Mark Zuckerberg insists Facebook is not a media company August 29, 2016 Facebook is a technology company, not a media company, despite a move towards live video, working closely with traditional publishers and a recent furore over trending topics on the platform. Speaking at a live question and answer session in Italy, Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook is providing the tools for people to be able to share information but is not itself [...]
Britain must be boldly pro-enterprise to master the Fourth Industrial Revolution September 7, 2016 Business leaders and politicians gathered in Davos at this year’s World Economic Forum annual meeting were told a revolution had started. Not a bloody revolution, but an economic and strategic one, with its impact felt across every industry and every country. This unprecedented, disruptive fusion of digital, physical and biological technological developments has been dubbed [...]
The European Union wants to give robots “electronic persons” status June 22, 2016 Say what you like about the European Union, but its timing is impeccable. The EU – yes, the organisation currently on trial by the population of its third-largest member – has just issued a draft report on robotics. Spoiler: it's nuts. The report, designed to provide recommendations to the EU's Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics, [...]
How did Brits deal with referendum uncertainty? By drinking beer, it seems July 28, 2016 Britain's beer drinkers were not put off their pints by the upcoming EU referendum. New figures show an extra 31 million pints were bought between April and June this year, compared with the same period in 2015. British beer sales were up 1.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, according to the British [...]
Rise of the robots: How is the MBA responding? June 29, 2016 Do robots need MBAs? Since the application of robotics is largely confined to manufacturing and AI is still in its infancy, the answer now is obviously no. But in 30 years’ time? One LinkedIn author recently argued that business schools should be proactive and develop a “Robot MBA” for a future of intelligent non-human workers. Silliness [...]
Wage against the machine: The robots are coming October 18, 2016 Depositing money at the bank, booking a doctor’s appointment, or ordering a pint of beer may have little in common today, but it’s highly likely that, in the near future, basic jobs such as these will be carried out by robots. Existing robotic and artificial intelligence technologies are quickly eliminating a vast number of low-level [...]
Facebook will stop users blocking adverts August 9, 2016 Facebook is the latest media company to fight the rise of ad blockers, by serving ads to those who use the software. It will force ads to appear on the desktop version of the social network even if they use the popular software, said Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth. It will also give users greater control over [...]
Demis Hassabis of Google’s DeepMind on AI: Three things he said about Siri-like smart assistants, AI helping doctors and a possible killer robot future September 16, 2015 Demis Hassabis, founder of the British artificial intelligence company DeepMind which was snapped up by Google for millions, has spoken about the implications of a future with AI, from healthcare to smart assistants – but warned misusing the technology could do harm. Speaking in a rare interview with the BBC, he addressed warnings made by [...]
10 London startups named the hottest in Europe August 31, 2016 Dinner delivery startup Deliveroo and and an artificial intelligence company acquired by Twitter have both been named among the hottest startups in Europe to emerge from London. Top entrepreneurs and investors from across Europe have chosen the startups, along with a further eight, to compile a top 10 list of the capital's newest tech companies making a name for themselves, [...]
Google splashes $60m on Chinese AI startup Mobvoi signalling return to China after five years October 20, 2015 Google has splashed a reported $60m on a Chinese startup specialising in Artificial Intelligence, taking a minority stake in the company. Mobvoi, founded in 2012 by former Google employees, makes Chinese language voice recognition software which is available on Android, Android Wear, and Google Glass devices as well as iOS and Wechat. While the exact amount has not [...]