Ultra-Light Start – Open sourcing AI, drones with nets, and Banksy uses Steve Jobs
Brett Venter
Elon Musk launches OpenAI, an open-source project to help artificial intelligence benefit mankind
Elon Musk has launched OpenAI, a non-profit dedicated to advancing “…digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return.” He’s not doing all of this by himself – Y Combinator’s Sam Altman will be joining Musk as co-chair and OpenAI has got an impressive roster of other participants. And the organisation could come in very handy. There’s the whole Terminator scenario, something that has been on Musk’s mind in the past, and it would be handy to have a directed plan for artificial intelligent other than “What happens when I do this?”
Japan will be using drones with nets to catch other drones
If you don’t want drones in your airspace, you have a couple of options. There’s the trusty shotgun, if you’re an American redneck, you could go for the electric drone-killing rifle or you can opt for bigger drones, with nets. The latter is the route taken by Japan, as the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department have formed a special squad who will attempt to track down drone operator flying where they shouldn’t. If the operator can’t be located, then they’ll launch a drone of their own, carrying a net, and bring down the offending aircraft before, presumably, taking it away. There are a host of other rules and regulations for drone operation in Japan but they’re not quite as sexy as a drone net takedown (as seen in the video above).
Banksy borrows Steve Jobs’ image to say something about refugees
It doesn’t really matter what you think of graffiti artist Banksy, there’s no denying that he has a way with images. His latest work, on display at a refugee camp in Calais, uses Steve Jobs a way to draw attention to the lives that political refugees are living in France at present. That’s because Jobs is the son of a migrant from Syria – the takeaway that all of the hatred being directed at refugees could deny the world of its next Apple. Banksy said to The Guardian, “We’re often led to believe migration is a drain on the country’s resources but Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian migrant. Apple is the world’s most profitable company, it pays over $7bn a year in taxes – and it only exists because they allowed in a young man from Homs.”
