A new ML algorithm has confirmed the presence of 50 new planets. When fed with data about potential planets, the algorithm can calculate the likelihood that it's a false positive or a true planet. The planets it confirmed range in size from Earth to Neptune, with orbits between one and 200 days.

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• The system is based on data collected by NASA's Kepler space telescope, which can look for signs of planets passing in front of stars. It comes from Warwick's Departments of Physics and Computer Science and the Alan Turing Institute.
• Warwick's David Armstrong, whose focus is applying machine learning to astrophysical problems, said no one had used an ML technique yet to validate planets, though it has been used to rank potential candidates.
• Through the algorithm, researchers can determine what the "precise statistical likelihood is" that it's a true planet. If there's less than a 1% chance it's not, it's considered validated.
• The researchers expect the system could validate thousands of planetary candidates in the future.
• Currently, there are 4,201 confirmed exoplanets.
• You can read the study here.

Roomba robot vacuum cleaners are getting more intelligent through a "genius" software update today. Maker iRobot said users can time their cleanings and specify where Roomba can and cannot go.

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• iRobot says the free AI-powered upgrade, known as iRobot Genius Home Intelligence, automates routines and schedules, making the devices more customizable.
• A redesigned iRobot Home app is available on iOS and Android as of today. It lets users schedule their smart cleaning routines, which can work together with thermostats, smart locks, and other devices.
• iRobot says its upgraded robots utilize cameras and machine vision to identify and log specific furniture and suggest adding them to an internal map as "clean zones" or "keep out zones." It developed the algorithms based on tens of thousands of images taken from employees’ houses.
• In July, iRobot reported nearly $280m for Q2, up 8% from the same period in 2019.

GPT-3 free websites/programs

OpenAI's advanced AI language model has generated its share of hype. Considered the most powerful text generator ever built, people who managed to get public access through an API have created many interesting programs and websites that churn out various texts based on queries. Here, we share a few of the frees ones, which are available now without a waiting list:

• Serendipity: This site generates product recommendations from a natural language query. According to its creator, movies work better than books and "anything" mode returns text only.
• Taglines.ai. Tagline generation is apparently the No. 1 use case for GPT-3. Provide a product description, and it spits out a specific tagline. Email is required to sign up.
• Simplify.so. Type in a complicated phrase like "Adjustable Rate Mortgage" and the GPT-3-enabled site will simplify it...

Verta, an ML startup that tracks and operationalizes model versions, emerged from stealth with $10m in funding. Verta, which describes itself as an AI and ML model management and operations platform, bridges the gap between developers and data scientists to deploy ML models better.

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• Founder and CEO Manasi Vartak came up with the concept while she was an MIT graduate student. Her open-source project has helped attract investors and customers.
• Verta can track model versioning and send alerts "when model performance changes unexpectedly." Its platform also helps scientists deploy models into production.
• The Series A round was led by Intel Capital, with participation from General Catalyst.
• Verta has nine employees and plans to hire six more this year, with a focus on gender fairness.

A Pittsburgh councilman introduced legislation that would ban unrestricted use of facial recognition and predictive policing tech. While Pittsburgh police don't use facial recognition right now, Councilman Corey O’Connor said he wants to prepare the city, especially since he says studies show the technology is biased against people of color.

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• O’Connor said the technology is "not up to speed" and resulting in false arrests of people who are wrongly matched in searches.
• O’Connor’s bill, which will be discussed at a public meeting Sept. 2, would require council approval to use facial recognition technology in the city.
• A U.S. Government Accountability Office has urged Congress to develop an overarching federal framework for facial recognition. The report confirms that more businesses are using the technology than when the last report came out in 2015. Concerns abound when it comes to privacy, ethics, and consent, which is why a framework is needed.
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says authorities will reassess the NYPD's use of facial recognition technology after police used it to investigate a Black Lives Matter activist.

Xpeng Motors wants to raise $1.11b through its upcoming U.S. IPO. The company develops smart electric vehicles that have advanced AI and autonomous driving technologies.

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• Its Xpeng P7 all-electric sports sedan has level 3 automated driving features powered by NVIDIA DRIVE's AGX Xavier AI compute platform.
• The company intends to sell 85m American depositary shares (ADS), with plans to price ordinary class A shares between $11 and $13. Xpeng is currently valued at around $9.1b.
• Bank of America Securities, JPMorgan, and Credit Suisse are serving as underwriters. Xpeng is set to officially price its IPO this week.

A version of this story first appeared in Inside Electric Vehicles.

Quick Hits

• Researchers developed a new convolutional neural network (deep learning algorithm) for recognizing human actions in videos.
• A wireless system from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab can remotely monitor people's movements, vital signs, and activities while preserving their privacy.
• LinkedIn open-sourced its LinkedIn Fairness Toolkit software library for measuring fairness in AI and Ml models.
• NIST is seeking public feedback through Oct. 15 on its draft principles for “explainable” AI.
• Amazon publicly released videos and materials from some of its Machine Learning University courses, which can be viewed on YouTube and downloaded from GitHub.
• In case you missed it: AWS announced its Contact Center Intelligence services that help companies integrate AI into contact centers.
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Tweet of the Day: Mozilla announced it will provide $245k to Black artists exploring the impacts of AI on racial justice. Read more about the grants here.