AI & Robotics

IBM today announced that, in collaboration with researchers from Harvard Medical School, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Stanford University, and the Northern California Institute for Research and Education, it will undertake a new initiative funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health to investigate whether AI can be used to better identify people at risk of developing schizophrenia. It’s…

Facebook says it has deployed a feature in its Community Help hub to make it easier for users to assist each other during the pandemic. As of this week, AI will detect when a public post on News Feed is about needing or offering help and will surface a suggestion to share it on Community Help. Once a post is moved or published directly to the hub, an algorithm will recommend matches between…

In a move to expand its business into the logistics and delivery segment, ride-hailing startup Via today announced that it acquired Fleetonomy for an undisclosed sum. Via, which says it plans to apply Fleetonomy’s expertise in demand prediction and fleet utilization to support fully integrated, digitally powered logistics solutions, says the pandemic has highlighted the growing need for…

As widely predicted, Google announced two smartphones during its Launch Night In today: The Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G). The Pixel 5 is the follow-up to last year’s Pixel 4, while the Pixel 4a (5G) is a 5G-compatible version of the Pixel 4a that launched in August. Neither phone appears to introduce many AI-powered features that aren’t already available on existing Pixel devices. (Pixel hardware…