Google hits its ambitious 100% renewable energy target
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Renewable energy is rapidly becoming the energy of choice for many countries and companies, and as output increases and costs fall, more companies are making the switch from fossil fuels. By March this year all of Google’s datacentres and offices will be powered entirely...
Two Google XPRIZE teams join forces to land on the Moon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF For the sixteen private teams racing to land a lunar rover on the moon in 2017 achieving the goal is more important than the politics. Two teams competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE have decided to join forces and have signed a ride share...
Japan joins the race to mine the Moon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Outer space contains an unlimited amount of resources, from Platinum and ice to Helium-3, now, as we become a space faring species our future space exploration, outposts and transportation will rely on companies who can mine and process it. The Japanese Space Exploration Agency...
Banks are using mind reading technology to interview graduates
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Every business is becoming a technology business and nowhere is that truer than in the financial services industry, now as banks try to compete with start ups and established technology companies for tech talent they could find themselves getting into warm water… Want to...
Ubers self-driving car fleet quits California and heads to Arizona
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Regulators often get in the way – sometimes rightly – of the testing and adoption of new technologies but companies often find a way round them Silicon Valley is known as the home of tech innovation so it’s no surprise Uber chose San Francisco...
Google and Facebook are building the worlds fastest trans Pacific internet cable
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Global internet use is exploding and more of the internet giants are taking it upon themselves to fund their own trans oceanic internet cables in order to secure spectrum, decrease latency and improve security The world of submarine internet cables is vast and its...
Michigan greens lights the use of autonomous vehicles on all its roads
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF While many people question if autonomous vehicles are ready for the prime time without the right regulatory and legal frameworks in place to support them they will never make it out of the showrooms The Governor of Michigan has signed into law a series of bills...
Intels Nervana chip shows the giant is serious about owning the AI market
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many of the AI breakthroughs over recent years have only been possible because of the exponential increase in the amount of computing power available to support them, now Intel and other chip companies are in an arms race to own the future of AI ...
Google has taught its DeepMind AI to dream
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Researchers are trying to find new ways to speed up and enhance new AI’s capacity to learn, and just as dreaming plays an important role in human learning Google hopes it will do the same for its AI What happens when you sleep? Sleeping...
Audi puts its new Quattro Lunar Rover through its paces
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The cost of space travel has fallen dramatically over the past decade and now Google wants to encourage private organisations and entrepreneurs to take the next bold step in humanity’s story. In 2015 Audi, the luxury car brand, announced it would be “taking off...
Mining the Moon, Moon Express sets 2017 launch date
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Moon contains trillions of dollars worth of minerals and rare earth metals but mining and transporting them has been technically and commercially challenging, but over the next few decades that could change. Earlier this year Moon Express, a private venture, founded by billionaire...
Google Translate has made up its own secret language
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Not being able to speak other languages divides us, and it prevents us and the machines from understanding each other and the content we all generate. By breaking down communication barriers we are opening ourselves up to a new world of data and possibilities. ...
Microsoft enters the race to build a viable quantum computer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Quantum computers are millions of times more powerful than todays traditional computers, if they can be developed and bought into the mainstream humanity will see major innovation breakthroughs across the board, from drug discovery to space travel. Microsoft, who earlier last year release a...
SpaceX, Facebook and others compete to connect the next 3.5 billion people
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over half the worlds population has no access to the internet, or the services, or benefits it offers. These audacious global internet programs want to resolve that. Internet access is cheap, fast and available everywhere. Mobile phone and communications companies throw unlimited data plans...
Facebooks new app gives your smartphone AI super powers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Pushing artificial intelligence to the edge of the network – to the device, and untethering it from the datacenter, will help make devices smarter and revolutionise the software that runs on them, making it exponentially more powerful and capable In a speech today at...
Encryption’s arch nemesis is a ticking quantum time bomb
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Encryption is the primary tool that organisations and governments use to keep data safe and secure, when Quantum computers become more wide spread criminals, hackers and state sponsored actors will be able to use them to decrypt data and render most encryption algorithms obsolete. ...
Google AIs learnt how to encrypt their communications to stop people spying on them
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Artificial intelligence is being embedded into every device and service, AIs that can dynamically encrypt their own communications could help to increase the security of those services exponentially. If you were worried about the news that AIs are already building other AIs then the...
Googles new advertising terms unmask the identities of billions of users
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Google takes tracking and identifying individuals to a whole new level. Whether it is online, or offline, your privacy is under attack – and you’ve known this for a long time but the level of “surveillance” is about to increase – exponentially. Online you are...
Google’s DeepMind team have created a human like memory for their AI
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Memory fills the gaps in information that even todays best AI algorithms can’t. Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence lab does more than just develop computer programs capable of beating the world’s best human players in the ancient game of Go. The DeepMind unit has also been working...
Techs biggest names are working together to regulate AI research
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI, the Genie we’ve let out of the bottle is on the cusp of improving at an exponential rate and we need to talk about the potential consequences. Artificial intelligence is hitting its stride, already giving us machines that can drive themselves, talk to...
