small drone technologies continue to advance, these swarms are sure to grow. Drone swarm technology, in varying applications, has been pursued for years by government agencies like DARPA, where it's being investigated for military stuff, as well as private research institutions, such as University of Colorado Boulder where it's being explored as a search and rescue tool. Getting robots to not only sense the others around them but to actively work in concert, in pursuit of a common goal, enables the group to accomplish tasks that no individual could do on their own.

Joe Biden has defeated President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election and will become the 46th president of the United States. Although Trump has not conceded, Biden has been named the president-elect by multiple outlets, including AP News. The decision to name the 77-year-old the president-elect sent Twitter into a frenzy, which resulted in Biden's supporters using Alexa, Amazon's virtual assistant, to taunt Trump and celebrate the democrat's victory. On Saturday, "Alexa" began trending on Twitter as people began sharing the songs they wanted to play to celebrate the president-elect and say goodbye to Trump. In the song, Meek Mill raps, "See my dreams unfold, nightmares come true It was time to marry the game and I said, 'Yeah, I do' If you want it you gotta see it with a clear-eyed view."

Henry Kautz, AAAI President, and Eric Horvitz, AAAI Past President and Awards Committee Chair, presented the AAAI Awards in July at AAAI-10 in Atlanta. For information about nominations for AAAI 2011 Awards, please contact Carol Hamilton at hamilton@aaai.org or 650-328-3123. The 2010 AAAI Classic Paper Award was given to the authors of the most influential paper from the Ninth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, held in 1991 in Anaheim, California. The award was presented to David McAllester and David Rosenblitt for Systematic Nonlinear Planning. This paper was honored for contributing seminal principles of systematic nonlinear planning, with wide-ranging influences on the evolution of research on automated planning.

AAI's leadership underwent a major change in March of this year. Martha Pollack, who had been serving as AAAI president since July 2009 resigned her position, and Henry Kautz, who had been serving as AAAI president-elect assumed the duties and responsibilities of the president. As stipulated in the AAAI bylaws, Kautz will serve in this capacity until the 2010 AAAI annual business meeting, after which he will begin his full two-year term as president, starting one year ahead of schedule. In addition, Eric Horvitz, who has already served one year as AAAI past president, has agreed to serve one additional year so that the position will remain filled throughout Kautz's tenure as president. An election will be held this year for the now-open position of president elect.

A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ARTICLE I. NAME The name of this corporation shall be the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). PURPOSE This corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the California Nonprofit Corporation Law for scientific and educational purposes in the field of artificial intelligence. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on: (i) by a corporation exempt from Federal Income Tax under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under Section 170 (c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code. DEDICATION AND DISSOLUTION The property of this corporation is irrevocably dedicated to educational and scientific purposes, and no part of the net income or assets of this organization shall ever inure to the benefit of any councilor, officer, or member thereof or to the benefit of any private persons.

Section 1. Principal Office The principal office of the corporation in the State of California shall be located in the City of Menlo Park, County of San Mateo Section 2. Other Offices, The corporation may have such other offices, either within or without the County of San Mateo, State of California, as the Executive Council may determine or as the affairs of the corporation may require from time to time Section 1. Classes of Members: The corporation shall have two classes of members Regular and Student Student members have all of the rights and privileges of regular members except that student members shall not be allowed to vote. Section 2 Qualifications fat Membership Membership is open to any person actively engaged in research on artificial intelligence and to any person who is a student in a discipline related to artificial intelligence Section 3. Membership A person becomes a mcmbel (regular or student) upon acceptance of an application for membership by the Executive Council and payment of dues Section 4 Voting Rights, Each regular member shall be entitled to one vote on any vote of the membership. Section 5 Termination of Membership The Executive Council, by affirmative vote of two-thirds of all of the members of the Council, may suspend or expel a member after an appropriate hearing Failure to maintain current dues payments shall be automatic grounds for termination of membership. Section 6. Resignation Any member may resign by filing a written resignation with the Secretary-Treasurer, Section 7 Reinstatement Upon written request by a former member filed with the Secretary-Treasmer, the Executive Council, by majority vote, may reinstate a former member Section 8. Transfer of Membership Membership in this corporation is not transferable or assignable Section I Annual Meeting: The annual meeting of the Corporation will take place during its Annual Conference In years when there is no Annual Conference, the Annual Meeting shall be held at a time and place selected by the Executive Council Notice stating the place, day, and hour of the meeting shall be delivered either personally, or by mail, telephone, telegram, 01 computer network, or by announcement in an official publication of the corporation to each member entitled to vote at such meeting, not less than sixty days before the date of such meeting. Section 2. Special Meetings Special meetings of the members may be called by ten percent of the members or by a majority of the Executive Council The time and place designated fol such meetings must be set with the concurrence of the Executive Council Section 3 Place of Meeting The Executive Council may designate any place, either within or without the State of Califol nia, as the place of meeting for any annual meeting or for any special meeting called by the Executive Council.

The annual election for AAAI offices has taken place (15 June 1981 was the closing date for the receipt of votes) The people listed below have been elected by the membership of the AAAI to the offices as indicated. The election was special in several ways, in order to complete the initialization of officers and periods of tenure. Both a president (for 1981-82) and a president-elect (who will serve as president for 1982-83) were elected. Normally only a president-elect would be on the ballot, however, no presidentelect was elected at the last election. Twelve (12) councilors were elected, constituting a full complement of elected councilors.

Elaine Chao previously served as secretary of labor. Elaine Chao shown arriving last month at Trump Tower, shortly before being told she would be the president-elect's nominee for Transportation secretary. SAN FRANCISCO -- On Wednesday, top tech CEOs are expected to sit down with president-elect Trump in New York to discuss what remains a mystery: how the new administration will treat the nation's high-tech engine. But at least one confirmed attendee -- Telsa CEO Elon Musk -- may be even more eager for a sit-down with Trump's Transportation secretary nominee, Elaine Chao. As the new head of the DOT, replacing outgoing secretary Anthony Foxx, Chao, 63, would take the wheel of a department just as it was beginning to corral the players shaping our self-driving car future under a cohesive national plan.