In the intensifying battle to have the best voice-powered technology, Google is making its virtual assistant sound more human and less robotic. The speech-activated Google Assistant is relying on software from DeepMind, the artificial intelligence research group under Alphabet. The technology now uses a version of DeepMind’s WaveNet system for American English and Japanese, according […]
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Google showed off a bunch ofnew hardware today, including two new phones: the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Both phones have the same features, but here we’re taking a look at the XL, which has a screen that goes all the way to the edges of the phone — an increasingly common look here […]
Read moreOver the course of an otherwise excruciating hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, there was one issue on which Equifax CEO Richard Smith found a more receptive audience — his call for an end to using Social Security numbers to identify U.S. consumers. In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Smith called for “think[ing] […]
Read moreThere are signs Russia hacked into the personal cellphones of NATO soldiers and tried to obtain sensitive military information such as troop numbers, according to a report. The smartphone hacking campaign by Russia targeted a group of at least 4,000 NATO troops in Eastern Europe, including soldiers stationed in Poland and Baltic states such as […]
Read moreGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai said his company should be held accountable for combating the spread of fake news. “I view it as a big responsibility to get it right,” Pichai told the Verge in an interview published Wednesday. “I think we’ll be able to do these things better over time. But I think the answer […]
Read moreA stealth start-up called 3T Biosciences has raised more than $12 million in a massive seed round led by early Facebook investor Sean Parker and including Peter Thiel, according to a person familiar with the company’s financing. Little is known about 3T Biosciences, but this person said the company is led by a former cancer […]
Read moreBank of America Merrill Lynch’s research team shared its top semiconductor stock ideas in a note to clients Monday. “We continue to be positive on the ‘golden age’ for semis, where cyclical reflation, secular drivers and discipline will drive earnings growth and attract new investors,” analyst Vivek Arya wrote in the report. Here are four […]
Read moreGoogle‘s deal with HTC will help the company innovate better and faster, Rick Osterloh, Google’s Senior Vice President of Hardware, told CNBC on Wednesday. On September 20, Google announced that it signed a $1.1 billion cooperation agreement with Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC to bolster its smartphone and emerging hardware business. Osterloh said he hopes the […]
Read moreA U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday unanimously gave the green light to a bill aimed at speeding the use of self-driving cars without human controls, barring states from imposing regulatory road blocks. After unanimous approval by the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the full Senate must take up the bill. The U.S. House of Representatives […]
Read moreLinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman joined other tech moguls in voicing concern about artificial intelligence on Wednesday. “It has great potential, but we need to steer carefully,” Hoffman said on “Halftime Report.” Hoffman stressed corporate transparency when asked what happens if companies use AI to attack nation-states. The possibility of manipulating how people consume information remains […]
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