This report summarizes the 5th International Verification of Neural Networks Competition (VNN-COMP 2024), held as a part of the The 7th International Symposium on AI Verification (SAIV), that was co-llocated with the 36th International Conference on Computer-Aided Verification (CAV). VNN-COMP is held annually to facilitate the fair and objective comparison of state-of-the-art neural network verification tools, encourage the standardization of tool interfaces, and bring together the neural network verification community. To this end, standardized formats for networks (ONNX) and specification (VNN-LIB) were defined, tools were evaluated on equal-cost hardware (using an automatic evaluation pipeline based on AWS instances), and tool parameters were chosen by the participants before the final test sets were made public. In the 2024 iteration, 8 teams participated on a diverse set of 12 regular and 8 extended benchmarks. This report summarizes the rules, benchmarks, participating tools, results, and lessons learned from this iteration of this competition.

In the early days of video games, it was easy to spot an item that could heal your character again. Whether in Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, or Battlefield 1942, if you picked up a package with a red cross on it, your health improved after a few seconds. Nowadays, however, you can hardly find the clearly marked medipack with the red cross in any game. It turns out there's a reason why. The symbol with the red cross should never have appeared in video games to begin with. Although the symbol seems quite simple, it isn't subject to public domain.

Over the past decade, machine learning-based algorithms have been deployed across a wide range of use cases and industries. From the algorithms that assess an individual's creditworthiness, to algorithms that serve up suggested movies and shows to watch on Netflix, the impact of Big Data, analytics, and automation are felt daily by nearly everyone. One area of life where algorithms have not yet been perfected is with payments made by government or relief organizations to people in the aftermath of a crisis, emergency, or natural disaster, where getting financial relief to the people who need it most is critical. Though there have been pilot programs and limited use of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide targeted aid, the practice is far from widespread. Key drivers behind the desire to incorporate more automation and data analysis into aid dispersion is the time-consuming nature of assessing who is eligible to receive aid, and then ensuring that aid is only delivered to those legitimate recipients.

Among the many issues being raised in the course of the recent Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is the ability of charities to respond to crises and to fulfil their fiduciary and moral duty to apply donations effectively and for the purposes intended. The Wuhan coronavirus versus the Red Cross: better solutions via blockchain and artificial intelligence', available here, it is argued that the present crisis should be seen as a call to arms for the tech industry, which has the relevant know-how and resources to radically change the landscape of crisis response and the management of donations through the implementation and use of blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), both of which are already in common commercial use. Beijing has ordered all public donations for the Wuhan crisis to be funnelled to five government-backed charity organisations. This is a throwback to pre-2016 China, before the Charity Law of China was introduced to enable the establishment of private charities. The Charity Law was intended to develop the charity field and protect the interests of relevant stakeholders.

Many regions around the globe that are most susceptible to natural disasters are also missing critical maps that emergency response workers need to get supplies in, and people out. Intel teamed up with the American Red Cross to build a deep learning algorithm that could significantly speed up mapping of these regions using satellite imagery.

This story was originally published by Grist and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. In an era of increasingly extreme hurricanes, floods, and drought, the people in charge of preparing for disasters depend on meteorologists to anticipate where the next catastrophe might strike. Here's some good news: Meteorologists are coming through, with unprecedented accuracy. In fact, weather forecasting technology has improved so dramatically that humanitarian organizations can now fund disaster relief before disaster hits. It's a revolutionary change that could save countless lives.

The American Red Cross is preparing to utilize a drone for the first time as it takes stock of the damage done to Houston by Hurricane Harvey. Imagery supplied by the drone will help the organization determine which areas require the most aid. A single drone will be deployed, embarking upon a one-week test flight in an area of the city that was hit particularly badly. The drone will be supplied by CyPhy Works, and is funded by UPS -- the logistics company has invested money in the drone maker with a view to using its technology to deliver packages. The images gathered by the drone will primarily be used to help the Red Cross as it works to help Houston residents that were affected by the hurricane get back on their feet.

To appreciate the perversity of our reliance on US technology giants, you just need to grapple with the fact that one of the likely winners in the global "cyber-outage" – caused by the series of crippling cyber-attacks that hit public and private institutions worldwide a week ago – might be the very company whose software was compromised – Microsoft. The WannaCry ransomware used in the attack wreaked havoc on organisations including FedEx and Telefónica, as well as the NHS, where operations were cancelled, x-rays, test results and patient records became unavailable and phones did not work. In the end the global spread of the attack was halted by an "accidental hero", a 22-year-old IT security blogger from Ilfracombe, Devon. Marcus Hutchins found and inadvertently activated a "kill switch" in the malware by registering a specific domain name hidden within the program. But even before the recent WannaCry ransomware attacks, Microsoft – always seeking to deflate any responsibility for the flaws in its products – had been advocating the establishment of the digital equivalent of Geneva conventions that would protect civilians from cyber-attacks launched by nation states.

It look like a gadget-filled motor that would have featured on the Thunderbirds. But this British 4x4 will soon be used by search and rescue teams to help save lives during disaster relief operations. The specially developed Land Rover Discovery has an in-built drone that launches through the vehicle's roof. It will allow rescuers to drive close to the scene of major emergencies - ranging from avalanches and earthquakes to rail crashes and floods - sending back details of unseen dangers ahead. The specially developed Land Rover Discovery has an in-built drone that launches through the vehicle's roof Crucially the drone can be launched while the vehicle is in motion – at speeds of up to 25mph - thanks to ground-breaking world-first docking technology.

Nobody wants a robot apocalypse. From the mechanical worker's revolt in R.U.R. (the play that gave us the word "robot") to the bleak, nuke-scarred hellscapes of the Terminator and Matrix films, the idea of humanity destroyed by tools of its own creation is compelling, if still the domain of fiction. To keep the apocalypse firmly in the realm of the speculative, today the International Committee of the Red Cross released an unusual statement for a humanitarian group: "Decisions to kill and destroy are a human responsibility." The Red Cross isn't encouraging human decisions to kill and destroy. Instead, it's arguing that if such decisions are going to be made (and little in human history suggests they won't be), then it's really important that it is actual humans with that authority and power, not lethal autonomous weapon systems.