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SoftBank Invests in Covid-19 Health Tech; AI Users Seek to Outsmart the Pandemic
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Welcome back. The coronavirus pandemic is fast-tracking the use of smart algorithms that make sense of sprawling amounts of data, much of it generated by the outbreak itself. Artificial intelligence is helping medical teams race for a cure, employers support remote workers, factories rebuild battered supply chains—and refrigerators recognize milk. But AI is also getting tangled up in the political moment, as global leaders seek a competitive edge and regulators look to guard against misuse.
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Health Tech: Friends With Deep Pockets
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Biofourmis has raised a $100 million Series C financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 to expand in the U.S. and internationally.
PHOTO: BIOFOURMIS INC.
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SmartBank Bets on Smart Detection
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Guardant Health Inc., Encoded Therapeutics Inc. and Biofourmis Inc. apply digital technology in different areas of the health-care sector. But they have one thing in common: They’re all backed by SoftBank Group Corp. Boston-based Biofourmis, the giant tech investor’s latest bet, is using artificial intelligence-based analytics to monitor patients affected by Covid-19, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Faster alerts. Biofourmis has developed an AI-based analytics platform designed to process Covid-19 patient data, collected from wearable biosensors. The tool flags health-care professionals when a patient’s condition is about to worsen.
Predicting outcomes. “We believe predictive health is the future of medicine,” said Greg Moon, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, which led the startup’s recent $100 million funding round.
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PHOTO: SASCHA STEINBACH/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Intel Corp.’s decades of investing in AI has enabled the semiconductor maker to quickly adapt to the changes wrought by the coronavirus outbreak, WSJ’s Sara Castellanos reports. The Santa Clara, Calif., company is using AI to speed up product testing, identify issues with remote workers and optimize inventory across its supply chain.
Remotely helpful. Virtual private networks supporting Intel’s 100,000 employees working from home are equipped with machine-learning algorithms to proactively identify IT issues with their remote-work setups, says Intel’s CIO Archana Deskus.
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Before Covd-19, AI-enabled software and physical robots were already performing a growing range of tasks in manufacturing and elsewhere. But they demonstrated another advantage when the pandemic struck: Robots don’t spread the virus, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Handy tools. Stanley Black & Decker Inc. in March rolled out a team of robots at a plant in Fort Mill, S.C., that stood in for human workers during the pandemic, stacking boxes of finished power tools and delivering them to a nearby distribution center.
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Strained budgets have some cities turning to AI to help identify sources of tax revenue that can slip through the cracks. This includes capital gains from short-term home rentals, which have surged in recent months but don’t always get reported by owners, WSJ’s Jared Council reports.
Check your local listings. Nashville, Tenn., is using computer-vision algorithms and machine learning to compare features of a listing photo with matches elsewhere on the internet, such as real estate websites, and flagging owners who might be underreporting taxes.
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Exclusive: Really Smart Appliances
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What’s Cooking? Ask the Oven
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LG Electronics Inc. is working on embedding AI-powered computer-vision cameras, used for recognizing objects, into kitchen appliances including refrigerators, ovens and more, said I.P. Park, president and chief technology officer at the South Korean electronics giant. They'll allow, for instance, a refrigerator to recognize when milk is about to expire and help purchase more, and ovens to recognize cake and automatically set temperature and cook time.
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There could even be collaboration between different appliances, Dr. Park said. "Eventually, when the camera becomes as intelligent as we need it to be, we want the camera to recognize all the items in the fridge so that it can intelligently instruct our other cooking appliances how to cook."
The company's AI and Internet-of-things platform, dubbed LG ThinQ, already offers AI capabilities today, such as predictive maintenance for connected kitchen and laundry appliances. But it could be a few years before computer-vision capabilities start appearing.
"We want to evolve the kitchen into something much more proactive," Dr. Park said.
Jared Council
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15 million
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The number of imported food shipments screened in 2019 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is testing an AI-based tool to improve the process of identifying risky products.
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A four-legged robot built by Boston Dynamics moves through Ford’s Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Michigan.
PHOTO: FORD MOTOR CO.
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Ford unleashes robot dog. The automaker says the four-legged robot helps map out plant layouts, a time-consuming and costly step in repurposing assembly lines to manufacture different parts for new cars, WSJ’s Sara Castellanos reports. Built by Boston Dynamics, the robot dog, which engineers have named Fluffy, weighs 70 pounds and is equipped with five cameras that give it 360-degree vision. (WSJ)
Trade war buffets TikTok deal. Deal talks for the video app’s U.S. operations have become ensnared in a pitched battle between the U.S. and China, which last week imposed series of AI export restrictions. The app, owned by China-based ByteDance Inc., uses algorithms to determine the videos served to users. (WSJ)
China to set data-security rules. Countering efforts by the U.S. to push other countries to guard their networks from Chinese tech providers, China on Tuesday is expected to announce a plan to set its own global standards on data security. The rules call on countries to handle data security in an “evidence-based manner” and maintain a secure supply chain for global information tech and services. (WSJ)
Juul app up in smoke. E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. has shelved the development of a puff-counting feature, fearing regulators would pounce on the company’s access to user data, which among other uses could be fed into smart marketing algorithms. A company official said it’s exploring several options. (WSJ)
PDQ MRIs. NYU Lagone medical center, in partnership with Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research, is testing an AI-powered tool aimed at cutting MRI scan times in half. The goal is to develop a machine-learning application that can enhance images captured in faster scans, which then grab less data. (Popular Science)
Health-tech research center. GlaxoSmithKline is planning to open a £10 million ($13.2 million) London-based AI research lab aimed at applying smart software in developing treatments for cancer and other serious diseases. (The Evening Standard)
Smarter procurement. The Pentagon has announced plans to create a faster process for purchasing AI capabilities from outside developers through a TurboTax-like automated system designed to streamline government tech procurement, which some officials say is too complicated and fraught with risk. (NextGov)
Amazon fails to deliver. Britain’s competition regulator on Monday fined the U.S. online retailer roughly $70,000 for delaying a probe into its purchase of a 16% stake in AI- and robotics-powered food platform Deliveroo by failing to release required documents. (Reuters)
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Shares in SoftBank Group Corp. tumbled Monday, as investors reacted to news of a massive bet the company has placed on a rise in tech stocks. (WSJ)
Samsung Electronics Co. has signed a $6.65 billion contract with Verizon Communications Inc. for network equipment and services, a major boost to the South Korean firm’s quest to become a key 5G supplier. (WSJ)
A British judge refused a request by lawyers acting for Julian Assange to adjourn his extradition hearing until next year, as the WikiLeaks founder’s fight against extradition to the U.S. resumed after months of delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (WSJ)
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