The European Commission and European Investment Fund (EIF) has launched a new investment scheme for artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain in Europe, the organization announced in a Nov. 20 blog post. The announcement reads: “With the European Commission, we are launching a dedicated investment scheme that will make EUR 100m available to venture capital funds or other investors that support AI and blockchain-based products and services. Because these are cornerstone investments, we expect a total of EUR 300m to be generated for AI and blockchain from other private investors ‘crowding in.’” The project will focus on development and growth beyond …

Speaking at BlockShow Asia 2019, Todalarity CEO Toufi Saliba posed a hypothetical question to the audience: “How many people would take a pill that made you smarter, knowing they can be controlled by a social entity?” No one raised their hand, and he was unsurprised. “That’s the response that I get, zero percent of you,” he continued. “Now imagine at the same time the pill has autonomous decentralized governance so that no one can control or repurpose that pill but the host – yourself.” This time hands were raised in abundance. Decentralized governance represents a necessary step for the tech …

Softbank-backed Chinese fintech OneConnect has filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As Bloomberg reported on Nov. 13, OneConnect is the blockchain- and AI-focused fintech arm of Chinese insurance giant Ping An. Seeks $100 million and Nasdaq listing The report claims that the filing seeks to raise $100 million, eyeing listing on the Nasdaq Global Market or New York Stock Exchange, if approved. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Ping An Securities Group Holdings are leading the offering. OneConnect had previously sought a Hong Kong IPO with a target of …

India’s Defence Minister believes blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data will form part of the future of warfare. As local daily news outlet Times of India reported on Nov. 4, Rajnath Singh highlighted the potential of blockchain, along with big data and AI, in defense operations. Warfare’s new “blockchain paradigm” Speaking to a range of delegates from 80 countries in Delhi, Singh appeared under no illusion about India’s plans to access innovation as the global industry evolves. He explained: “The role of AI, big data and blockchain technologies has already revolutionized the existing paradigm of warfighting. The defence …

The Indian state of Tamil Nadu is reportedly working on a state-level policy for blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI). On Oct. 31, local news outlet The Times of India reported that Tamil Nadu, the 10th-largest state in India, is working on separate policies for blockchain and AI which could be released as soon as the next 10 days. Tamil Nadu’s blockchain and AI policies are expected to establish ground rules on how the state government can apply the emerging technologies for service delivery and solving governance issues. Santosh Misra, CEO of the state’s e-Governance Agency commented: “We are working …

The world's second-largest stock exchange, Nasdaq, has listed the AI-powered CIX100 index created by crypto data provider Cryptoindex. The news was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Oct. 15. Neural network-based analysis CIX100 is a crypto market benchmark that analyzes uses a neural network algorithm to analyze data for the top 100 cryptocurrencies, taking into account over 200 factors. Reportedly designed to exclude coins with fake volumes and rankings, the “human-free” tool targets both industry newcomers and professional investors. According to the press release, the data is derived from the nine largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally and factors …

At a time when the term “fake news” has become a household name thanks to its repeated use by President Donald Trump, deepfakes — i.e., seemingly realistic videos that are in fact manipulated — can further escalate the problem associated with distrust of media. Technologists are looking at the inherent nature of blockchain as aggregators of trust to put more public confidence back into the system. Truth is increasingly becoming a relative term. When everyone has their own version of the truth, democracy becomes meaningless. The advent of deepfakes is surely pushing society to a point where facts can be …

Leading technology manufacturer for United States law enforcement Axon Enterprise Inc. is exploring new data tracking technologies, including blockchain, for its body cameras. Verifying police footage The impetus behind Axon’s interest in emerging technologies is public and government concerns about “deepfake” videos, Reuters reported on Oct. 3. Deepfake videos are produced using a particular type of artificial intelligence (AI) making them look and sound like the real thing. This technology causes a great apprehension that bad actors can easily manipulate videos to discredit an individual. This is obviously of major concern for police wearing body cameras. Axon is looking into …

Blockchain and artificial intelligence startup, Core Scientific has acquired Stax Digital to further develop its infrastructure and software solutions. Creator of Honeyminer In a Sept. 27 press release, Core Scientific announced the acquisition of blockchain mining company Stax Digital, the creator of the most widely used GPU mining program, Honeyminer. Stax Digital’s CEO, Noah Jessop, said: “With Core Scientific’s incredible hardware abilities—and now Honeyminer’s best-in-class optimizations and global software platform, together we are poised to offer best-in-class mining solutions within our data centers or embedded in any computer or device in the world.” CEO Kevin Turner took the helm of …

Decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) firm SingularityNET and tech conglomerate Cisco have partnered to develop applied artificial general intelligence (AGI) technologies. AGI is one aspect of AI technology that concentrates on learning the intellectual tasks of which humans are capable. Sometimes referred to as “Strong AI,” AGI emphasizes a machine’s ability to reason in uncertain situations, solve puzzles, plan and communicate in natural language. Goertzel also said that the scale of Cisco’s AGI deployments will be a major driver for the firm’s development, stating: “The work we’ve done with Cisco on smart traffic analytics using OpenCog’s logical reasoning and deep neural …

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is holding a public meeting to discuss a new initative called “A New Era of Smarter Food Safety.” In an announcement on Sept. 17, the FDA said the consultation with international stakeholders — designed to debate public health challenges and the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act — will take place on Oct. 21. Specifically, the FDA intends to establish “a more digital, traceable, and safer system” to protect consumers from contaminated food. Efficient tracking The initiative proposes to deploy technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and sensors …

Indian automobile manufacturer Tata Motors wants to integrate blockchain solutions into its internal processes as part of a newly launched program for startups. As Business Insider India reported on Sept. 18, Tata Motors has rolled out a program for startups dubbed “Tata Motors AutoMobility Collaboration Network 2.0,” through which it intends to develop a range of industry-related products, including artificial intelligence and blockchain-enabled solutions. The firm wants to apply blockchain-based solutions in various aspects of the automotive industry, including parking marketplace, demand prediction algorithm and real-time monitoring of fuel quality. Commenting on the initiative, Shailesh Chandra, president of electric mobility …