The timing of his appointment was fortunate according to some industry veterans. Rolls-Royce's biggest business – supplying engines to commercial airlines – has rebounded strongly from the Covid pandemic. The company's most successful product – the Trent series of aircraft engines – are at the sweet spot of profitability as the returns on investment in their development over a decade ago begin to pour into company coffers. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 arguably made it almost inevitable that its defence business would see higher spending from European governments – which has been confirmed by recent announcements.

"That's probably the best-looking webcam I've seen you test," one of my colleagues remarked over Zoom the other day as I stared into the eye of the Insta360 Link webcam. A chorus of agreement piped in through my computer speakers from the rest of the team. I'm zoom, zoom, zooming more work days than not, so it's a great way to test webcams. A great many cameras have adorned the space above my laptop screen and monitor over the years, and I've been quite happy during my time with the Insta360 Link. It's from a company known for its action cameras--which we like a lot--so this webcam has a lot going for it.

More companies are successfully exploiting predictive maintenance systems that combine AI and IoT sensors to collect data that anticipates breakdowns and recommends preventive action before break or machines fail, in a demonstration of an AI use case with proven value. This growth is reflected in optimistic market forecasts. The predictive maintenance market is sized at $6.9 billion today and is projected to grow to $28.2 billion by 2026, according to a report from IoT Analytics of Hamburg, Germany. The firm counts over 280 vendors offering solutions in the market today, projected to grow to over 500 by 2026. "This research is a wake-up call to those that claim IoT is failing," stated analyst Fernando Bruegge, author of the report, adding, "For companies that own industrial assets or sell equipment, now is the time to invest in predictive maintenance-type solutions."

A high-tech SharkCam invented by a Cape Cod researcher offers an unprecedented window into the lives of the ocean's toothy predators, and can also extend to seals, whales, turtles and squid for a big-picture view of precious ecosystems and how to protect them. "These vehicles, these underwater robots that look like highly complex systems are just an extension of yourself to be able go where people can't go, and there's no limitation to what they can do," said Amy Kukulya, research engineer and principal investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Kukulya helped invent SharkCam, which she called "the Rolls-Royce of tags," more than ten years ago. The technology uses an intramuscular tag on a shark that constantly communicates with an autonomous underwater vehicle equipped with a handful of cameras that follows the animal and provides crucial data such as audio, video, water currents and temperature readings. Researchers have even gotten some of the robots back with huge teeth marks left behind from a curious shark.

Beneath the exciting tide of artificial intelligence (AI) applications permeating industries and consumers' daily lives, there has been an undercurrent growing in strength over years: the question over whether we can trust the decisions of morally-void autonomous systems, informed by and interpreting only the datasets they receive. The challenges around ethical AI have, for several years, been viewed as the biggest challenge facing its users, but now some organizations are actually killing plans for adoption because of the potential danger or avoiding embarking on projects altogether. As reported by Yahoo, the chief technologist for business software maker LivePerson, Alex Spinelli, said he had canceled some AI projects at his employer (and previous ones) over concerns about AI – in particular, the use of machine learning to analyze customer data and make predictions about behavior. Spinelli attributed the AI systems – particularly those used by Facebook to target users with content and pages it thinks will be of interest to users – to the spread of disinformation conflagrating the pro-Trump Capitol riots last month. AI has shown transformative potential in its ability to undertake complex tasks with lower costs and resources.

For Rolls-Royce, the world's second largest manufacturer of aero engines and a company with a distinguished history of pioneering R&D, technology strategy is all about the play-off between optimising existing products and simultaneously leading the charge on developing the low carbon power systems of the future. "The most pressing issue is how to get the right balance between new technology-led opportunities and existing product evolution," says the firm's chief technology officer, Paul Stein. "People will still be buying gas turbines [conventional aero engines] for the next 40 or 50 years, so we have to make sure we keep those products competitive for the long term. But we also have to free up as many resources as we can for driving productivity and for investing in the new." Stein explains how technologies such as digitisation and AI are already paying big dividends in design and operational efficiency.

The cylindrical vessel sports a futuristic design like a surfaced submarine, it's sleek hull sculpted to slice through waves with ease. But step on board and things are out of the ordinary. The living quarters have been removed. Cars may dominate today's discussion about the future of autonomous transportation but some of the world's largest maritime companies are betting big on autonomous shipping. Within the next decade, driverless ships like the one just described could be hauling cargo around the world.

Europe's biggest car show of the year has thrown up its usual mix of the fast and furious - and strange. Most carmakers are investing heavily in everyday electric and autonomous vehicles, but Renault thought it would be good to see what a self-driving limousine might look like. The French manufacturer thinks there will be a market from luxury hotels or airports to offer a five-star ferrying service. The EZ Ultimo is, though, still on the drawing board. David Brown Automotive may not be a household name, but its classic cars have a big following.

Paval Botica, chief officer on CMA CGM's Benjamin Franklin container ship, checks a monitor off Guangzhou, China, in 2016. The startup Shone is outfitting CMA CGM ships with situational awareness systems, a first step toward autonomous operation. The next time you hop on a ferry, take a look at the captain's bridge. There may not be a human at the helm much longer. Ships around the world are beginning a transformation into autonomous machines, leveraging the same advances in artificial intelligence that are shaking up the automotive world.

What's New: Rolls-Royce builds shipping systems that are sophisticated and intelligent – and eventually it will add fully autonomous to that portfolio – as it makes commercial shipping safer and more efficient. It's doing so using artificial intelligence (AI) powered by Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel 3D NAND SSDs for storage. "Delivering these systems is all about processing – moving and storing huge volumes of data – and that is where Intel comes in. Rolls-Royce is a key driver of innovation in the shipping industry, and together we are creating the foundation for safe shipping operations around the world." How It Works: Ships have dedicated Intel Xeon Scalable processor-based servers on board, turning them into cutting-edge floating data centers with heavy computation and AI inference capabilities.