Ukraine's four-year war with Russia has made it the world leader in battlefield drone technology. One byproduct of that is that the data it collects has become one of the country's most valuable assets. On Thursday, Ukraine played that card, saying it will begin sharing its battlefield data with allies to train drone AI software."In modern warfare, we must defeat Russia in every technological cycle," Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Telegram (translated from Ukrainian). "Artificial intelligence is one of the key areas of this competition."Fedorov previewed the move when he took his post in January. At the time, the tech-savvy cabinet member pledged to "more actively" bring allies into projects. Foreign allies and companies have sought access to the country's data as, for better or worse, AI increasingly becomes an integral element of warfare.Fedorov says Ukraine has a platform that will safely train partners' AI models without providing sensitive data. The system is said to provide continually updating datasets, including large volumes of photos and videos."For us, this is the next step in the development of win-win cooperation," Fedorov wrote. "Partners get the opportunity to train their AI models on real data from modern warfare. And [for] Ukraine: faster development of autonomous systems and new technological solutions for the front."Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned global leaders of a dangerous escalation tied to drone tech and AI. We are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history, he said at a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September. However, given the ugly realities in his country, Zelenskyy reiterated his need for armaments. The only guarantee of security is friends and weapons, he said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/ukraine-allows-allies-to-train-ai-models-on-its-battlefield-data-165104853.html?src=rss
After spending many years as the public face of Overwatch, Jeff Kaplan stayed well out of the limelight after leaving Blizzard in 2021. Five years later, the former Blizzard vice president and Overwatch lead director is back with his own studio and a new game, which you might be able to play pretty soon.The Legend of California is billed as an open-world, action-survival shooter. It looks like a mix of Red Dead Redemption and Rust (Rust Dead Redemption, if you will). It's set during the gold rush era, but Kaplan says he and his team at Kintsugiyama were not aiming for historical accuracy. For one thing, this version of California is an island. Still, the developers wanted to make the game feel authentic to the time period.There are cowboys and prospectors, and you'll be able to go hunting, build mines and stables, craft tools and weapons, build out your homestead and raid hostile camps. There are "challenging" player vs. environment encounters (Kaplan says there are four difficulty tiers available to start with) and optional player vs. player battles. You'll be able to form a company with up to three other players and share progress, resources, buildings and other things with them.Kaplan says his 34-strong team hand-crafted the world, though there's a degree of randomization at play. A certain biome (say, the game's version of the Mojave Desert) might be the easiest, most beginner-friendly area of the game on one server, and the endgame, tier four section on another. The points of interest might pop up in unexpected spots too an Alcatraz-inspired structure will appear in a Bay Area-style region in some world seeds, and in snowy mountains in others.The Legend of California is being published by Blizzard co-founder and former CEO Mike Morhaime's company Dreamhaven. It's slated to enter early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store later this year, with closed alpha playtests expected to start soon.Kaplan announced The Legend of California in unusual fashion. Not during a splashy showcase, but in a five-hour appearance on Lex Fridman's podcast. Kaplan discussed his life and career, including his work on World of Warcraft, the ill-fated Titan and, of course, Overwatch. In his first public appearance since stepping down as Overwatch director, Kaplan revealed his reasons for leaving Blizzard, where he spent 19 years and previously had no intention of leaving. Business pressures related to the Overwatch League and Overwatch 2 played a part in his departure, but the final straw came in 2020 during a meeting with Blizzard's then-chief financial officer. Kaplan says he was told that if Overwatch didn't reach certain revenue targets, the publisher would lay off 1,000 people and that would be on Kaplan's shoulders.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/former-overwatch-director-jeff-kaplan-returns-with-a-western-survival-shooter-161221852.html?src=rss
With Claude enjoying a moment of newfound popularity among regular people, Anthropic is previewing an update designed to make its chatbot better at explaining some concepts. Starting today, Claude can generate charts and diagrams as part of its responses, either when asked directly or when it decides visuals might be helpful to the user. For example, try asking Claude what's the best way to fold a paper plane. Where previously it was limited to text, now it can show you step by step how to fold a Nakamura lock plane. Anthropic is quick to point out what it's introducing today isn't image generation. When producing visual aids, Claude will use HTML code and XML vector graphics. Anthropic likens it to giving Claude access to its own whiteboard. The new feature is available to all Claude users, regardless of whether you pay for one of Anthropic's subscriptions. However, the company does warn it's releasing beta software, so expect some quirks along the way. The feature also isnt available on mobile just yet. This release comes just days after OpenAI made ChatGPT capable of generating interactive visuals when explaining science and math concepts. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/claude-can-now-generate-charts-and-diagrams-160000369.html?src=rss
Honda has announced it is canceling three electric vehicles it was months from starting production on at its EV Hub in Ohio. The Honda 0 SUV, the Honda 0 sedan and the Acura RSX are all being wound down. The company showed off all three models, and touted them as in near-production form at CES 2025. Unlike the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, which run on GM's Ultium platform, the scrapped models were built on Honda's own Zero platform and would have been its first fully in-house EVs.
Honda in part blamed the elimination of federal EV tax credits, eased fossil fuel regulations and US tariffs for the decision. The company said US demand for electric vehicles had slowed because of the policy changes. In China, it admitted it could not match the value offered by newer manufacturers building software-driven vehicles on shorter production cycles. CEO Toshihiro Mibe said at a press conference that the demand shift had made EV profitability "very difficult," according to Reuters.
The company said it will redirect resources toward next-generation hybrids and only bring EVs to market when demand justifies it. It also shared plans to expand in India, where it expects the hybrid market to expand. Honda is not alone in pulling back from EV production, with brands like Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Porsche and Ford having all scrapped or delayed major US EV projects since federal policy shifted.
The total restructuring of its EV business could cost Honda up to 2.5 trillion yen ($15.7 billion), with the company set to lose money for the first time since going public in 1957. Mibe and Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara will forgo 30 percent of their compensation for three months, with other senior executives giving up 20 percent. Honda said it plans to share a detailed long-term strategy at a press conference in May.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/honda-cancels-three-evs-that-were-months-away-from-us-production-155523384.html?src=rss
Flash floods are notoriously difficult to predict, but Google might have a novel solution. The company just revealed Groundsource, a prediction tool for flash floods that uses Gemini to source data from old news reports. This is the first time it has used a language model for this type of work.
Flash flood prediction models need historical data and model training that often doesn't exist. Our solution: Groundsource, a new AI-powered methodology that uses Gemini to transform 5M+ global reports into a precise dataset of 2.6M+ flood events.This provides a massive, Google Research (@GoogleResearch) March 12, 2026
Google tasked Gemini with sorting through 5 million news articles from around the world and isolating flood reports. It transformed this data into a geo-tagged series of chronological events. Next, researchers trained a model to ingest current weather forecasts and leverage the Groundsource data to determine the likelihood of a flash flood in a given area.
We don't have any concrete information as to how accurate Google's forecast model is, though that should come over time. One trial user did say it helped his organization respond quicker to localized weather events. For now, the company is highlighting risks for urban areas in 150 countries via its Flood Hub platform. Google is also sharing its data with emergency response agencies in these locations.
Google
There are some limitations here. The model can only identify risk across a 20-square-kilometer area. It's also not quite as precise as the US National Weather Service's flood alert system, because Google's model doesn't integrate local radar data. This data typically enables real-time tracking of precipitation. However, the platform's been designed to work in areas that don't typically have access to that kind of weather-sensing infrastructure.
Juliet Rothenberg, a program manager on Google's Resilience team, hopes that this technology can eventually be used to predict other tricky phenomena. This includes stuff like heat waves and mudslides.
"Were aggregating millions of reports, she told reporters this week. "It enables us to extrapolate to other regions where there isnt as much information."
This is Google's first use of a language model for weather forecasts, but not its first time it has relied on AI for this type of thing. The company's DeepMind WeatherNext 2 forecasting model has proven to be extremely accurate.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-built-a-flash-flood-prediction-tool-using-gemini-and-old-news-reports-154542963.html?src=rss
Microsoft has unveiled Copilot Health, an AI-powered tool it claims can help make sense of your medical records, health history and fitness data from wearables, should you grant it access to that information. The company said it will be in a "separate, secure space" in the Copilot app and that the idea is to help provide you with more context and insights so you can ask your doctor the right questions when you see them.Copilot Health is designed to help you better understand your medical information as a whole, Microsoft says. It is not "intended to diagnose, treat or prevent diseases or other conditions and is not a substitute for professional medical advice," the company pointed out in a blog post.The tool can pull in activity, fitness and sleep data from more than 50 devices, including Apple Watch, Oura and Fitbit. Through HealthEx, it can access health records that include visit summaries, medication details and test results from more than 50,000 hospitals and provider organizations in the US. It can tap into lab test results from Function, should you allow it to do so.Copilot Health can take all those details and apply "intelligence to turn them into a coherent story," such as helping you pinpoint the reasons why you don't sleep too well, the company suggested. It can access real-time provider directories in the US to help users find clinicians based on factors like location, specialty, spoken languages and insurance coverage.Microsoft says that, across AI-powered consumer products like Copilot and Bing, users ask more than 50 million health-related questions every day. "Weve improved the quality and reliability of answers by elevating information from credible health organizations across 50 countries, as verified by our clinical team using principles independently established by the National Academy of Medicine," the blog post states. "Responses include clear citations with easy links to source material, alongside expertwritten answer cards from Harvard Health." As far as privacy is concerned, Microsoft says Copilot Health data and conversations are siloed from the broader Copilot app and there are extra access and safety controls in place, including "encryption at rest and in transit." You can delete your information and cut off the app's access to health records and wearable data at any time. Microsoft also notes that it won't use your Copilot Health information to train its models.The company explained that Copilot Health was informed by its responsible AI principles. Microsoft built the tool in collaboration with its own clinical team and with the expertise and feedback of more than 230 physicians from dozens of countries. "Copilot Health has achieved ISO/IEC 42001 certification, the worlds first standard for AI management systems, meaning an independent third party has verified how we build, govern and continuously improve the AI behind this service," it noted.Microsoft has opened up a waitlist for those interested in trying Copilot Health. The tool will initially be available in English in the US for those aged 18 and over. The company is working on adding support for more language and voice options and it will announce availability for those and other territories down the line. While users will be able to try Copilot Health for free at first, Microsoft plans to charge for access via a subscription, according to The New York Times. The company has not yet disclosed pricing details.The Copilot Health announcement comes just a couple of days after Amazon expanded its Health AI tool beyond One Medical. It's now available on the Amazon website and app. Prime members in the US have the option to chat about certain conditions with a One Medical provider via direct message at no extra cost. Earlier this year, OpenAI announced that it was testing ChatGPT Health. Anthropic has healthcare tools as well.Given how tough it is for many folks to access affordable healthcare and the fact their data and health records are often spread across a number of providers, some might believe there are benefits of using such tools from AI companies. However, there's a big difference between tracking your sleep or calling your doctor after an Apple Watch detects signs of atrial fibrillation and entrusting all of your medical information to a chatbot. There are also issues like AI hallucinations and chatbots providing users with straight-up bad advice, as well as the possibility that an LLM-based tool might downplay or exaggerate potential risks.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsofts-copilot-health-can-use-ai-to-turn-your-fitness-data-and-medical-records-into-a-coherent-story-152000621.html?src=rss
Uber has launched a new invite-only luxury ride experience called Uber Elite. Aimed at "executives, frequent travelers, and riders looking for a more elevated experience," it sounds like an upgraded version of Uber Black for the, well, uber-rich.
A ride booked through Uber Elite will be operated by a professional chauffeur driving a new-model luxury vehicle less than three years old. An Elite-only "Meet and Greet" feature allows riders to pre-arrange to be picked up in the airport terminal they arrive at from a flight, with their chauffeur dutifully awaiting them at baggage claim.
Uber says all Elite rides include chargers, bottled water, mints and premium hand wipes. If those perks are deemed too basic by the customer, they can also request sparkling water or champagne in the app ahead of their ride, and Uber says itll work with its partners to accommodate them "where feasible." Once an Uber Elite trip is booked, the rider can also take advantage of round-the-clock phone support.
The new luxury service is available through the Uber app, as well as via Uber Reserve and Uber for Business. Rides can be booked one hour in advance or up to 90 days ahead.
Uber Elite is launching first in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with New York to follow soon, and then other cities in the US and internationally. Invitations will first be extended to frequent Uber Black and Uber for Business users, before the service is eventually made available to all riders. If you think youre important enough, you can join a waitlist right now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-is-shooting-for-even-more-upscale-clientele-with-uber-elite-150620441.html?src=rss
Ahead of its official release later this spring, today Rivan is announcing full pricing and trim levels for its long-awaited R2 electric SUV. The rollout for the company's first mid-size (two-row) offering will be similar to its previous vehicles, with more expensive premium models hitting the road first this spring, followed by more affordable configurations becoming available later this year and into 2027. This timeline is especially important for anyone hoping to snag the $45,000 base model of the R2, which isn't expected to go on sale until sometime in late 2027. The R2 Performance with Launch Package and R2 Premium trims will arrive initially as model year 2027 vehicles, followed by the R2 Standard (MY 2028) next year. The new R2 with Rivian's Black Crater interiorRivianSome features that will be standard on every R2 are a native NACS charging port and Autonomy+ hardware. However, for the latter, while new vehicles will come with a free 60-day trial of Autonomy+, once that expires, owners will need to choose between a one-time fee or a monthly subscription to continue using Rivian's enhanced hands-free driving tech.Regardless of which trim or performance package you prefer, the arrival of the R2 is a huge deal for Rivian as it represents the company's first true mass-market vehicle that looks to bring a lot of the tech and engineering used in the R1T and R1S to a more affordable price point.For a closer look at the R2's trim levels and pricing, see the breakdown below.R2 Performance with Launch PackageAvailable Spring 2026 starting at $57,990Features a dual-motor AWD setup with 656 horsepower and 609 lb-ft of torqueEPA-estimated range of up to 330 miles0 to 60 time of up to 3.6 secondsNotably, the Launch Package will include a free lifetime subscription to Autonomy+, along with 20-inch Black Sand all-terrain wheels, a limited Rivian Green anodized key fob, exclusive Launch Green exterior paint option (which will be a paid upgrade) and a tow package that supports up to 4,440 pounds of towing capacity.Other inclusions on the Performance trim include an Esker Silver exterior, semi-active suspension, Compass Yellow brake calipers and rear drop glass. This config also features Rivian's Matrix LED headlights with adaptive high beams, integrated tow hooks, a flashlight that can be stowed inside the driver door and 21-inch tungsten all-season wheels.The interior features birch wood accents with a Black Crater color scheme along with heated and ventilated front readers, heated steering wheel, heated rear outboard seats and 12-way adjustment with lumbar support for the driver and front passenger.R2 PremiumAvailable late 2026 starting at $53,990Features a dual-motor AWD setup with 450 horsepower and 537 lb-ft of torqueEPA-estimated range of up to 330 miles0 to 60 time of up to 4.6 secondsThe premium trim includes many of the same features as the Performance model, but with smaller 20-inch bicolor carbon all-season wheels and fewer drive modes (there's no option for rally, soft sand and launch).R2 Standard (aka the RWD Long Range configuration)Available first half of 2027 starting at $48,490Features a single motor RWD setup with 350 horsepower and 355 lb-ft of torqueRivian-estimated range of up to 345 miles0 to 60 time of 5.9 secondsFinally, the R2 Standard variant features a slightly more spartan kit consisting of heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, 12-way seats (but only for the driver) and 19-inch machine graphite wheels. R2 Standard (aka the base model)Available late 2027 starting at $45,000Rivian-estimated range of 265+ milesMore detailed info will be released closer to launchThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/rivians-r2-ev-arrives-this-spring-with-a-58000-price-tag-150000363.html?src=rss
This infographic explores how people feel about AI-generated voices and music, whether they believe they can recognize AI-generated audio, and how they say AI-generated audio impacts their perception of brands Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Marketing is entering a new era where AI, interoperability, and advanced measurement redefine campaign execution and accountability. Discover how marketers can drive real business outcomes. Read more. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
