Austin Russell, now 22, was barely old enough to drive when he set out to create a safer navigation system for robot-controlled cars. His ambitions are about to be tested.   Five years ago, Russell co-founded Luminar Technologies, a Silicon Valley startup trying to steer the rapidly expanding self-driving car …

Apple has hired a team of biomedical engineers as part of a secret initiative, initially envisioned by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, to develop sensors to treat diabetes, CNBC reported citing three people familiar with the matter. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. The engineers are expected to work at …

Fast-food chain Burger King said Wednesday that it would start televising a commercial for its signature Whopper sandwich that is designed to activate Google voice-controlled devices. The move raised questions about whether marketing tactics have become too invasive. The 15-second ad starts with a Burger King employee holding up the …

A Canadian man accused in a massive hack of Yahoo emails has alleged ties to Russian agents and access to significant amounts of cash, making him a serious flight risk if freed on bail, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Karim Baratov, 22, was arrested last month and faces extradition to the …

Google said it’s “taken aback” by the government’s claim that it doesn’t compensate women fairly. The company said it conducts “rigorous analyses” that its pay practices are gender-blind and found “no gender pay gap” in 52 major job categories it analyzed last year. Google added that analysts who calculate suggested …

Past cyber attacks on scores of organizations around the world were conducted with top-secret hacking tools that were exposed recently by the Web publisher Wikileaks, the security researcher Symantec Corp said on Monday. That means the attacks were likely conducted by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The files posted by …

Terrorist attacks at public places are on the rise and authorities organizing large gatherings are always looking for ways to reinforce security. Increasing the number of security cameras is easy but monitoring the video they send requires a large number of people. Japanese technology giant Hitachi says artificial intelligence could …

Despite ethical and safety concerns, researchers are getting closer to building life from scratch. In fact, scientists are hoping to synthesize a human genome in the next 10 years. Investors are putting huge amounts of money into research that may deliver novel drugs, materials and chemicals. Some of the projects …

The U.S. government on Friday dropped its effort to force Twitter to identify users behind an account critical of President Donald Trump, the social media company said. In response, Twitter said it was dropping a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government that challenged the request to unmask the users. Twitter …

Twitter on Thursday sued to block an order by the U.S. government demanding that it reveal who is behind an account opposed to President Donald Trump’s tough immigration policies. Twitter cited freedom of speech as a basis for not turning over records about the account, @ALT_uscis. The account is claimed …

Pirooz Parvarandeh, a longtime Silicon Valley executive, saw a problem. Although he has lived in the United States for more than 40 years, he knew little about the contributions and accomplishments of Iranian Americans like himself. That lack of knowledge is widespread, he feared, and in his view makes Iranians …

Abuses linked to mining in countries such as Myanmar and Colombia are being overlooked by technology companies focused only on eliminating “conflict minerals” from war-torn parts of Africa in their supply chains, researchers said on Thursday. In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), competition for mineral resources has fueled two decades …

Twitter has unveiled a new, light mobile site aimed at emerging markets where people are still using slower 2G mobile connections. Twitter Lite, according to the company, will use less data and will be up to 30 percent faster than the full Twitter website. The service will be rolled out …

Germany has threatened to slap social media companies with huge fines if they do not act quickly enough to remove “hate speech” from their websites. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet on Wednesday approved a measure that would fine websites like Facebook and Twitter up to $55 million if they do not …

Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar’s philanthropy promised $100 million over the next five years to support journalism and fight fake news, the foundation announced Wednesday. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which broke the story of the controversial Panama Papers, is the first organization to receive funds from the Omidyar …

Controversial New Zealand-based internet mogul Kim Dotcom plans to launch a Bitcoin payments system for users to sell files and video streaming as he fights extradition to the United States for criminal copyright charges. The German-born entrepreneur, who is wanted by U.S. law enforcement on copyright and money laundering allegations …

Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler and supplier Robert Bosch are teaming up to develop self-driving cars in an alliance aimed at accelerating the production of “robo-taxis.” The pact between the world’s largest maker of premium cars and the world’s largest automotive supplier forms a powerful counterweight to new auto industry players like …

A “massive and growing” mental health burden across the world can only be tackled successfully with a major expansion of online psychiatric resources such as virtual clinics and web-based psychotherapies, specialists said on Tuesday. With resources tight and the global mental health system only serving around 10 percent of patients …

Since the 1990’s the U.S. has steadily abandoned coal and instead turned to natural gas and renewables to run America. But coal is back, thanks to President Trump’s recent repeal of restrictions on the coal industry. Most scientists agree that coal is one of the main sources of air pollution …

After his press secretary blasted it as an example of rampant government overreach, President Donald Trump signed a bill into law Monday that could eventually allow internet providers to sell information about their customers’ browsing habits.   The bill scraps a Federal Communications Commission online privacy regulation issued in October …

A new method could turn seawater into drinking water for millions around the world without access to clean water. Researchers at the University of Manchester in England say they’ve successfully used graphene-oxide membranes to filter common salts from seawater, turning it into drinking water more affordably than current desalination techniques. …

Those handy Android apps on your smartphone are apparently mining your personal information, according to a new study. The study, done by researchers at Virginia Tech, is the first to study how apps “talk to one another and trade information,” according to a news release. Researchers say there are two …

Facebook and Mozilla are among the companies and organizations launching a $14 million fund to promote news literacy and increase trust in journalism.   The nonprofit, called the News Integrity Initiative, will be based at the City University of New York. It will run as an independent project of the …

Fed up with the theft of toilet paper from public bathrooms, tourist authorities in China’s capital have begun using facial recognition technology to limit how much paper a person can take.   The unusual move – part of a “toilet revolution” – is another step in China’s vast upgrading of …

Snap Inc. said Friday that its Snapchat messaging app would add an option for users to search through photos and videos that users have posted to the public. The move came days after larger rival Facebook Inc. stepped up efforts to encourage users to take more photos and edit them …