Salesforce-backed AI project SharkEye aims to protect beachgoers

Salesforce is backing an AI project called SharkEye which aims to save the lives of beachgoers from one of the sea’s deadliest predators.

Shark attacks are, fortunately, quite rare. However, they do happen and most cases are either fatal or cause life-changing injuries.

Just last week, a fatal shark attack in Australia marked the eighth of the year—an almost 100-year record for the highest annual death toll. Once rare sightings in Southern California beaches are now...

24 November 2020 | Applications

Sony has a new ‘AI robotics’ drone division called Airpeak

Sony’s latest division, Airpeak, is described as being “in the field of AI robotics” and will focus on next-generation drones.

Despite incidents of reckless flying, drones unlock huge opportunities. We regularly see beautiful photography and videography shot using drones—but, of course, they can do so much more.

Sony has built a stellar reputation in media capture. The company builds great cameras – both for itself and sensors it supplies to other manufacturers...

10 November 2020 | Drones

Palantir took over Project Maven defense contract after Google backed out

palantir google project maven backlash military ai drone uav

Surveillance firm Palantir took up a Pentagon defense contract known as Project Maven after Google dropped out due to backlash.

Project Maven is a Pentagon initiative aiming to use AI technologies for deploying and monitoring unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Naturally, Google’s involvement with the initiative received plenty of backlash both internally and externally. At least a dozen employees quit Google while many others threatened to walk out if the firm continued...

12 December 2019 | Drones

Humans are still beating AIs at drone racing, for now

ai drone racing league humans lockheed martin

While AIs are increasingly beating us mere mortals at many things, racing drones is something we still have the upper hand at.

The Drone Racing League (DRL) orchestrated its first AI racing competitions this year, with the final of a four-part series held in Texas earlier this month. The races aim to advance the development and testing of fully autonomous drone technologies for real-world applications including disaster relief, search and rescue missions, and space...

10 December 2019 | Drones

Report: Companies like Amazon and Microsoft are ‘putting world at risk’ of killer AI

pax killer ai artificial intelligence robot study research report microsoft google amazon

A survey of major players within the industry concludes that leading tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft are putting the world ‘at risk’ of killer AI.

PAX, a Dutch NGO, ranked 50 firms based on three criteria:

If technology they’re developing could be used for killer AI.Their involvement with military projects.If they’ve committed to not being involved with military applications in the future.

Microsoft and Amazon are named among the world's ‘highest...

22 August 2019 | Amazon

AI enables ‘hybrid drones’ with the attributes of both planes and helicopters

Researchers have developed an AI system enabling ‘hybrid drones’ which combine the attributes of both planes and helicopters.

The propeller-forward designs of most drones are inefficient and reduce flight time. Researchers from MIT, Dartmouth, and the University of Washington have proposed a new hybrid design which aims to combine the perks of both helicopters and fixed-wing planes.

In order to support the new design, a new AI system was developed to switch between...

15 July 2019 | Drones

AI-powered drones will ensure birds steer clear of airports

Most airports are working to keep drones away, but a new AI-powered breed could help to improve safety by steering birds clear of airspace. While rare, birds can pose a serious problem to aircraft – from broken windshields to engine failures. That’s not to say bird strikes themselves are uncommon. Between 1990-2015, there were 160,894 bird strikes on US aircraft. Each year, bird strikes cost US airlines an estimated $1.2 billion. Only .025% (40) of those strikes resulted in an accident....

8 August 2018 | Drones