Chinese AI chipmaker Horizon endeavours to raise $700M to rival NVIDIA

AI chipmaker Horizon Robotics is seeking to raise $700 million in a new funding round.

Horizon is often seen as potentially becoming China’s equivalent of NVIDIA. The company is founded by Dr Kai Yu, a prominent industry figure with quite the credentials.

Yu led Baidu’s AI Research lab for three years, founded the Baidu Institute of Deep Learning, and launched the company’s autonomous driving business unit.

Furthermore, Yu has taught at Stanford...

22 December 2020 | Robotics

Sony has a new ‘AI robotics’ drone division called Airpeak

Sony’s latest division, Airpeak, is described as being “in the field of AI robotics” and will focus on next-generation drones.

Despite incidents of reckless flying, drones unlock huge opportunities. We regularly see beautiful photography and videography shot using drones—but, of course, they can do so much more.

Sony has built a stellar reputation in media capture. The company builds great cameras – both for itself and sensors it supplies to other manufacturers...

10 November 2020 | Robotics

Microsoft chief Brad Smith warns that killer robots are ‘unstoppable’

microsoft brad smith killer robots ai artificial intelligence risk terminator skynet

Microsoft chief Brad Smith issued a warning over the weekend that killer robots are ‘unstoppable’ and a new digital Geneva Convention is required.

Most sci-fi fans will think of Terminator when they hear of killer robots. In the classic film series, a rogue military AI called Skynet gained self-awareness after spreading to millions of servers around the world. Concluding that humans would attempt to shut it down, Skynet sought to exterminate all of mankind in the interest of...

23 September 2019 | Ethics & Society

Robert Downey Jr. pledges to use robotics and AI to clean the Earth

Hollywood legend Robert Downey Jr. is putting down his Iron Man suit and taking up the bigger challenge of cleaning up the Earth.

Iron Man’s on-screen nemesis Thanos had a radical way of reducing humanity’s impact on the Earth, but Downey Jr. hopes to use a more humane solution.

Appearing on-stage at Amazon’s new re:MARS (Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics and Space) conference in Las Vegas, Downey Jr. launched an initiative called Footprint...

5 June 2019 | Robotics

NHS report suggests AI will give docs more patient time

A report from the NHS suggests the impending technological ‘revolution’ in healthcare will increase the amount of time doctors can spend with patients.

NHS doctors are overburdened; a problem only getting worse from a growing and ageing population, and not enough funding.

The report was led by US academic Eric Topol and calls for a reskilling of NHS staff to harness new digital skills. AI and robotics can reduce the burden on healthcare professionals, but only if...

11 February 2019 | Healthcare

Pepper the robot will testify about AI in front of UK Parliament

https://www.ai-expo.net/Softbank’s robot Pepper is set to be the first non-human to testify in front of the UK Parliament to give evidence about the fourth industrial revolution. Pepper will be attempting to explain topics such as AI and robotics to The Commons Education Select Committee. "If we've got the march of the robots, we perhaps need the march of the robots to our select committee to give evidence," Committee chair Robert Halfon told Tes. "The fourth industrial revolution is...

12 October 2018 | Legislation & Government

Experts warn of AI disasters leading to research lockdown

Experts from around the world have warned of potential AI disasters that could lead to a subsequent lockdown of research. Andrew Moore, the new head of AI at Google Cloud, is one such expert who has warned of scenarios that would lead to public backlash and restrictions that would prevent AI from reaching its full potential. Back in November, Moore spoke at the Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Initiative. In his keynote, he said:

"If an AI disaster...

13 September 2018 | Legislation & Government

Samsung continues global AI centre rollout with NY opening

The Big Apple is the latest city to be graced with a Samsung AI centre as part of the South Korean giant's international push. Samsung's New York AI centre will be led by Sebastian Seung, Executive Vice President of Samsung Research. Each of Samsung's AI centres focuses on different areas of research. The New York branch will be researching the important field of AI in robotics. Hyun-suk Kim, President and Head of Samsung Research, said:

“What we need now is...

10 September 2018 | Research

AI robots will solve underwater infrastructure damage checks

Robots will be paired with a versatile AI that can quickly adapt to unpredictable conditions when examining underwater infrastructure. Some of a nation’s most vital infrastructure hides beneath the water. The difficulty in accessing most of it, however, makes important damage checks infrequent. Sending humans down requires significant training and can take several weeks to recover due to the often extreme depths. There are far more underwater structures than skilled divers to inspect...

20 July 2018 | Robotics

Scientists pledge not to build AIs which kill without oversight

Thousands of scientists have signed a pledge not to have any role in building AIs which have the ability to kill without human oversight. When many think of AI, they at least give some passing thought of rogue AIs seen in sci-fi movies such as the infamous Skynet in Terminator. In an ideal world, AI would never be used in any military capacity. However, it was almost certainly be developed one way or another because of the advantage it would provide to an adversary without similar...

18 July 2018 | Ethics & Society