But whether or not computers ever attain human-like intelligence, the world has already summoned a different, equally destructive AI demon: Precisely because today's AI is little more than a brute, unintelligent system for automating decisions using algorithms and other technologies that crunch superhuman amounts of data, its widespread use by governments and companies to surveil public spaces, monitor social media, create deepfakes, and unleash autonomous lethal weapons has become dangerous to humanity. Despite the hype--such as a Google engineer's bizarre claim that his company's AI system had " come to life " and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's tweet predicting that computers will have human intelligence by 2029--the technology still fails at simple everyday tasks. Despite the hype--such as a Google engineer's bizarre claim that his company's AI system had "come to life" and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's tweet predicting that computers will have human intelligence by 2029--the technology still fails at simple everyday tasks. If the various projects being pursued around the world succeed, these machines will be immensely powerful, performing tasks in seconds that would take conventional computers millions of years to conduct. With their power to quickly crunch immense amounts of data that would overwhelm any of today's systems, quantum computers could potentially enable better weather forecasting, financial analysis, logistics planning, space research, and drug discovery.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed the next event for the electric vehicle maker for next month when it holds its artificial intelligence day on August 19. The enigmatic tech exec, who often shares news on social media, took to Twitter late Wednesday evening to announce the event. It's unclear exactly what the company will show off or discuss, but Musk added that the event will focus on recruiting the best talent to work for the Palo Alto, California-based company. 'Convincing the best AI talent to join Tesla is the sole goal,' Musk said in a follow up tweet sent early Thursday morning. It's unclear exactly what the company will show off or discuss, but Musk added that the event will focus on recruiting the best talent to work for the Palo Alto, California-based company Tesla does not have a traditional press office and a tweet to Musk was not immediately returned.

Waymo, a unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc., is saying good-bye to'self-driving'--not the technology, just the term. In a blog post Wednesday, the company announced it would now be using the phrase'autonomous driving' to avoid confusion that could lead a driver to take their hands off the wheel at a dangerous moment. 'It may seem like a small change, but it's an important one,' the company said in a blog post, 'because precision in language matters and could save lives.' But industry insiders believe the change is a jab at Elon Musk's Tesla, which began touting its'full self-driving' (FSD) option last fall - but is only capable of assisting drivers. Waymo announced it will no longer use the term'self-driving' in favor of'autonomous driving,' to avoid confusion.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday that Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to meet with him about a possible acquisition of his electric vehicle company when it was in dire straits. His claim came after the publication of a Reuters report that Apple is developing electric vehicle technology that could result in the production of a car for consumers or self-driving vehicle systems for automakers. If any of that comes to fruition, Apple would be competing directly with Tesla. "During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value)," Musk said on Twitter. "He refused to take the meeting."

SAN RAMON, California – Tesla is working on new battery technology that CEO Elon Musk says will enable the company within the next three years to make sleeker, more affordable cars that can travel dramatically longer distances on a single charge. But the battery breakthroughs that Musk unveiled Tuesday at a highly anticipated event didn't impress investors. They were hoping Tesla's technology would mark an even bigger leap forward and propel the company's soaring stock to even greater heights. Tesla's shares shed more than 6 percent in extended trading after Musk's presentation. That deepened a downturn that began during Tuesday's regular trading session as investors began to brace for a potential letdown.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes the basic functionality of level 5 self-driving cars will be completed by the end of 2020. "I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level 5 autonomy complete this year." Musk's remarks triggered much discussion in the media about whether we are close to having full self-driving cars on our roads. Like many other software engineers, I don't think we'll be seeing driverless cars (I mean cars that don't have human drivers) any time soon, let alone the end of this year. I wrote a column about this on PCMag, and received a lot of feedback (both positive and negative).

Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma and Tesla CEO Elon Musk went head-to-head in a debate in Shanghai. The organizers of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai got more than they bargained for when they arranged a debate between Alibaba's billionaire chairman Jack Ma and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. With a combined net worth of over $56 billion, the pair delved deep into the potential benefits and consequences of this burgeoning technology. Tesla's Musk argued that "people think of AI as a smart human; it's going to be much more than that." Tesla's CEO likened the plight of ordinary humans trying to understand AI to that of chimpanzees trying to understand humans.

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Tesla is making it possible to lease the Model 3 electric sedan for the first time while also making it harder to buy the much-hyped $35,000 base version of the vehicle. The automaker announced late Thursday that it would begin leasing the Model 3 "for a small down payment and competitive monthly payments." It's not the same as a standard auto industry lease, which typically gives leasees the option to purchase the vehicle when the lease expires. "Please note, customers who choose leasing over owning will not have the option to purchase their car at the end of the lease, because with full autonomy coming in the future via an over-the-air software update, we plan to use those vehicles in the Tesla ride-hailing network," Tesla said in a blog post.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects that the electric car maker will have the technology needed to essentially operate vehicles without drivers by the end of the year. The entrepreneur made the comment on a podcast with Cathie Wood and Tasha Keeney of ARK Invest, a firm that owns shares in the company. Tesla's automated driver assistance system Autopilot has garnered both positive attention for the sophistication of its features and negative attention for its association with a number of high-profile accidents. "I think we will be feature complete – full self-driving – this year," Musk said. "Meaning the car will be able to find you in a parking lot, pick you up and take you all the way to your destination without an intervention, this year. I would say I am of certain of that. That is not a question mark."

A majority of people think that artificial intelligence will steal jobs away from human workers. In a recent survey conducted by Quartz, more than 1,600 respondents in 84 countries said that half of positions would be made redundant by automation in the next five years. A separate survey conducted by Gallup in the U.S. found that 75 percent of adults believe AI will "eliminate more jobs than it creates." "[AI is] superhuman, and we think [it] will be in every industry [and] replace 50 percent of human jobs," Kai-Fu Lee, founder of VC firm Sinovation Ventures, told CNBC in an interview last April. "It is the decision engine that will replace people."