Search results for "ai technology"

EU outlines ambitious AI regulations focused on risky uses

Risky uses of artificial intelligence that threaten people’s safety or rights such as live facial scanning should be banned or tightly controlled, European Union officials said Wednesday as they outlined an ambitious package of proposed regulations to rein in the rapidly expanding technology. The draft regulations from the EU’s executive commission include rules for applications […]

Amid US strains, China's Xi warns against 'unilateralism'

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for more equitable management of global affairs and, in an implicit rejection of U.S. dominance, said governments shouldn’t impose rules on others. Xi’s speech at an economic forum comes amid rising tension with China’s neighbors and Washington over its strategic ambitions and demands for a bigger role in […]

EU throws weight behind Pfizer-BioNTech and new technology

In a stinging rebuke to pharma giant AstraZeneca Wednesday, the European Union announced plans to negotiate a massive contract extension for Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine insisting the 27-nation bloc had to go with companies that had shown their value in the pandemic. “We need to focus on technologies that have proven their worth,” said EU Commission […]

EXPLAINER: Starving for more chips in a tech-hungry world

As the U.S. economy rebounds from its pandemic slump, a vital cog is in short supply: the computer chips that power a wide range of products that connect, transport and entertain us in a world increasingly dependent on technology. The shortage has already been rippling through various markets since last summer. It has made it […]

New York deploys COVID-19 passport app built on blockchain

New York City announced earlier this week the deployment of a new COVID-19 passport built on IBM’s blockchain-based health pass technology, as businesses in the U.S. are starting to request proof of vaccination or negative PCR for entry. The COVID-19 passport app, called Excelsior Pass, is a free and voluntary platform developed in partnership with […]

World leaders call for pandemic treaty, but short on details

More than 20 heads of government and global agencies called in a commentary published Tuesday for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations in the wake of COVID-19. But there were few details to explain how such an agreement might actually compel countries to act more cooperatively. World Health […]

EXPLAINER: What's a SPAC, the latest craze on Wall Street?

WeWork will finally go public this year, allowing investors to buy and sell its shares. But not through a traditional IPO. In the two years since the office-sharing company’s failed IPO, a new way to launch a stock on Wall Street has become fashionable: SPACs. Special purpose acquisition companies have been embraced by big institutions […]

SolarWinds hack got emails of top DHS officials

Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration’s head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department’s cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned. The intelligence value of the hacking of then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his staff is […]

Former Google CEO gives $150M for research in biology, AI

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, have given $150 million to a research institute to establish a “new era of biology” aimed at battling diseases with a mix of data and life science studies. The Massachusetts-based Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard will use the funds to build a new center that […]