Artificial intelligence

News articles, analyses and commentary about machines that mimic human cognitive functions such as learning and problem solving. This also covers chatbots, algorithms, consumer products and Big Data analysis that make use of AI.

China to boost its ‘national team’ to meet goal of global AI leadership by 2030

China calls for help to boost ‘national team’ to meet 2030 deadline in AI

The Chinese government is recruiting private companies and research institutions with “core technologies” to lead key projects in the development of next generation artificial intelligence technologies as part of its goal to close the AI tech gap with the US by 2030.

15 Nov 2018 - 2:33pm 1

Visitors walk past a stand with artificial intelligence security cameras using facial recognition technology at the 14th China International Exhibition on Public Safety and Security in Beijing on October 24. Photo: AFP

Why China’s top-down approach can only take tech innovation so far

15 Nov 2018 - 2:43pm 20

China’s elite Peking University to build a new AI-focused campus as competition with US heats up

Peking University to build AI-focused campus

13 Nov 2018 - 10:56pm 2

The impressive new MacBook Air – the first redesign for the models in years – is available in three different colours – ‘Space Grey’ (left), gold (centre) and silver. Photo: Apple

13 things I love – and hate – about my new Apple MacBook Air

13 Nov 2018 - 11:03am

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, which is reportedly looking to open offices for up to 50,000 staff in the New York borough of Queens. Photo: Bloomberg

Jeff Bezos’ Amazon office to move to New York’s Queens district

12 Nov 2018 - 3:30pm

China reveals world’s first AI anchor

China reveals world’s first AI anchor

10 Nov 2018 - 4:56am

Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivers the keynote address of the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, California. Google says it has fired 48 employees for sexual harassment during the past two years and sent them away without a severance package. Photo: AP

Google CEO says censorship is done to comply with laws

9 Nov 2018 - 11:20pm 6

The ILIFE W400 Floor Washing Robot (above), which uses four different techniques to clean and wash floors in the home, is just one of the new hi-tech devices that can be programmed to do the household chores while we relax.

How to keep your smart robo-cleaner on the right path

9 Nov 2018 - 6:26am

Xinhua News Agency debuts AI anchors in partnership with search engine Sogou

Can China’s new AI news anchors give Anderson Cooper a run for his money?

8 Nov 2018 - 10:47pm 4

Huawei’s Ken Hu says company has little to do with Beijing’s ambitious 2025 blueprint

Huawei executive says company has little to do with Beijing’s 2025 plan

8 Nov 2018 - 8:07am 6

A screen grab from the arms-control advocacy video Slaughterbots. Photo: YouTube

China’s brightest children recruited to develop AI ‘killer bots’

8 Nov 2018 - 11:34pm 73

The next annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, looks set to be dominated by discussions of the fourth industrial revolution and its effects on communities around the world. Photo: Bloomberg

Global efforts the only way to make the fourth industrial revolution work

7 Nov 2018 - 11:38pm 1

Numerous images viewed using the photo app, VSCO, on the screen of the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is Apple’s best tablet ever. Photo: Kif Leswing

What two extra features would make Apple’s new iPad Pro perfect?

7 Nov 2018 - 2:11pm 2

The new 12-inch iPad Pro – unveiled in New York on Tuesday – can cope with processor-intensive tasks, such as augmented reality (AR) applications, but one analysts predicts next year’s version will feature a different high-quality 3D camera for AR use. Photo: Kif Leswing

After the 2018 Apple iPad Pro, what will the 2019 models be like?

5 Nov 2018 - 11:33am

China and US set for arms race in AI that will lead to respective spheres of dominance, says expert

China and US ‘in AI arms race that will lead to respective spheres of dominance’

5 Nov 2018 - 2:19pm 6

HR guru Laszlo Bock’s start-up Humu uses AI to help people be more human at work

This start-up uses AI to help people act more human at work. Seriously

2 Nov 2018 - 3:31pm

Baidu, China’s biggest internet search service provider, is providing its open-source autonomous driving software Apollo to a slew of self-driving passenger car initiatives in the world’s biggest car market. Photo: Zigor Aldama

Can China seize car market leadership if connectivity, not combustion, is key?

1 Nov 2018 - 9:52pm 2

Tencent sees focus of internet development shifting from consumers to business in next two decades

Tencent says internet development to centre on businesses in next 20 years

1 Nov 2018 - 10:05pm

Chinese President Xi Jinping says China must develop, control and use artificial intelligence to secure the country’s future. Photo: AFP

Develop and control: Xi urges China to use AI in race for tech future

31 Oct 2018 - 11:15pm 14

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook (inset) launched the company’s two new iPad Pro models – with updated designs for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch screens and Face ID – which have jettisoned the home button and headphone jack, at an event in New York on Tuesday. Photo: Kif Leswing

What are the big changes to Apple’s new iPad Pro line-up?

31 Oct 2018 - 5:35pm

Apple revamps iPad with iPhone features in tablet revival

Apple spruces up iPads in new tablet drive

31 Oct 2018 - 10:49am

China's Baidu tops revenue estimates as company pivots towards short video, mini programs and AI

Baidu beats revenue estimates on stronger app traffic

31 Oct 2018 - 1:09pm

The findings of an MIT Media Lab study show consumers, manufacturers and policymakers need to discuss the ethical principles to be programmed into self-driving vehicles

Chinese prefer killing pedestrians over passengers when autonomous cars fail

29 Oct 2018 - 3:00pm 13

The Qualcomm Inc. booth at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai in Shanghai, China, in June. Photo: Bloomberg

China rattles Washington’s tech debates

28 Oct 2018 - 10:27am 61

Software analysed 15,000 classic paintings to understand the rules of portraiture, before creating the new image by itself
The French collective Obvious is behind the project, intended to democratise art with the use of artificial intelligence

An algorithm painted this portrait. Christie’s sold it for US$432,500

26 Oct 2018 - 4:13pm 3

Facial recognition and fingerprint matching being tested at Zhuhai border crossing of world’s longest bridge
AI-backed system can complete immigration clearance in under a second with up to 99.5 per cent accuracy, according to technology supplier Intellifusion

China tests facial recognition at Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

24 Oct 2018 - 1:15pm 25

Employees in the Amazon Web Services cloud-computing unit met with the federal agency in California to present its artificial intelligence tools
Those tools include Rekognition, which uses artificial intelligence to quickly identify people in photos and videos.

Amazon pitches facial recognition technology to US immigration authorities

24 Oct 2018 - 9:00am 1

Baidu system claims to be first with ‘anticipation capabilities and controllable latency’
The AI model is trained with data including similar sentence structures

Baidu to challenge Google in simultaneous translation field

24 Oct 2018 - 6:03am 2

Artificial intelligence firm TuSimple looks to expand its autonomous truck fleet to 500 by next year
TuSimple is working on a new financing round after raising a total of US$83 million since it was founded in 2015

This driverless tech start-up aims to replace 15 million truckers in US, China

24 Oct 2018 - 6:31pm 7

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