Google's parent company Alphabet is shutting down Loon, which used a fleet of AI-powered balloons to provide wireless internet connectivity to remote parts of the world. Loon's internet balloons, which began as an Alphabet X moonshot project, have been piloted by a novel, machine-designed deep reinforcement learning system.

More:

• Last year, Loon said its AI-powered flight control system was navigating the stratospheric helium balloons over Kenya, where Loon launched its initial commercial internet service this past summer.
• After pitting the AI against the human-created system in a 39-day test over the Pacific Ocean, the AI model could keep balloons aloft for longer periods and even devised its own novel navigational moves, prompting Loon to deploy the AI system across its entire fleet.
• However, X leader Astro Teller said in a blog post today that the project's commercial viability has taken longer and been much riskier than they hoped, prompting Alphabet to wind down operations over the next few months.
• A small group of Loon employees will wrap up operations and pilot service in Kenya, where Loon has pledged $10M to help support Internet connectivity, he said.
• Loon first launched as a moonshot in 2013 and was spun-off as a separate company in 2018; it has raised funds from investors including SoftBank.

In this piece for MIT Technology Review, writer Karen Hao speculates what U.S. President Biden's recent appointments could mean for the field of artificial intelligence. Biden elevated the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy —geneticist Eric Lander — to a cabinet-level position, suggesting that while former President Trump viewed AI as largely a geopolitical tool, Biden may also focus on its contribution to scientific progress.

More:

• As Hao notes, Biden hasn't announced formal plans for AI, but his early appointments could indicate where he plans to go in the field.
• Under Biden, Hao said she expects to see more money dedicated to non-defense AI research and more collaboration among agencies to create "technical standards for AI progress."
• Biden also appointed sociologist Alondra Nelson as the Office of Science and Technology Policy's deputy director. The appointment indicates that his administration understands how effective science and tech policies should also consider social influences on scientific advancements.
• As we reported earlier this week, Nelson has alluded to the lack of diversity in AI and big tech, which she noted can have a large impact on the way AI and algorithms are developed. AI can reveal the complex and sometimes dangerous social architecture underneath scientific progress, she said.
• Finally, recent comments made new Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggest that Biden's administration could maintain technology-related policies led by the Trump administration, including a blacklist against Chinese tech giants and export controls on certain AI technologies.

Microsoft was granted a patent for creating chatbots using people's social media profiles, prompting internet users to compare it to an episode of “Black Mirror." As UberGizmo notes, one application could be conversing with chatbots of loved ones after they've died.

More:

• In "Black Mirror's" first episode of its second season, a young woman's boyfriend is killed in a car accident and she uses AI technology to resurrect him as a chatbot and later, a robot.
• In the patent, Microsoft says it would feed a person's social media profiles, emails, images, and more into a machine learning system, which would train the bot in order to mimic how that person sounds. The bot could correspond "to a past or present entity (or a version thereof)," such as a friend, relative, or celebrity, Microsoft said.
• The idea does raise privacy issues, as people would have to agree to the use of their data, which could reveal personal details they might not want to be shared through the bot.
• One person tweeted: “Quick reminder to all the tech people in the audience. Black Mirror (and dystopian fiction in general) is meant to be a warning rather than a roadmap."

A city in India is planning to install AI-equipped cameras that it claims can identify when women are distressed from harassment. The facial recognition technology can allegedly detect when a person's facial expression appears distressed, though claims of current AI systems being able to read emotions have been largely debunked.

More:

• The city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh state, plans to install five of the cameras at harassment "hotspots" around the city, where there's a high population of women as well as harassment/stalking complaints.
• Police haven't said how they plan to store and process data collected by the systems, which will send alerts to police when a woman or girl appears distressed.
• Digital rights advocates have expressed major concerns about the project, which they said can invade people's privacy and lead to false accusations of harassment. The Next Web, for example, noted that AI systems have "hugely inconsistent track records when it comes to identifying the emotions behind a facial expression."
• Anushka Jain, an Internet Freedom Foundation associate counsel, called the concept "absurd," noting that people make different facial expressions when they're in distress. "I could be talking to my mother on the phone and get angry and make a face — will that trigger an alert and will they send a policeman?”

Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent has partnered with automaker Geely to build smart applications and self-driving technology. The companies will work on mobile apps, including multiscreen interaction and intelligent speech.

More:

• Specifically, the two said they plan to explore simulated testing of autonomous driving systems.
• Tencent and Geely first partnered in 2018 for a joint venture with China Railways to create high-speed wifi and railway mobility service applications.
• Last week, Geely partnered with Chinese search engine Baidu to develop electric cars. Geely and Apple supplier Foxconn have also announced a joint venture focused on electric vehicles and self-driving technology.
• Related: Tencent was among the investors in a recent $278.5M funding round for Shanghai-based Enflame Technology, a developer of chips that process data for AI training.

A version of this story first appeared in Inside Transportation. Read the full issue here.

QUICK HITS:

• How are companies deciding on privacy management solutions in 2021? This eGuide breaks it down.*
• MIT researchers have developed an automated method for designing customized "brains" for robots, speeding up their operation and response times.
• Swapp, an Israeli startup that sells an AI platform to construction companies, has raised $7M.
• Sevillan beer company Cruzcampo used AI tools to create a deepfake of legendary Spanish singer Lola Flores, who died in 1995.
• Nexo manages $4B in assets and has over 1M users. See why fintech consumers are banking on crypto.*

* This is sponsored content.

Tweet of the Day: Scientist Narottam Sahoo shared an infographic of AI and robotics highlights during the last 30 years: