Author: Art Ryan

HAVELSAN will showcase its forward-thinking AI vision at IDEF 2025 International Defense Industry Fair. Representing the latest milestone in this vision, BLUEVISION will be introduced for the first time at the event. With its advanced image processing technology, situational awareness capabilities, and modular architecture, BLUEVISION is poised to become a groundbreaking solution in both defense and civilian maritime domains. BLUEVISION processes real-time visual data in marine environments to detect, identify, geolocate, and analyze the movement of surrounding objects. What’s more, it presents this information intuitively to the operator through an augmented reality-enhanced camera stream. Real-Time Awareness: From Camera to Command At…

Agentic artificial intelligence (AI) software firm Xelix has raised $160 million in new funding. The company’s Series B round will help Xelix develop its platform and support more companies in adding AI to their finance operations, according to a Monday (July 21) news release. “For too long, companies have relied on manual processes and basic systems to manage accounts payable and vendor risk,” Xelix said in a news release. “As a result, enterprises lose millions each year to overpayments, face increased fraud risks and suffer from bloated and burdensome manual workflows.” With the need for better accounts payable (AP) controls in mind, Xelix says its platform…

Yahoo Japan is all in on AI. The company has ordered all employees to use generative AI, with the goal of doubling productivity within the next three years. It’s another volley in the battle to see if AI tech can live up to the many promises made by brands like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and ClaudeAI — promises that have been catching a lot of flack recently. Yahoo Japan has a plan. But is it all in hand or just a bland AI rebrand grandstand? We’ve got the write-up here, so take a scan. Yahoo Japan Plans to Use AI for Research, Other Tasks…

In a few weeks, I’ll be joining OpenAI as CEO of Applications, helping get OpenAI’s technologies into the hands of more people around the world. I’ve always considered myself a pragmatic technologist—someone who loves technology not for its own sake, but for the direct impact it can have on people’s lives. That’s what makes this job so exciting, since I believe AI will unlock more opportunities for more people than any other technology in history. If we get this right, AI can give everyone more power than ever. But I also realize those opportunities won’t magically appear on their own. Every…

A new study by a U.S. nonprofit focused on the lives of kids and families, Common Sense Media, has found that a vast majority of U.S. teens (72%) have tried an AI companion at least once. By “companion,” the study is focused on AI chatbots that are designed for users to have more personal conversations with, not AI assistants that work as homework helpers, image generators, or voice assistants that just answer questions. For instance, the study’s definition of AI companions could include those digital AI personas provided by companies like Character.AI or Replika, but it could also encompass the use…

Silicon Valley is doubling down on defense as geopolitical tensions rise and appetite for modernizing warfare grows. And while many of the startups garnering large valuations are focused on hardware and weaponry — think Anduril, Shield AI, and Skydio — Rune Technologies wants to tackle AI-enabled software for military logistics. “The U.S. military runs on Excel spreadsheets and whiteboards and manual processes right now to execute logistics operations,” co-founder David Tuttle told TechCrunch. “Logistics is never the sexiest part of the military. The technology industry emphasis is on how do we make things go boom? How do we build great weapons systems?” Logistics, Tuttle says, usually…

Apple is taking its time with AI. While most tech companies are racing to push out AI features as fast as they can, Apple is doing the opposite. Its big announcement – Apple Intelligence – won’t arrive for most users until 2026. That’s a long delay in a market where speed seems to matter more than quality. But maybe that’s the whole point. At this year’s WWDC, Apple showed off new AI features tied to Siri, writing tools, and app suggestions. It called the bundle “Apple Intelligence,” but those tools won’t be widely available any time soon. For now, they’re…

The implementation of the EU’s AI General-Purpose Code of Practice has exposed deep divisions among major technology companies. Microsoft has signalled its intention to sign the European Union’s voluntary AI compliance framework while Meta flatly refuses participation, calling the guidelines regulatory overreach that will stifle innovation. Microsoft President Brad Smith told Reuters on Friday, “I think it’s likely we will sign. We need to read the documents.”. Smith emphasised his company’s collaborative approach, stating, “Our goal is to find a way to be supportive, and at the same time, one of the things we welcome is the direct engagement by the AI Office with…

OpenAI and the UK government have today signed a new strategic partnership setting out plans to expand AI security research collaborations, explore investing in UK AI infrastructure like data centres, and find new ways for taxpayer funded services like security and education to make best use of the latest tech. It comes as OpenAI deepens its commitment to the UK, with plans to increase the size of its London office to follow. The move will build out what started as the company’s first international location just 2 years ago, where research and engineering teams contribute to the development of frontier AI models, and support is provided to UK business, developers and start-ups. The partnership will explore where it can deploy AI in areas such as justice,…

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has emerged as one of India’s foremost institutions spearheading cutting-edge research and development in Artificial Intelligence. With a nationwide network of advanced AI research centers, C-DAC is empowering India’s vision of becoming a self-reliant, globally competitive hub for AI solutions tailored to local needs. A Pan-India Network of Excellence C-DAC’s AI research initiatives are strategically distributed across its centers in India. Each center focuses on a set of critical domains where AI can have transformative impact: healthcare, education, agriculture, natural language processing (NLP), and governance. This targeted approach allows the organization to…

The National AI Portal (IndiaAI), accessible at indiaai.gov.in, is the official digital platform of India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), dedicated to fostering the nation’s artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. Launched as a one-stop hub for all things AI in India, the portal plays a vital role in advancing India’s vision of becoming a global leader in AI innovation and responsible adoption. Driving Policy, Research, and Collaboration At its core, IndiaAI serves as a policy and knowledge dissemination platform, keeping stakeholders updated on key government initiatives, white papers, frameworks, and policies aimed at enabling ethical, inclusive, and scalable AI…

As artificial intelligence becomes a cornerstone of economic and technological competition globally, China’s AI Industry Alliance (AIIA) stands out as one of the most influential organizations shaping the future of AI in the world’s most populous nation. Established under the auspices of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the AIIA is a collaborative platform uniting industry heavyweights, academic leaders, and research institutions to foster innovation, standardization, and strategic policy alignment in China’s AI sector. A Strategic Pillar for National AI Ambitions The AIIA is more than just an industry consortium — it is a strategic policy instrument supporting…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands at the center of Europe’s ambition to build a competitive, human-centric digital future. At the heart of this effort is the European AI Alliance, a participatory initiative hosted on the Futurium platform, designed to engage citizens, researchers, and stakeholders in open dialogue and collaboration on the ethical, social, and regulatory aspects of AI. A Participatory Approach to AI Governance Launched by the European Commission, the European AI Alliance embodies the EU’s commitment to transparency, inclusivity, and societal engagement. Rather than crafting AI policies behind closed doors, the EU has opened the floor to all interested parties—businesses,…

The European Union has taken a historic leap in the regulation of artificial intelligence with the European Commission’s AI Act, a groundbreaking piece of legislation designed to ensure that AI serves people, not the other way around. As the world grapples with the rapid pace of technological innovation, the EU’s risk-based framework sets a precedent for responsible governance while fostering innovation and trust. A Risk-Based Approach to AI At the heart of the AI Act is a risk-based classification system that tailors regulatory requirements to the level of risk posed by an AI application. This nuanced approach acknowledges that not…

The United States has launched a groundbreaking initiative designed to democratize access to artificial intelligence research resources: the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR). Spearheaded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the broader National AI Initiative, NAIRR aims to level the playing field for researchers across the country, especially those from under-resourced institutions, by providing equitable access to advanced AI tools, datasets, and expertise. Bridging the AI Resource Gap One of the most pressing challenges in the modern AI research landscape is the inequitable distribution of resources. Cutting-edge AI research often requires access to vast computing power, high-quality datasets, and…

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has defended its recently introduced AI-enhanced registration portal, designed to streamline company incorporation in just 30 minutes. Despite its praised speed, users have flagged issues involving the approval of inappropriate business names, prompting CAC to pledge reviews and improvements. ✅ What the Portal Offers ⚠️ Rise in Offensive Name Approvals Several users have raised concerns that the AI system has approved offensive or extremist names, such as “BokoHaram Hub” and “Nigeria Must Scatter” technologytimes.ng+2IntelRegion Media & Tech+2Launch Base Africa+2. These approvals, they argue, undermine national security and civic responsibility. 🔄 CAC’s Response & Next Steps…

Amazon is doubling down on AI by equipping its platform with “shopping agents” that don’t just recommend products—they autonomously learn from your past behavior and could one day build full shopping profiles on your behalf. 🤖 A New Era of AI-Powered Shopping 🌐 Streaming Your Shopping Life ⚖️ What It Means for Consumers & Sellers ✅ Bottom line Amazon’s next-generation AI shopping agents aim to streamline your shopping experience by building a deep, data-driven profile of your needs—thinking for you, before you do. But as it designates ownership over your data and wallets, this marks a major inflection point in…

OpenAI launched an artificial intelligence agent for its popular chatbot ChatGPT on Thursday that can complete complex tasks as the Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O), startup looks to get ahead of competitors in the AI race. AI agents — considered to be an evolution of an assistant — have been embraced across the tech world with large firms, including Microsoft, Salesforce (CRM.N) and Oracle (ORCL.N) spending billions on the technology to boost productivity and make operations more cost efficient. OpenAI’s agent will combine aspects of its previous agentic features, operator, which can interact with websites, and deep research that can conduct multi-step research for advanced tasks. Starting Thursday, users of ChatGPT’s…

French start-up Mistral announced new features to its AI chatbot Le Chat on Thursday as it tries to carve out a place for itself in a global AI race dominated by the United States and China. Often presented as France’s and Europe’s AI champion, Mistral competes with American giants such as OpenAI and Alphabet’s Google, but lags behind in terms of market share or revenues. “We’re making Le Chat even more capable, more intuitive — and more fun — with a collection of powerful new features to help you research more thoroughly, express yourself more naturally, and keep your interactions — text,…

China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told Nvidia (NVDA.O) CEO Jensen Huang on Thursday that he hoped multinational companies, including Nvidia, would provide high-quality and reliable products and services to Chinese customers, the ministry said in a statement. Huang said the Chinese market was very attractive, and Nvidia was willing to deepen cooperation with Chinese partners in the field of artificial intelligence, according to the commerce ministry’s statement released on Friday. Wang said China’s policy of attracting foreign investment would not change and the door to openness would only open wider. Nvidia declined to comment further. During his third China visit this year,…