
The US is rushing to transfer sensitive nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia, according to a new congressional report.
The oversight committee is seeking interviews with the companies, "key personnel" who promoted the plan to the White House, as well as the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Defence, State, Treasury, the White House and the CIA.
Many thinkers on machine intelligence, meanwhile – led by the philosopher Nick Bostrom – suggest that the supposedly sci-fi scenario of a conscious AI escaping its box and taking over the world represents such an enormous, existential threat to humanity that we ought to be taking steps right now to prevent it happening.
We are so used to hearing that technological progress is smooth and inevitable these days that it just seems like common sense.
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature estimates that up to five living species on earth become extinct every day, making it vital that universities develop new technologies to capture the data that can persuade those in power to act.
Speakers underlined how technology can help conservation efforts: fixed-wing drones can land on water and circle high above the Indian Ocean to spot whales, rays and illegal fishing, while artificial intelligence-enabled infrared cameras are able to identify members of an individual species or human poachers, even through thick environmental cover.