Raise Your Computer’s IQ
San Jose, Calif. — Facebook, Google and Microsoft are tapping the power of a vintage computer gaming chip to raise your smartphone’s IQ with artificially intelligent programs that recognize faces and voices, translate conversations on the fly and make searches faster and more accurate. It’s part of a trend toward the use of an artificial intelligence technique called “deep learning” that is creating a sense that a new era of smart...
Alphabet Tops Apple in Total Value
San Francisco — Alphabet, Google’s new parent company, topped Apple as the world’s most valuable business in after-hours trading Monday after reporting surging earnings. Alphabet Inc. earned $4.9 billion in net income on revenue of $21.3 billion in the fourth quarter. If not for employee stock expenses and certain other items, Google said it would have earned $8.67 per share. That figure easily topped the average estimate of $8.10 per...
Report: Wing on Google’s Drone Failed, Caused Crash
A massive drone Google was testing as part of a project to provide Internet service with unmanned aircraft instead of satellites crashed after it encountered an updraft and one of its wings failed, U.S. accident investigators have concluded. The Solara 50 had just lifted off from a remote, desert landing strip in New Mexico on May 1 when it began experiencing control problems, according to a report by the National Transportation...
2016 Will Bring More Innovation to Driverless Cars
News last week that Google and Ford will reportedly collaborate on building a driverless car represents a big move forward in the unfolding evolution of autonomous vehicles. But while 2016 promises to be chock-full of more tech innovation insinuating itself into our daily lives, driverless cars will probably not yet be part of the picture. Apple, Tesla, Google and Nissan are already cranking out prototypes and test-driving autonomous...
Google Raids Canada’s Tech Talent
With a tech industry one-third the size of California’s, Canada has confounded expectations by becoming a leader in the booming market for artificial intelligence. Pioneering technologies developed in Canadian labs can be found in Facebook’s facial recognition algorithms, Google’s Photos app, smartphone voice recognition and even Japanese robots. Now Canada risks losing its AI edge to Silicon Valley. Several leading Canadian...
