Shamayita Acharya

BEIJING (Reuters) -Tesla Inc said on Friday it has started selling China-made Model Y sport-utility vehicles (SUV) and will deliver them to customers this month, as the U.S. electric vehicle maker expands sales in the world's biggest car market. China, which offers hefty subsidies for electric vehicles as it seeks to cut down on pollution from petrol or diesel cars, is key to Tesla's global strategy. It is expanding its Shanghai car factory, where it also builds its Model 3 sedans. In October, it started exporting Model 3 vehicles to Europe. It is also adding manufacturing capacity for EV chargers in Shanghai and expanding its sales and service network around the country. It sold over 20,000 vehicles in November. The starting price of a Model Y in China is now 339,900 yuan ($52,091.95), according to its China website. ... Read More on Datafloq

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's drone delivery unit Wing criticized Trump administration rules issued this week mandating broadcast-based remote identification of drones, saying they should be revised to allow for internet-based tracking. On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued rules that will allow small drones to fly over people and at night in the United States and mandate remote identification technology for nearly all drones. The rules eliminate requirements that drones, known formally as unmanned aerial vehicles, be connected to the internet to transmit location data but requires them to broadcast remote ID messages via radio frequency broadcast. "This approach creates barriers to compliance and will have unintended negative privacy impacts for businesses and consumers," Wing said Thursday in a blog post, adding "an observer tracking ... Read More on Datafloq

By John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of Bitcoin topped $29,000 on Thursday for the first time, with the digital currency almost quadrupling in value this year amid heightened interest from investors big and small alike. The world's most popular cryptocurrency touched $29,300 before pulling back, most recently down 0.67% at $28,774.36. It has surged by nearly half since breaking $20,000 for the first time on Dec. 16. Bitcoin's potential for quick gains, as well as expectations it could become a mainstream payment method, has attracted demand from larger U.S. investors, as well as from traders who normally stick to equities. "You can buy a stock like Amazon, you can buy a stock like Apple, and you know what you got," said Dennis Dick, a proprietary trader ... Read More on Datafloq

By Raphael Satter and Joseph Menn WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The hacking group behind the SolarWinds compromise was able to break into Microsoft Corp and access some of its source code, Microsoft said on Thursday, something experts said sent a worrying signal about the spies' ambition. Source code - the underlying set of instructions that run a piece of software or operating system - is typically among a technology company's most closely guarded secrets and Microsoft has historically been particularly careful about protecting it. It is not clear how much or what parts of Microsoft's source code repositories the hackers were able to access, but the disclosure suggests that the hackers who used software company SolarWinds as a springboard to break into sensitive U.S. government networks also had an interest in discovering the inner workings of Microsoft products as well. ... Read More on Datafloq

It’s no secret that the food and beverage industry has a less-than-spectacular environmental record. Food and agriculture account for 26% of global emissions and 70% of freshwater withdrawals. The world needs this sector, but it also needs sustainability, so something has to change.Much of the industry’s environmental impact is the result of waste, either in production or consumption. If it could reduce this waste, it could become far more environmentally friendly. A circular economy would help it achieve that goal.Here’s a closer look at how circular economies lead to sustainability and how food and beverage companies could implement them.What Is a Circular Economy?Traditional economies follow a straight line, flowing from production to consumption to disposal. Given a finite amount of resources, this method will eventually deplete anything that can’t regenerate fast enough. By contrast, a circular economy aims to reuse and recycle instead of generating more trash. It flows in a circl

By Kane Wu HONG KONG (Reuters) - Coronavirus-spurred growth in the technology sector will help drive M&A activity in the Asia Pacific next year, bankers and lawyers predict, with the potential easing of Sino-U.S. tensions likely to revive Chinese outbound investment. Deals involving Asia Pacific firms totalled $1.2 trillion in 2020, up 12% from 2019. Seven of the year's 10 largest transactions were announced in the third quarter, which in total accounted for 40% of the year's deals by value. High technology and telecommunications companies surged to a 23% share of deal value, up from 14% last year, while retail and consumer products and services firms also reported growth. "COVID has dramatically accelerated digitalization, e-commerce and fintech," said Jung Min, co-head of merger and acquisitions (M&A) at Goldman Sachs in ... Read More on Datafloq

By Julie Zhu HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese regulators are reviewing equity investments held by Ant Group Co Ltd in dozens of companies, three people with knowledge of the matter said, intensifying a crackdown on billionaire Jack Ma's financial technology empire. Regulators are considering whether to instruct Ant to divest some of its investments, mainly in technology and fintech start-ups, if they violate any rules such as creating unfair competition in the market, one of the three sources said. Any enforced divestments would deprive the group of potentially lucrative investments, compounding existing regulatory pressure to revamp its business structure and put up more capital for its key consumer lending business. Divestments would also significantly scale back Ant's influence over the country's fast-growing fintech industry, where it has sought synergies with ... Read More on Datafloq

By Pei Li HONG KONG (Reuters) - Apple removed 39,000 game apps on its China store Thursday, the biggest removal ever in a single day, as it set year-end as deadline for all game publishers to obtain a licence. The takedowns come amid a crackdown on unlicensed games by Chinese authorities. Including the 39,000 games, Apple removed more than 46,000 apps in total from its store on Thursday. Games affected by the sweep included Ubisoft title Assassin's Creed Identity and NBA 2K20, according to research firm Qimai. Qimai also said only 74 of the top 1,500 paid games on Apple store survived the purge. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The unprecedented cyber attack on U.S. government agencies reported this month may have started earlier than last spring as previously believed, a U.S. senator involved in cybersecurity said on Wednesday. U.S. investigators originally thought that the attack on government agencies and private industry targets began in March or April, including breaches of Treasury, State, Commerce and Energy Departments. State-backed Russian hackers were identified as the suspects. Russia has denied involvement. "The initial burrowing in may have started earlier," Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who serves as Vice-Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee told Reuters in an interview. Warner said extensive investigations of the hack were active but that so far the U.S. government does not have hard evidence that classified government secrets were ... Read More on Datafloq

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ticketmaster LLC will pay a $10 million criminal fine to avoid prosecution on U.S. charges it repeatedly accessed the computer systems of a rival whose assets its parent Live Nation Entertainment Inc later purchased. The fine is part of a three-year deferred prosecution agreement between Ticketmaster and the U.S. Department of Justice, which was disclosed at a Wednesday hearing before U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie in Brooklyn federal court. Ticketmaster's agreement resolves five criminal counts including wire fraud, conspiracy and computer intrusion. It also requires the Beverly Hills, California-based company to maintain compliance and ethics procedures designed to detect and prevent computer-related theft. Ticketmaster primarily sells and distributes tickets to ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it would acquire podcast startup Wondery, aiming to beef up non-musical content on its Amazon Music app. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the firms were in deal talks, pegging Wondery at a valuation of more than $300 million. Amazon is relatively a late entrant to the booming podcast space, a key area of focus for Spotify Technology, which has been investing in big names in an effort to become the Netflix of audio content. Wondery, which houses popular podcasts like "Dirty John", "Dr. Death", and "Business Wars", has about 20 million monthly unique listeners, according to a Variety report. Last month, Bloomberg News reported that both Apple Inc and Sony Music Entertainment have held talks about acquiring ... Read More on Datafloq

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia and South Korean firm LG Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a $9.8 billion electric vehicle battery investment deal, the head of Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board said on Wednesday. The deal was signed on Dec. 18 and would also see LG collaborate with other companies, including Hyundai, the board's head, Bahlil Lahadalia, told a news conference, adding that the deal includes investments across the EV supply chain. Bahlil said the agreement "makes Indonesia the first country in the world to integrate the electric battery industry from mining to (producing) electric car lithium batteries." (Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Martin Petty) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday dismissed Apple Inc's copyright infringement claims against a Florida startup whose software helps security researchers find vulnerabilities in Apple products including the iPhone. U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith ruled in favor of Corellium LLC, saying its software emulating the iOS operating system that runs on the iPhone and iPad amounted to "fair use" because it was "transformative" and helped developers find security flaws. Apple accused Corellium of essentially replicating iOS to create "virtual" iOS-operated devices, whose "sole function" was to run unauthorized copies of the system on non-Apple hardware. But the Fort Lauderdale-based judge said Corellium "adds something new to iOS" by letting users see and halt running processes, take live snapshots, and conduct other operations. ... Read More on Datafloq

The personal care industry has always been one to embrace trends and push them forward. Today, across all sectors, one of the most pervasive trends is one of technological transformation. Beauty and self-care companies have dived headfirst into this movement as the industry now stands on the edge of a new, digital era.In 2018, L’Oreal announced plans to become the number one beauty tech company, departing from a focus on beauty alone. This pivot is representative of the sector as a whole, which is becoming increasingly tech-centric. Here are five examples of cutting-edge technology trends personal care companies are pursuing.Hyper-PersonalizationOffering a product line that fits every skin tone or need has been a challenge for beauty companies. Many are now embracing AI to enable a high level of personalization, combatting this issue. For example, some companies use AI to scan a customer’s face, find the exact foundation color match.This mass personalization trend goes beyond aesthetic

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss (Reuters) - Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is pushing Intel Corp to explore strategic alternatives, including whether it should remain an integrated device manufacturer, according to a letter it sent to the chipmaker's chairman on Tuesday that was reviewed by Reuters. Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb wrote to Intel chairman Omar Ishrak calling for immediate action to boost the company's position as a major provider of processor chips for PCs and data centers. The New York-based fund has amassed a nearly $1 billion stake in Intel, according to people familiar with the matter. Loeb said in the letter that Intel's most urgent task was addressing its "human capital management issue", as many of its talented chip designers have fled, "demoralized by the status quo". Intel ... Read More on Datafloq

By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor     Google is making a more pronounced move into healthcare, leveraging its power to acquire companies and to use AI technology to disrupt the industry.     From an investment point of view, the company’s move has attracted attention. Google now has 57 digital health startups in its portfolio, according to a recent account in  The Motley Fool . While the November 2019 acquisition of Fitbit generated headlines, “its investments and partnerships with healthcare service providers are more likely to be the gateway to the next big thing,” the authors stated.      The company’s investments have been focused on improving electronic health records (EHRs), diagnostic capabilities, bundling healthcare services in the cloud, and leveraging its AI expertise to advance scientific research.      Alphabet, the parent company of Google, formed a partnership with EHR provider Meditech in 2019, making its EHRs available through Google Cloud as a subscription ser

Self-driving vehicles are set to significantly change urban mobility and have a momentous impact on economies around the world. The shift from human-driven vehicles to autonomous vehicles will not only offer convenience and safety incentives to drivers and commuters but also create benefits for the environment and society. With tech companies and automakers racing to develop and bring the safest and reliable self-driving technologies to the market, this shift is fast becoming a reality. In fact, Google, Uber, Tesla, GM, and Waymo are some of the companies taking the lead in developing and advancing this highly anticipated innovation. It’s worth mentioning that cars and automobiles are a huge part of people’s daily lives, society, and the economy in general. And as self-driving technology advances, there’s no doubt it will impact industries and businesses around the world. Among the industries that are most likely to be impacted are the auto insurance industry, the manufacturing indus

By AI Trends Staff     In the black box problem in machine learning, data goes in, suggested decisions come out, and how the model arrived at its suggestions may or may not be explainable. This problem intrigued Prof. Anupam Datta of Carnegie Mellon University, who in 2014 with his PhD student Shayak Sen began researching explainable AI. At the same time, Will Uppington was among the founders at Bloomreach, which was trying to make black box machine learning models into a commercial product, and was running into similar issues around visibility into how models produce their answers.      Will Uppington, Co-Founder and CEO of Truera Meeting each other in 2018, they decided to form the startup  Truera  in early 2019 to address the challenge. The company offers a Model Intelligence Platform, using AI  explainability  to power it. CEO  Uppington  recently responded via email to queries from AI Trends about the startup.      AI Trends:  What business problem are you trying to solve?

By AI Trends Staff   [Ed. Note: We have heard from a range of AI practitioners for their predictions on AI Trends in 2021. Here are predictions from a selection of those writing.]       Lance Eliot, author, podcaster, CEO of Techbrium From Dr. Lance Eliot, author of  AI Trends Insider on Autonomy  column in AI Trends, and global expert on AI:        The Machine Learning (ML) juggernaut continues to grow.  In 2021, interest in all   things entailing ML will get even hotter, which is hard to imagine since this area of AI is already red hot. Turns out that the pandemic of 2020 actually dampened many Machine Learning projects that had not yet gotten off-the-ground. Once the post-pandemic era of 2021 takes hold, expect all-hands-on-deck gangbusters for ML and Deep Learning efforts. This includes endeavors that had gone into sleep mode for 2020 and also will encompass enthralling new projects that leap into the AI unstoppable stream.   AI Ethics begins to make its mark on the AI sphe

By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor     The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released “Ethics by Design — An Organizational Approach to the Responsible Use of Technology,” a report detailing steps and recommendations for achieving ethical use of technology.    “Ethics will be crucial to the success of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The ethical challenges will only continue to grow and become more prevalent as machines advance. Organizations across industries — both private and public — will need to integrate these approaches.” stated WEF’s Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Kay Firth-Butterfield in a  press release .     The report recommends that a comprehensive approach to fostering organization ethics around AI should include three components:     Attention :  Timely, focused attention toward the ethical implications of the technology. Attention techniques include reminders, checklists ,  and frequent refresher training;    Construal :  Having individuals i

By Lance Eliot, the AI Trends Insider     I’d bet that most of us would agree that if you have ever been in a car crash, you know that you were in a car crash.       This seems perhaps absurdly obvious, but do not let your gut instincts lead you astray. In theory, you could have a fender bender and perhaps be oblivious to it, though this seems to raise eyebrows as to how distracted a driver you must be to not have felt the impact.       All in all, it is relatively sensible to assert that people would usually know when they’ve been in a car crash. I’ll clarify in a moment why that’s an important point, so hang onto that thought.       When referring to car crashes, for convenience’s sake herein, let’s agree that a car crash is widely defined and can encompass a variety of car-related adverse incidents, including outright head-on collisions, minor fender-benders, sideswipes, frightening rollovers, being rear-ended, destructive pile-ups, and even demonstrative dents and pings by str