UK's NHS faces legal challenge over deal with Palantir News 2/26/2021The country's health service gave the Silicon Valley company access to data in a contract initially valued at just £1
Google to remove gender labels from image recognition tool News 2/25/2021An early example of a feature clashing with the company’s ethical AI principles
Smart home as-a-service company Plume reaches ‘unicorn’ status News 2/24/2021The business focuses on the needs of communications service providers
ABB adds two models to its ‘cobot’ line-up News 2/24/2021GoFa and SWIFTI hope to take robotics into new environments
AIOps firm ScienceLogic raises $105m in Series E News 2/24/2021“What we're witnessing is a major investment cycle away from legacy monitoring tools and toward AIOps platforms,” says CEO Dave Link
Xilinx launches Smart World for faster AI-based video analytics News 2/23/2021New software platform promises quick, cheap inference – as long as you own FPGAs
Robotic harvest companion ‘Carry’ wants to help farmers boost efficiency News 2/23/2021Future Acres claims the machine pays for itself in just 80 days
EU security agencies warn AI in autonomous vehicles “highly vulnerable to a wide range of attacks” News 2/23/2021Self-driving vehicles could be Waymo trouble than they’re worth
AI and Linux to fly on Mars, as robot helicopter emerges from Perseverance News 2/22/2021Ingenuity will be man’s first object to fly on Mars
LIDAR specialist AEye to go public via SPAC, valuing it at $2bn News 2/19/2021Joining a number of LIDAR businesses that have used SPACs instead of IPOs
AiFi and Wundermart team up for checkout-less stores throughout Europe News 2/18/2021To start, 20 Wundermart locations will be fully automated using the OASIS platform
Bearing.ai comes out of stealth to optimize the shipping industry News 2/18/2021Lands large customers at sea
Peak says $21m funding round will help ‘level the playing field’ for AI in business News 2/18/2021The company runs a one-stop-shop for AI implementation
Vevo launches AI-powered ‘Moods’ to help align ads with music News 2/17/2021Enabling advertisers to choose between ‘fun,’ ‘heartfelt,’ ‘impassioned,’ and ‘empowering’
Chinese AI ecosystem is much larger than previously thought News 2/16/2021According to an AI-based analytics project
VW Group and Microsoft join forces to build autonomous cars News 2/15/2021As the car maker transforms into a “digital mobility provider”
Brain Corp’s sales surge as retailers turn to robots for cleaning News 2/12/2021Autonomous device OS developer partners with OEMs to build robots
Labelbox raises $40m to streamline data labeling News 2/12/2021The company says its platform reduces human effort by 80 percent
Hyundai’s autonomous TIGER concept sets sights on the moon News 2/12/2021The robo-vehicle combines legs and wheels
NeuReality emerges from stealth with $8m to accelerate AI at scale News 2/11/2021First product is expected to launch later this year
Dendra Systems’ ‘sky tractors’ rely on computer vision to restore degraded land News 2/10/2021Aerial seeding drones can plant up to 300,000 trees a day
Jigsaw says its AI-based comment moderation service now processes 500m requests a day News 2/9/2021Using machine learning to force trolls to be a little more creative
BP celebrates successful oil refinery self-driving trial News 2/9/2021Next, it plans for a permanent robo-vehicle deployment
Autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai raises another $100 million News 2/9/2021Few autonomous vehicle companies can rival Pony.ai’s funding to date
IBM becomes a Palantir reseller News 2/9/2021Plus Palantir signs deals with major oil and mining companies
RNIB and conversational AI vendor Alana partner on tools for people with sight loss News 2/8/2021The project aims to support more than two million people in the UK
Google’s smartphones to start measuring heart and breathing rates News 2/5/2021No wearables involved – everything is done via the camera
Canada says Clearview’s AI-based surveillance is illegal, asks to delete data News 2/5/2021This is a request, not an order – but the government might decide to pursue more aggressive action
AI-based cyber security outfit Darktrace reportedly eyes $5bn London IPO News 2/4/2021After seeing the demand skyrocket
RPA platform UiPath raises $750m in Series F funding News 2/4/2021The company could be close to an IPO
Ford signs up Google as cloud and AI partner News 2/4/2021“We plan to disrupt,” says VP for strategy and partnerships
Rackspace: The UK trails much of the world in AI uptake News 2/3/2021British companies cite poor data and a lack of expertise as barriers to implementation
Experiment tracking platform Weights & Biases raises $45m in funding News 2/3/2021The platform aims to bring machine learning practitioners out of ‘the dark ages’
Large dataset specialist Databricks raises $1bn, is now worth $28bn News 2/3/2021Tech giants line up to invest in “Data + AI” business
Wind River launches telco edge management platform, signs up Verizon News 2/2/2021Using AI to help control 5G networks
Researchers combine human brain cells and microchips in experimental AI architecture News 2/2/2021Neu-ChiP project aims to revolutionize computing by learning from nature
Researchers propose ‘liquid’ neural networks that learn on the job News 2/1/2021A more flexible approach to machine learning could aid better decision-making in autonomous driving and medical diagnosis
World Economic Forum launches foundation for ethical AI News 2/1/2021While the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation pumps $40m into AI for good
Autonomous drone and air taxi port ‘Air One’ set to open in the UK News 2/1/2021Its creators hope to eventually operate hundreds of similar sites
Jet Play claims its AI-based platform can develop video game concepts News 1/29/2021But the proof is in the pudding – and there is no pudding
Kao data center to host AI supercomputer for InstaDeep News 1/29/2021The company develops machine learning systems that can design proteins and circuit boards
Non-invasive test is using ML to diagnose prostate cancer News 1/28/2021The test only needs a drop of urine to work
Walmart plans modular fulfillment centers full of autonomous robots News 1/28/2021Alert Innovation’s Alphabot passes trial with flying colors
Hartford taps Tractable’s computer vision to speed up auto claims News 1/28/2021The AI system is claimed to be year, make, and model-agnostic
Hyundai introduces robot to Korean showrooms News 1/28/2021DAL-e has been designed with customer service in mind, and tweaked to serve in the pandemic
AI-driven research shows top FTSE 350 performers make tech a priority News 1/27/2021Accenture’s report-scanning algorithm indicates tech topics are becoming more important to businesses across all sectors
Edtech company Esme raises $7.5m to expand AI-driven learning platform News 1/27/2021The startup is already working with the likes of Oxford University
Chinese self-driving startup Uisee raises $150m from state-backed fund News 1/26/2021Company focuses on autonomous logistics and delivery vehicles
US continues to lead in AI but China is closing the gap News 1/25/2021The EU invests more than it used to, but not as much as it should