China is in competition with the US in the race to develop deadly AI apps – from nuclear submarines with self-learning chips to microscopic robots that can crawl into human blood vessels

China’s brightest children are being recruited to develop AI ‘killer bots’ [The South China Morning Post]

A group of some of China’s smartest students have been recruited straight from high school to begin training as the world’s youngest AI weapons scientists.

The 27 boys and four girls, all aged 18 and under, were selected for the four-year “experimental programme for intelligent weapons systems” at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) from more than 5,000 candidates, the school said on its website.

The BIT is one of the country’s top weapons research institutes, and the launch of the new programme is evidence of the weight it places on the development of AI technology for military use.

China is in competition with the United States and other nations in the race to develop deadly AI applications – from nuclear submarines with self-learning chips to microscopic robots that can crawl into human blood vessels.

Thailand’s Bumrungrad Hospital invests US$3M in medical app iDoctor [DealStreetAsia]

Bumrungrad Hospital, a Thai listed private hospital, has agreed to acquire a 30 per cent stake in Singapore-based medical app developer iDoctor for US$3 million, according to a disclosure to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Thursday.

Bumrungrad’s managing director Linda Lisahapanya said that the deal offers an opportunity for the hospital to expand its business into the digital market so its medical services could be reached via smartphones.

“The Board of Directors has considered and is of the view that it is a low risk investment and helps diversify our business into a different market. In addition, it is a good start as we need not develop the application ourselves,” she said in the disclosure.

Malaysia’s Fresh At Heart to raise US$260K via Ata Plus [press release]

Malaysia’s Pontian-based fresh produce e-tailing platform, Fresh At Heart, is looking to raise RM1.15 million (US$260,000) to expand their offline presence across Malaysia.

The startup is raising money through equity crowdfunding on the Ata Plus platform.

Fresh At Heart was founded in 2016 by Eddie Goh and Joel Chong. Through Fresh At Heart’s online sales platform, consumers can place orders for a variety of fresh food items for either home delivery or to be picked up in-store from their 16 locations across Malaysia’s major cities.

In 2017, the company expanded its product range to include other meats, poultry, and fresh produce. Since launching in 2016, Fresh At Heart has grown its online following to 30,000 and has seen steady growth in sales, hitting RM200,000 in monthly sales this quarter.

South Korean lawyers press govt for cryptocurrency laws, investor protection [Reuters]

South Korea’s lawyers lobbied the government on Thursday to quickly establish a legal framework to help develop the blockchain-based virtual currency industry and protect investors.

It is rare for the Korean Bar Association, membership of which is mandatory for all local lawyers, to campaign publicly for specific technological or business interest groups.

The government of South Korea, one of the world’s most high-tech countries and home to top cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bithumb and Coinbit, has been criticised at home for ignoring blockchain technology.

China’s grand internet vision is starting to ring hollow [Bloomberg]

Ever since Chinese President Xi Jinping marked the opening of the first World Internet Conference in 2014, it was meant to usher in a new era of digital openness and project China as a champion of global cyber-governance.

The forum’s mastermind — then-cyberspace czar Lu Wei — began aggressively courting U.S. technology giants, leading delegations of the Chinese industry’s brightest around Silicon Valley. In 2017, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Alphabet Inc.’s Google CEO Sundar Pichai headlined the event in the town of Wuzhen.

The post Today’s top tech stories, Nov 08: China’s brightest children are being recruited to develop AI ‘killer bots’ appeared first on e27.