Waabi, founded by AI pioneer and visionary Raquel Urtasun, today launched out of stealth to build the next generation of self-driving technology. Waabi's innovative approach unleashes the power of AI to'drive' safely in the real world, bringing the promise of self-driving closer to commercialization than ever before. Waabi also announced today a $83.5-million (USD) Series A financing with backing from best-in-class investors across the technology, logistics and the Canadian innovation ecosystem. The round, which is among the largest Series A rounds ever raised in Canada, was led by Khosla Ventures with additional participation from Uber, Radical Ventures, 8VC, OMERS Ventures, BDC Capital's Women in Technology Venture Fund (WIT), Aurora Innovation Inc., AI luminaries Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, Pieter Abbeel, Sanja Fidler and others. AI and self-driving pioneer Raquel Urtasun is the founder and CEO of Waabi.

The greatest threat to our national security is not China, it's the growing misalignment between the government and emerging technology companies. The U.S. government does not have a unified national agenda regarding artificial intelligence that has broad industry alignment, government investment and a clear sense of strategic imperatives. As such, global corporations are developing AI technology as suits their interests, imaginations and market potential. More importantly, the billions of dollars currently being spent by the government on AI are being spent haphazardly, and the U.S. is falling further behind on this critical technology. Artificial intelligence will be the ultimate weapon and it might sit in the hands of a Facebook, a Google or an Alibaba.

As unions, corporations and governments debate what effect artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation will have on the future of the workforce, venture capital investors are identifying the most interesting start-up investments that may help steer this historic paradigm shift. Among them is Microsoft's M12 venture fund and Dell Technologies Capital. Both aim to advance human progress and focus on start-ups they can mentor with their companies' own technical expertise and market know-how. "Our goal is to get a window on innovation," says Scott Darling, president of Dell Technologies Capital, who notes that Michael Dell reviews every single deal the fund invests in. "We need to plug into the external entrepreneurial ecosystem. This is so important, since the pace of technology is stunning."

Toyota announced creation of a $100 million venture fund to invest in autonomous driving and robotic technology start-ups as automakers increasingly push into the self-driving market. Toyota AI Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based subsidiary of Toyota, plans to invest the said amount into early-stage startups that are developing "disruptive" technologies in those fields, the company said. Jim Adler, managing director of Toyota AI Ventures, said in a statement, "Auto manufacturers must participate in the startup ecosystem to stay ahead of the rapid shift in the auto industry." The company added that the fund is part of Toyota's mission is a futuristic "discover what's next" phase. Toyota's AI venture fund has already invested in 19 different start-ups over the last two years, bringing its total funding commitment to autonomous driving technology to $200 million, the company further stated. Toyota AI Ventures looks for early-stage startups, across a range of industries, that are applying AI, data, and cloud technologies to tackle important problems and create new market opportunities.

It's been a busy year in delivery robot land. Starship Technologies sounded the starting gun to bring autonomous delivery vehicles to market with a $17.2 million round led by Daimler back in January 2017. Then in January this year the Mountain View, Calif.-based company Nuro raised the curtain on its own vision for robo-delivery with a whopping $92 million in funding. Meanwhile, upstart Robomart has its own notion for delivery vehicles that it unveiled at CES. And not to be outdone, everyone's favorite Chinese retail powerhouse, Alibaba, announced its own self-driving delivery vehicle.

New Delhi:The government will soon offer incentives to startups and venture funds that undertake application-oriented research on artificial intelligence across key sectors including banking, insurance, education, health, retail and transportation. Financial allocation under the Atal Innovation Mission will be used to fund the programme on a nationwide scale and projects will be granted on the challenge mode, a senior government official told ET. The government is already providing support of up to Rs 10 crore to already established and upcoming new incubation centres depending on the set criteria laid under the Atal Innovation Mission, for which an allocation of 500 crore was made in 2015-16. The original allocation under AIM for 2017-18 stood at Rs 112 crore, which has been revised to Rs 150 crore while Rs 200 crore has been allocated for 2018-19. "It has just been announced. Niti (Aayog) has been working on the subject for a while and will be coming out with a roadmap shortly," the official said requesting anonymity.

LAS VEGAS--The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance is creating one of the largest venture-capital funds dedicated to automotive technologies, escalating an already feverish pursuit by global auto makers to reinvent personal transportation. The company said it will commit $200 million annually over five years--for a total of $1 billion--to invest in a variety of startup technologies, including battery and self-driving vehicle advances. The new corporate venture fund is part of a push by Renault-Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn to speed development of technologies that the alliance's three auto makers don't have in-house. The message to tech startups, Mr. Ghosn said at an event tied to the CES show happening here: "Please come see us." The spending comes on top of the 8.5 billion euros ($10.1 billion) annually that Renault SA, RNO 1.23%

Now the real work begins for The Engine, MIT's ambitious venture fund and incubator. The organization announced its first batch of seven investments on Tuesday (see below), and revealed that it has raised $200 million, with plans to back 40 to 50 so-called "tough-tech" companies over the next few years. The Engine initially raised $150 million for its first fund, but later tacked on the additional $50 million. MIT is one of the investors in the fund; it chipped in $25 million. MIT launched The Engine almost a year ago to provide resources to startups whose technologies might get stranded in the research lab because they would take more time and money to develop than most venture capitalists are willing to invest--think biotech, medical devices, robotics, advanced manufacturing, materials science, and energy. The Engine combines a venture fund and access to work space, expert advisors, educational workshops and events, and business services.

Robotics and artificial intelligence (A.I) were once considered fantasies of the future. Today, both technologies are being incorporated into many elements of everyday life, with applications popping up in everything from healthcare and education to communication and transportation. In July, R&D Magazine took a deeper dive into this breakthrough area of research. We kicked off our coverage by speaking to several experts about where the field of robotics is going in, Robotics Industry Has Big Future as Applications Grow. Susan Teele of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute and Bob Doyle of the Robotics Industries Association, discussed the impact that robots will have on the workforce and what technological advancements are needed for them to truly flourish.

Google's investment interests have typically covered a variety of markets and the search giant is now making a formal step into an up-and-coming space. Google announced Tuesday the launch of Gradient Ventures, a venture fund designed to target and invest in young startups focusing on artificial intelligence development. In a blog post announcing the venture fund, Google said it wanted to play a role in helping to foster development in the AI research space. Through Gradient, we'll provide portfolio companies with capital, resources, and dedicated access to experts and bootcamps in AI. We'll take a minority stake in the startups in which we invest.