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Google’s chief executive called this week for a balanced approach to regulating artificial intelligence, telling a European audience that the technology brings benefits but also “negative consequences.” Sundar Pichai’s comments come as lawmakers and governments seriously consider putting limits on how artificial intelligence is used. “There is no question in my mind that artificial intelligence needs to be regulated. The question is how best to approach this,” Pichai said, according to a transcript of his speech at a Brussel-based think tank. He noted that there’s an important role for governments to play and that as the European Union and the U.S. start drawing up their own approaches to regulation, “international alignment” of any eventual rules will be critical. He did not provide specific proposals. Pichai spoke on the same day…

Fiat Chrysler is in talks with the Taiwanese company Foxconn to develop and manufacture battery-powered vehicles, the U.S.-Italian automaker said. Fiat Chrysler is in the process of merging with France’s PSA Peugeot, which is 12% owned by Chinese company Dongfeng Motor Co. Both Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot have lagged in developing electric powertrains and also have been struggling to increase sales in China, the world’s biggest auto market. It was unclear what impact Fiat Chrysler’s proposed joint venture with Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co., Ltd., would have on the wider merger, which is expected to be completed in the next year or so. If a deal with Foxconn is reached, a joint venture would focus first on China, the biggest market for electric cars with 1.2…

When British police used facial recognition cameras to monitor crowds arriving for a soccer match in Wales, some fans protested by covering their faces. In a sign of the technology’s divisiveness, even the head of a neighboring police force said he opposed it. The South Wales police deployed vans equipped with the technology outside Cardiff stadium this week as part of a long-running trial in which officers scanned people in real time and detained anyone blacklisted from attending for past misbehavior. Rights activists and team supporters staged a protest before the game between Cardiff City and Swansea City, wearing masks, balaclavas or scarves around their faces. “It’s disproportionate to the risk,” said Vince Alm, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Association Wales, which helped organized the protest. “Football fans feel as…

Music To Be Murdered By Eminem The elder statesman of rap is growing old disgracefully, but showing no shame about it. For better or worse, he’s venting frustrations left, right and centre in this surprise release, his 11th studio album. Collaborators including Juice Wrld and Ed Sheeran join him for the ride. FIVE FACTS: 1. The album’s title and cover art are both intended to echo those of Jeff Alexander’s 1958 album, Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By. 2. Sheeran guests on the track “Those Kinda Nights”, while Juice Wrld features on “Godzilla”. 3. Other collaborators on the album include Black Thought, Skylar Grey and Don Toliver. 4. The lead single, “Darkness”, was released on January 17, 2020 and focuses on the 2017 Las Vegas shooting from the…

Netflix added 8.8 million worldwide subscribers during its fourth quarter, surpassing expectations at a time when it faces heated competition from new streaming challengers such as Disney. Netflix had said it expected to add 7.6 million subscribers, and analysts thought the service would fare even better. The increase pales slightly next to the 8.9 million subscribers the service added in the fourth quarter of 2018. The stock dropped about 2.5 percent in after-hours trading, likely due to a cautious forecast for its first quarter. The company — a pioneer in producing streaming media and binge-worthy shows — now boasts more than 167 million subscribers worldwide, bolstered by a list of well-received movies and shows released late last year including Oscar nominees “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story.” The boost helps reaffirm…

The phone of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was hacked after receiving a file sent from an account used by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, United Nations experts said Wednesday. The two experts called for an “immediate investigation” by the United States into information that suggests that Bezos’ phone was likely hacked after he received an MP4 video file sent from the Saudi prince’s WhatsApp account in May 2018, after the two exchanged phone numbers at a dinner in California. The file was sent to Bezos’ phone five months before Saudi critic and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi government agents inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey in October. At the time, the crown prince was being widely hailed for ushering in major…

A shortage of mental health professionals in South Dakota, especially in rural areas, could be addressed by having trained counselors remotely assist police officers using readily available technology, lawmakers said. Lawmakers are considering a package of eight bills this year aimed at addressing shortfalls in mental health care in South Dakota that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, has the seventh highest suicide rate in the nation. In one possible solution, a police officer responding to someone suffering a mental health crisis could use a tablet to make a video call with someone trained in de-escalating mental crises. “This is like a mental health ambulance coming virtually into the home,” Sen. Deb Soholt, a Sioux Falls Republican, said at a House committee meeting. Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer, a…

For two years running, California’s wildfires have sent plumes of smoke across Silicon Valley. So far, that hasn’t spurred much tech innovation aimed at addressing extreme-weather disasters associated with climate change. It’s true that tech companies from enterprise software-maker Salesforce to financial-technology firm Stripe have pushed to dramatically reduce their climate impact. Individual investors and small investment firms have stepped in to fund emerging efforts around cleantech — a term used broadly to describe technology that looks to manage human impact on the environment. And the catastrophic Australian wildfires have spurred additional interest. But among startups who provide much of tech innovation, things are still moving slowly. That’s partly a lingering hangover from a cleantech investment bust almost a decade ago. But the technology itself can also take years to…

The deadly shooting of three U.S. sailors at a Navy installation in December could reignite a long-simmering fight between the federal government and tech companies over data privacy and encryption. As part of its probe into the violent incident, deemed a terrorist act by the government, the Justice Department insists that investigators need access to data from two locked and encrypted iPhones that belonged to the alleged gunman, a Saudi aviation student. The problem: Apple designed those iPhones with encryption technology so secure that the company itself can’t read private messages. The squabble raises two big questions. First, is Apple required to help the government hack its own security technology when requested? Second, is government pressure on this issue the prelude for a broader effort to outlaw encryption technology the…

There are few pieces of technology that excite us quite like drones. Though these unmanned ariel marvels aren’t new, it’s only now that we’re realizing their full potential across virtually every aspect of our lives, including entertainment, public services, travel, and distribution… SKY-HIGH ENTERTAINMENT Over the past ten years, drones have transformed the film, television, and photography industries, unlocking new possibilities, cutting costs, and allowing directors to show off the world from above without relying on expensive cranes and machinery. And thanks to increasingly advanced technology, drones have the potential to become an even greater part of the entertainment industry than they are today, transforming the way we create content. By attaching a camera to a drone, producers have more options than ever, filming from angles that would otherwise be…

Airlines might soon be able to turn away cats, rabbits and all animals other than dogs that passengers try to bring with them in the cabin. The U.S. Transportation Department on Wednesday announced plans to tighten rules around service animals. The biggest change would be that only dogs that are trained to help passengers with psychiatric needs would qualify. Airlines say the number of support animals has been growing dramatically in recent years, and they have lobbied to tighten the rules. They also imposed their own restrictions in response to passengers who show up at the airport with pigs, pheasants, turkeys, snakes and other unusual pets. The U.S. airline industry trade group praised the tighter rules. Industry officials believe many that hundreds of thousands of passengers scam the system each…

The third edition of the “Bad Boys” franchise starts as it must do: With a gleaming Porsche swerving at impossible speeds through Miami traffic under the expert control of Will Smith, with Martin Lawrence growing very sick beside him. The engine snarls, the car repeatedly fishtails and strains. Smith looks over to his partner with alarm and points out that the interior of the sports car is hand-stitched leather. Lawrence’s cheeks bulge; he’s about to hurl: “You better drink it,” the driver barks. All is good. We’ve again got Smith’s cocksure Detective Mike Lowrey beside Lawrence’s more cautious Marcus Burnett. There’s the customary playful banter between opposites. We’ve got sunny, titillating Miami and we are inches from death but really never that close. We’re in our ’90s comfort zone. You…

Astronauts launched by SpaceX in coming months will ride to their rockets in high fashion. Instead of using a retro-style astrovan, SpaceX crews will travel to the launch pad in Tesla sports cars. Elon Musk, who also runs both SpaceX and the electric car company, used Teslas to get around Kennedy Space Center for last Sunday’s launch escape test. No one was aboard for the test flight, just two mannequins. But during a launch dress rehearsal, the two NASA astronauts assigned to the first SpaceX crew got a lift to the pad in a Tesla Model X. The sleek white and black spacesuits worn by astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken for last Friday’s practice matched the white Tesla roadster with wing-like doors waiting for them outside Kennedy’s crew quarters.…

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An ad in the Waze navigation app is misdirecting motorists headed to Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa into the wilderness of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, police said. Jackson Township police posted on Facebook that officers in recent weeks have had to help motorists who followed the directions into the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, where they became stuck on unpaved roads. “The wildlife area is comprised of more than 12,000 acres, mainly located in Jackson and Plumsted townships, which is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) away from the actual Borgata Casino in Atlantic City,” police said. The Borgata is off the Atlantic City Expressway. According to police, the problem stems from an orange ad logo in the Waze app. The address on the ad is correct, police said,…

General Motors’ self-driving car company will attempt to deliver on its long-running promise to provide a more environmentally friendly ride-hailing service in an unorthodox vehicle designed to eliminate the need for human operators to transport people around crowded cities. The service still being developed by GM’s Cruise subsidiary will rely on a boxy, electric-powered vehicle called “Origin” that was unveiled in San Francisco amid much fanfare. It looks like a cross between a mini-van and sports utility vehicle with one huge exception — it won’t have any steering wheel or brakes. The Origin will accommodate up to four passengers at a time, although a single customer will be able summon it for a ride just as people already can ask for a car with a human behind the wheel from…

Major central banks have joined together to explore whether they should issue digital currencies as the use of cash declines and more people turn to electronic forms of paying. The study group is made up of the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank. They said in a statement Tuesday that they will assess the potential case for digital currencies in their home jurisdictions. The Swedish central bank has already studied the issue for several years and has commissioned a pilot project as the use of cash declines in that country. No decision has been made. Existing cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are not suited for paying for things because they can fluctuate sharply in…

Black and Blue Army veteran Alicia West (Naomie Harris) becomes a cop in her hometown of New Orleans, but soon witnesses – and accidentally films – a murder by corrupt cops. With help from store owner Milo Jackson (Tyrese Gibson), she heads off on the run from the vengeful criminals. FIVE FACTS: 1. This film has its origins in Peter A. Dowling’s speculative screenplay Exposure, which production company Screen Gems announced it had acquired in August 2017. 2. However, the film’s name was changed from Exposure to Black and Blue the following year. 3. Aptly for a Sony Pictures film, much of the footage was captured on Sony CineAlta cameras and Sony Xperia 1 smartphones. 4. Major League Baseball player Mitch Moreland of the Boston Red Sox appears in the…

The men bringing James Dean back to life for a forthcoming film are aiming not just to give his digital likeness a role, but a whole new career. Dean’s planned appearance in the Vietnam War movie “Finding Jack,” and the possibility of future parts, comes as digital de-aging and duplication of real actors has tipped from cinematic trick into common practice. And it’s giving new life to old arguments about the immortality and dignity of the dead. “Our intentions are to create the virtual being of James Dean. That’s not only for one movie, but going to be used for many movies and also gaming and virtual reality,”said Travis Cloyd, CEO of Worldwide XR, who is leading the design on the Dean project.“Our focus is on building the ultimate James…

SpaceX completed the last big test of its crew capsule before launching astronauts in the next few months, mimicking an emergency escape shortly after liftoff last Sunday. No one was aboard for the wild ride in the skies above Cape Canaveral, just two mannequins. The nine-minute flight ended with the Dragon crew capsule parachuting safely into the Atlantic, after separating and speeding away from the exploding rocket. “I’m super fired up,” Elon Musk, the company’s founder and chief executive, told reporters. “It’s just going to be wonderful to get astronauts back into orbit from American soil after almost a decade of not being able to do so. That’s just super exciting.” NASA astronauts have not launched from the U.S. since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. Musk and NASA…

Boeing said that it doesn’t expect federal regulators to approve its changes to the grounded 737 Max until this summer, several months longer than the company was saying just a few weeks ago. That timetable — the latest of several delays in the plane’s approval process — will create more headaches for airlines by pushing the Max’s return further into the peak summer travel season or possibly beyond it. Boeing shares fell nearly 6% at one point, to a 52-week low, and closed down 3.4%. The company said regulators will decide when the Max flies again but that it periodically gives airlines and suppliers its best estimate of when that will happen. “This updated estimate is informed by our experience to date with the certification process,” Boeing said in a…

Japan’s prime minister said this week that his country will form a space defense unit to protect itself from potential threats as rivals develop missiles and other technology and the new unit will work closely with its American counterpart recently launched by President Donald Trump. The Space Domain Mission Unit will start in April as part of Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force, Prime Minister Shinzo Abesaid in a policy speech marking the start of the year’s parliamentary session. He said Japan must also defend itself from threats in cyberspace and from electromagnetic interference against Japanese satellites. Concerns are growing that China and Russia are seeking ways to interfere with, disable or destroy satellites. “We will drastically bolster capability and system in order to secure superiority” in those areas, Abe said. The…