Google shares news: Tech giant’s AI used by US military drone project

Google shares closed higher in the US Tuesday, as news emerges that the global tech giant’s Artificial Intelligence capabilities are being used in a US military drone project.

Few details are clear over exactly how involved Google is. However, it’s tech is being used in Project Maven which was launched in 2017.

Google shares ended the US trading session 0.56% higher at $1,100.90. However, the stock is seen lower in after-hours trade, in line with the general markets outlook.

TensorFlow AI systems

Reports state that Google’s TensorFlow AI systems are being used in the Department of Defence’s Project Maven to help better decipher images returned by military drones and identify details and points of interest in them.

Project Maven, which was launched in the summer of 2017, returns huge amounts of footage.

“The immediate focus is 38 classes of objects that represent the kinds of things the department needs to detect, especially in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,” said Marine Corps Col. Drew Cukor, in a press release on Project Maven published in 2017.

Following numerous recent reports on the project, a Google spokesperson told various news agencies: “This specific project is a pilot with the Department of Defense, to provide open source TensorFlow APIs that can assist in object recognition on unclassified data. The technology flags images for human review and is for non-offensive uses only.”

Google Home speakers offer hands free calls in the UK

UK users of Google Home have finally been granted the ability to make hands-free, phone free phone calls through their Home device.

While they have been waiting for some months for the functionality to become available in the UK, they can now simply say “Ok Google” and the name of the person or business they wish to call. Google then finds the number from the user’s contacts, makes the call and you can chat through the speaker – without picking up your phone.