In The News

Google Working on “Common-Sense” AI Engine at New Zurich Base

June 23, 2016
Anyone connected online has a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips, and it doesn’t take much misinformation to trip up individuals or machines. A Google research center based in Europe will focus on developing common sense for artificial intelligence as well as language and human-machine dialogue. Emmanuel Mogenet, who oversees the unit, suggests the world is entering a new era of computing. “...

China’s Internet Policy Offers the Wrong Kind of Lessons

Pete Hunt June 8, 2016
Authoritarians may eye China’s system of internet censorship, known as the Great Firewall, with envy, but other governments may struggle to apply the Chinese model, suggests internet policy analyst Pete Hunt. “China’s real lesson to the world, in turns out, is that maintaining cyber sovereignty is an expensive endeavor with sizable opportunity costs,” he writes for the Diplomat. “The government’s...

Battle Lines Against American Tech Giants

Farhad Manjoo June 1, 2016
Technology, including smartphones controlled by US companies Apple and Google, allow instant global connections that thwart efforts in nations like France to protect film, music and other industries. Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft also develop tech products indispensable for businesses worldwide. The global reach of such companies is prompting local backlash and fragmentation. “European...

E-Commerce and Crowdfunding: Why Are They the Same in China?

Julien Legrand May 20, 2016
Small startups in China struggle to find funding, and many entrepreneurs rely on numerous crowdfunding platforms, explains Julien Legrand for ParisTech Review. “China counts 650 million netizens, accessing the Internet mostly via smartphones (86% of Internet usage), on which many have electronic money,” he writes. “Household savings are huge – about US$4.6 trillion – and Chinese are increasingly...

Now Try This

May 12, 2016
An article from the Economist briefly summarizes the processes of high-speed quantum computing: Superposition breaks down bits into qubits – a conventional computer can work in one of 16 states at a time while the quantum computer can work with all 16 at once. Entanglement allows the quantum computer to combine qubits, exponentially increasing the number of states working on a large data set. As...

A Scheme to Encrypt the Entire Web Is Actually Working

Andy Greenberg April 21, 2016
The nonprofit Internet Security Research Group hopes to encrypt all internet websites with a program called Let’s Encrypt. The goal, according to the group’s founder, is 100 percent encryption for the internet, moving from http to https, reports Andy Greenberg for Wired. The program reduces surveillance, yet may also shield malicious sites. The short code is automated, easy to use and free, and...

US Adds China’s Internet Controls to List of Trade Barriers

Paul Mozur April 8, 2016
The internet represents 6 percent of the US GDP, contributing to economic growth and jobs, more so than the construction or food-service sectors, reports a 2015 study for the Internet Association. Previous studies by McKinsey Global Institute suggest that most economic benefit, 75 percent, goes to companies in traditional industries. Such is the rationale for the Obama administration to add China...