Welcome back. A NASA-designed autonomous helicopter took flight off the surface of Mars this week, running entirely on autopilot and marking a first for aviation and robotic drones. The space agency plans to conduct at least four more tests over the next 30 days. Like the manned lunar landing in 1961, the mission places the U.S. firmly in the lead in the global race to develop emerging technology, in this case artificial intelligence. Still, federal policy makers are growing increasingly concerned with China’s prowess in digital technology, especially when it comes to AI. Proposed legislation aimed at boosting U.S. research and development efforts in AI has drawn rare bipartisan support in Congress.

NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter made history early Monday when the small but intrepid drone became the first powered craft to fly on another world, space agency officials announced. (The Wall Street Journal)

Autopilot in space. The picnic-basket sized craft flew under its own control for the entire flight with no guidance from or contact with a human operator on Earth, because radio signals take too long to travel between the planets.

Proof of concept. “A helicopter could be used as a scout for robotic missions to look over the horizon and eventually as a partner for astronauts on Mars,” NASA acting administrator Steve Jurczyk said of Ingenuity.

Spurred by fears that China is closing the tech gap, federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have thrown support behind legislation authorizing $100 billion over five years to fund research into AI, machine learning and robotics, among other new spending initiatives, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Science and tech. Dubbed the Endless Frontier Act, the centerpiece of the package is a bill that would rename the National Science Foundation, the federal government’s science agency, as the National Science and Technology Foundation, which would oversee the funding.

Beyond AI. An additional $10 billion would go into designated regional tech hubs for R&D and manufacturing of key technologies, along with support for semiconductor makers.

Ahead of a trip to Shanghai, federal climate envoy John Kerry said the U.S. could use AI-processed satellite imagery to monitor greenhouse-gas emissions and hold China to account on its climate pledges, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Industrial powerhouse. China is the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases, Mr. Kerry said, and tech tools provide “enormous visibility” that can be leveraged for accountability.

Signs of progress. On Sunday, the two countries issued a joint statement agreeing that stronger pledges to fight climate change should be introduced ahead of continued talks later in the year. (Reuters) 

Signifyd Inc., a software firm that makes AI-powered fraud protection tools for online sellers, raised $205 million in a recent funding round led by Owl Rock Capital, with investors eager to profit from an accelerated shift to e-commerce during the pandemic, WSJ’s Sara Castellanos reports.

Booming business. Market research firm eMarketer estimates that world-wide retail e-commerce sales totaled $4.28 trillion in 2020, up 28% over 2019, and are on track to grow 14.3% this year.

Private equity firm Silver Lake has become the first western investor in Abu Dhabi-based G42, taking an $800 million minority stake in the enterprise AI and cloud-computing products maker, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Royal investors. G42’s shareholders include Chairman Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, and Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co.

Enterprise market. Its customers include companies across Abu Dhabi’s economy and increasingly in other parts of the Middle East.

Online game maker Roblox is using AI to track inappropriate behavior by gamers’ blocky avatars, including simulated sex, raunchy talk and in-game dating, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Keeping it clean. Smart algorithms coupled with more than 2,300 human moderators scan millions of multiplayer games, enforcing strict content ratings and age-appropriate guidelines, said Remy Malan, the company’s vice president of trust and safety.

Chipmaker moves into data centers. Nvidia Corp. announced a new central process chip, dubbed Grace, designed to support state-of-the-art data centers running AI applications, among other capabilities. (The Wall Street Journal) 

• Arm deal scrutinized. Separately, the U.K. government said Monday it would probe Nvidia’s $40 billion deal to buy British chip designer Arm from SoftBank Group Corp., citing national security concerns. (The Wall Street Journal) 

Chinese tech giant builds war chest. Meituan, one of China’s most valuable tech firms, is raising as much as $10 billion from investors in a bid to gain an edge in drone and self-driving car technology. (The Wall Street Journal)

Tesla crash investigated. U.S. safety officials are investigating a fatal weekend crash involving a Tesla Inc. vehicle, which local authorities believe was operating without anyone in the driver’s seat. (The Wall Street Journal) 

Europe eyes strict AI rules. Proposed European Commission regulations would ban the use of "high-risk" AI systems, while limiting others that don't meet a higher set of industry standards. (Politico) 

Your lips say 0 but your eyes say 1. A Colorado researcher is training AI software to generate its own pickup lines, based on a dataset of tried-and-true examples, thus far yielding human-like awkward come-ons like “You look good today, want snacks?” (CBS) 

Scale AI raises $325 million. The latest round doubles the software startup’s valuation to $7 billion in just over four months, drawing customers that include the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force. (Reuters) 

Cloud in your coffee. An AI-powered handheld device developed by Israeli company Demetria that leverages cloud-based software to scan coffee beans to determine their quality, recently completed a pilot program with a division of Volcafe, one of the world’s largest coffee traders. (Fortune) 

Led by its growing cloud unit, International Business Machines Corp. posted higher revenue ahead of a landmark split of the business this year that is part of Chief Executive Arvind Krishna’s plan to revive growth at the veteran tech company. (The Wall Street Journal)

The Daily Mail’s owner filed an antitrust suit against Alphabet Inc.’s Google on Tuesday, alleging the tech giant manipulates search results and advertising auctions in ways that harm online publishers. (The Wall Street Journal) 

The union that unsuccessfully sought to organize an Amazon.com Inc. location in Alabama has filed challenges over the vote, saying the company violated legal restrictions throughout the election. (The Wall Street Journal)

GameStop Corp. said Chief Executive George Sherman will step down by July 31, the latest in a series of changes to the videogame retailer’s leadership team since Chewy Inc. co-founder Ryan Cohen became a board member in January. (The Wall Street Journal)

Write to Enterprise Technology Editor Steven Rosenbush and Pro AI newsletter author Angus Loten.

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