Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
‘The Going Rate for Self-Driving Talent Is $10 Million Per Person’
September 17th, 2016The business of eliminating millions of jobs is today’s version of the moonshot or the Manhattan Project. Via: Recode: “Uber has just bought a half-a-year-old company [Otto] with 70 employees for almost $700 million,” Thrun said. “If you look at GM, they spent $1 billion on its acquisition of Cruise. These are mostly talent acquisitions. […]
Pittsburgh: Fears of Uber’s Human Drivers Become a Reality
September 14th, 2016Obviously, the mass deployment of this technology is still at least a few years out, but I’d be very surprised if it didn’t happen within a decade in major cities. I think LIDAR will have to be used. Currently, LIDAR is very expensive and cumbersome. Once the MIT/DARPA LIDAR-on-a-chip gadget emerges in bulk, watch out. […]
HUD Video of Auto-GCAS Saving Unconscious F-16 Pilot
September 13th, 2016Via: Aviation Week: This newly declassified video footage from the head-up-display of a U.S. Air Force Arizona Air National Guard F-16 records the dramatic moment when its unconscious pilot is saved from certain death by the aircraft’s Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS).
Google Drones Will Deliver Chipotle Burritos at Virginia Tech
September 8th, 2016Via: WTVR: Project Wing, a drone project in Google’s X lab, will begin testing drone delivery of burritos at Virginia Tech later this month. Google expects to conduct a few hundred deliveries over the course of several days or potentially weeks. Burritos won’t be delivered just anywhere on campus. Testing will be confined to a […]
Pentagon Working Through ‘Terminator Conundrum’
September 6th, 2016Via: USNI News: The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Defense Department is working through the problems of future robotic weapon systems – so-called thinking weapons. “We’re not talking about cruise missiles or mines,” but “robotic systems to do lethal harm… a Terminator without a conscience,” a reference to the 1984 […]
Ship Operators Explore Autonomous Sailing
August 31st, 2016Via: Wall Street Journal: “All hands on deck” may become a thing of the past. Ship designers, their operators and regulators are gearing up for a future in which cargo vessels sail the oceans with minimal or even no crew. Advances in automation and ample bandwidth even far offshore could herald the biggest change in […]
Driverless Taxi Firm Eyes Operations in 10 Cities by 2020
August 29th, 2016Via: AFP: A US software firm which chose Singapore for the world’s first public trial of driverless taxis hopes to be operating in 10 Asian and US cities by 2020, an executive said Monday. Doug Parker, nuTonomy’s chief operating officer, said the firm is eyeing tests by early next year in three other Asian countries […]
Amazon and the CIA Want to Teach AI to Interpret Satellite Imagery
August 25th, 2016Via: MIT Technology Review: Why can’t computers watch the Earth from above and automatically map our roads, buildings, and trash heaps? Satellite operator DigitalGlobe is teaming up with Amazon, the venture arm of the CIA, and chipmaker Nvidia to try to make it happen. In a joint project, DigitalGlobe today released satellite imagery depicting the […]
New Zealand: Domino’s to Test Pizza Delivery Drones
August 24th, 2016Via: NZ Herald: Aerial pizza delivery may sound futuristic but Domino’s has been given the green light to test New Zealand pizza delivery via drones. The fast food chain has partnered with drone business Flirtey to launch the first commercial drone delivery service in the world, starting later this year.
Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month
August 18th, 2016Via: Bloomberg: Starting later this month, Uber will allow customers in downtown Pittsburgh to summon self-driving cars from their phones, crossing an important milestone that no automotive or technology company has yet achieved. Google, widely regarded as the leader in the field, has been testing its fleet for several years, and Tesla Motors offers Autopilot, […]
