Posts Tagged: Francisco
President Biden meets with AI tech leaders in San Francisco
While lawmakers in Congress (and soon, the Senate) call for a "blue-ribbon commission" to study the potential impacts of AI on American society, President Biden on Tuesday met with leaders in the emerging field to discuss and debate the issue directly. The President met with Tristan Harris, executive director of the Center for Human Technology; Fei-Fei Li, Co-Director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute; and Jennifer Doudna, Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, among others, at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco.
Staying atop the growing swell of AI technology advancements in recent months and years, specifically the emergence of generative AI systems, has become a focal point for the Biden administration. Generative AI systems hold the promise to revolutionize many sectors of the economy and drastically reimagine the nature of modern office work. However, those same systems could just as likely wipe out entire professions, as the fields of digital art and journalism are now experiencing.
The White House announced a $ 140 million investment in May to establish seven new National AI Research Institutes and has begun investigating the technology's use in business. As the White House chief of staff's office told AP, top White House staff meet regularly on the subject, two to three times each week. Biden himself has reportedly met with multiple subject matter experts and technical advisors on the subject to discuss, "the importance of protecting rights and safety to ensure responsible innovation and appropriate safeguards."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/president-biden-meets-with-ai-tech-leaders-in-san-francisco-182140363.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
San Francisco reverses approval of killer robot policy
In late November, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has approved a proposal that would allow the city's police force to use remote-controlled robots as a deadly force option when faced with violent or armed suspects. The supervisors voted 8-to-3 in favor of making it a new policy despite opposition by civil rights groups, but now they seem to have had a change of heart. During the second of two required votes before a policy can be sent to the mayor's office for final approval, the board voted 8-to-3 to explicitly ban the use of lethal force by police robots. As San Francisco Chronicle notes, this about-face is pretty unusual, as the board's second votes are typically just formalities that echo the first ones' results.
The San Francisco Police Department made the proposal after a law came into effect requiring California officials to define the authorized uses of their military-grade equipment. It would have allowed cops to equip robots with explosives "to contact, incapacitate, or disorient violent, armed, or dangerous suspects." Authorities could only use the robots for lethal force after they've exhausted all other possibilities, and a high-ranking official would have to approve their deployment. However, critics are concerned that the machines could be abused.
Dean Preston, one of the supervisors who oppose the use of robots as a deadly force option, said the policy will "place Black and brown people in disproportionate danger of harm or death." In a newer statement made after the board's second vote, Preston said: "There have been more killings at the hands of police than any other year on record nationwide. We should be working on ways to decrease the use of force by local law enforcement, not giving them new tools to kill people."
While the supervisors voted to ban the use of lethal force by police robots — for now, anyway — they also sent the original policy proposing the use of killer robots back for review. The board's Rules Committee could now amend it further to have stricter rules for use of bomb-equipped robots, or it could scrap the old proposal altogether.
San Francisco and Alameda drop Verily’s COVID-19 testing service
California’s San Francisco and Alameda (home to Oakland) counties are no longer using Verily’s COVID-19 testing system, according to Kaiser Health News. Verily, an Alphabet-owned health-focused company, signed contracts collectively worth $ 55 million…
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GDC could return to San Francisco as a 3-day event in August
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It’s official: Samsung to launch Galaxy S10 at Unpacked event in San Francisco on February 20
After endless rumors that the Galaxy S10 would launch before MWC 2018 kicks off next month, we now know that Samsung will hold an Unpacked event in San Francisco on February 20th. The Korean company will not only unveil up to three variants of the Galaxy S10 but possibly also show off its Galaxy X […]
Come comment on this article: It’s official: Samsung to launch Galaxy S10 at Unpacked event in San Francisco on February 20
Judge rejects Lime request to block e-scooter rivals in San Francisco
Lime just lost a last-minute bid to delay the launch of San Francisco's electric scooter pilot program. A judge has denied the company's request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked Skip and Scoot from launching their services i…
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Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism to hold first meeting in San Francisco
The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism is holding its first workshop on August 1, 2017, in San Francisco, where representatives from the tech industry, government, and non-governmental organizations are coming together to share information and best practices about how to counter the threat of terrorist content online.
Formed last month by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism formalizes and structures how our companies work together to curtail the spread of terrorism and violent extremism on our hosted consumer services. Building on the work started within the EU Internet Forum and the shared industry hash database, the GIFCT is fostering collaboration with smaller tech companies, civil society groups and academics, and governments.
In addition to the founding companies of the GIFCT, more than two dozen other technology companies and NGOs will be participating in Tuesday’s meeting. We also welcome United Kingdom Home Secretary Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP and United States Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke — as well as representatives from Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United Nations — to discuss mutual areas of cooperation.
At Tuesday’s meeting we will be formalizing our goals for collaboration and identifying with smaller companies specific areas of support needed as part of the the GIFCT’s workplan. Our mission is to substantially disrupt terrorists’ ability to use the Internet in furthering their causes, while also respecting human rights. This disruption includes addressing the promotion of terrorism, dissemination of propaganda, and the exploitation of real-world terrorist events through online platforms. To achieve this, we will join forces around three strategies:
- Employing and leveraging technology
- Sharing knowledge, information and best practices, and
- Conducting and funding research.
In the next several months, we also aim to achieve the following:
- Secure the participation of five additional companies to the industry hash-sharing database for violent terrorist imagery; two of which have already joined: Snap Inc. and Justpaste.it
- Reach 50 companies to share best practices on how to counter terrorism online through the Tech Against Terrorism project in partnership with ICT4Peace and the U.N. Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate
- Conduct four knowledge-sharing workshops — starting in San Francisco Tuesday, with plans for further meetings later this year in other locations around the world
We believe that the best approach to tackling online terrorism is to collaborate with each other and with others outside the private sector, including civil society and government. We look forward to further cooperation as we develop a joint strategic plan over time.
San Francisco train service plans to run solely on clean energy
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Airbnb sues San Francisco over new short-term rental rules
Short-term rental service Airbnb is suing the city of San Francisco over a recently passed amendment to a rental law. The new law is scheduled to go into effect sometime next month, with the lawsuit hoping to block it.
The post Airbnb sues San Francisco over new short-term rental rules appeared first on Digital Trends.
Uber unveils plans for plush new San Francisco headquarters
Following in the footsteps of a slew of big-name tech firms, Uber has revealed plans for a plush new headquarters in San Francisco. The complex, which is set to house around 3,000 workers, should be open for business by early 2018.
The post Uber unveils plans for plush new San Francisco headquarters appeared first on Digital Trends.