5 things about AI you may have missed today: US to invest in AI drones to counter China, Fintech companies leveraging AI

AI Roundup: Rapid advancements in AI are taking place on a daily basis as can be gauged by the announcements by companies, big and small. IIT Bombay has announced a new Chair Professorship in generative AI in collaboration with Google Cloud; Tencent Holdings is preparing to announce its new AI chatbot soon.

All this, and more in today’s AI roundup.

1. India’s Apollo Hospitals partner with Google to offer AI-powered telemedicine

Harnessing the power of AI, India’s Apollo Hospitals on Wednesday announced its partnership with Google Cloud to provide AI telemedicine and online doctor consultation facilities across the country. According to a PTI report, the hospitals’ partnership will result in the development of an AI-powered clinical decision support system, along with AskApollo service. Shobana Kamineni, Apollo Hospitals vice-chairperson said, “Access to timely and accurate health information is a real challenge in India, and our partnership with Google Cloud is poised to address it through various collaborations.”

2. Fintech companies leveraging AI to detect money laundering

At the ongoing Global Fintech Fest 2023 in Mumbai, Rajesh Mirjankar, MD of Kiya.ai, said that fintech companies are harnessing the power of AI to detect money laundering patterns and fund siphoning. As per an ANI report. the firms use AI to scan volumes of data as technological advancements have transformed the investigative practices of govt institutions. “Now we are not only scanning the large volumes of data for our govt clients and institutions, not just data but also patterns, social profiles, company profiles and what kind of business that company does and importantly, detect where you say money movement has happened as siphoning when you take a loan, etc,” Mirjankar said.

3. US to invest in AI arsenal to counter China

To counter the threat posed by China, the United States Department of Defense is planning to develop a vast arsenal of AI-powered air, land, and sea drones and autonomous systems, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. As per the report, Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense in a speech on Wednesday will lay out the US’ plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in developing “small, smart, cheap” AI systems.

4. Tencent teases launch of new AI chatbot

As the AI race in China heats up, Tencent Holdings on Wednesday teased a new AI chatbot via a social media post. Reuters reported that the Chinese technology giant posted a teaser on the country’s social media platform WeChat, promoting its upcoming two-day summit, while also revealing a demo of an AI chatbot helping a user create promotional materials. This news comes after two other Chinese companies Baidu and SenseTime released their own AI chatbots last week.

5. IIT Bombay announces Chair Professorship in generative AI

In a bid to encourage students to take up AI in their studies, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay on Wednesday announced a new collaboration with Google Cloud India to establish a “Chair Professorship” in generative AI. As per a PTI report. This Chair Professorship is aimed at enhancing the research in academia while also strengthening collaborations. nil Bhansali, VP-engineering and head of India development center, Google Cloud said, “The aim is to provide academic and technical leadership in generative AI and initiate and provide expert guidance in R&D programs supported by government agencies and by the industry. Those will enable innovators of tomorrow to be equipped with the right skills and resources.”