 Clearview AI has secured a contract to research augmented reality glasses for the U.S. Air Force Research Lab. Reports suggest the technology would make it possible to scan and identify people on military bases using glasses equipped with AI facial recognition. More: - The $50,000 contract only directs Clearview to research the feasibility of the technology, which the military is exploring to protect its airfields.
- Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That said the technology is still in R&D. He didn't specify what it might include but said it's not based on the company's database of 10 billion images it collects from social media and the web.
- It would rely on limited datasets, such as images of missing children or suspects with outstanding warrants, he said.
- A short overview of the project, provided by the Air Force, said the glasses could "secure bases and flightlines." They would make it easier for officers to deploy weapons and help maintain distance from standoffs or contagious diseases.
- In 2020, the New York Times uncovered code in Clearview's app that indicated it could be paired with augmented reality glasses. Ton-That confirmed that the company had a prototype at that time.
THE NEW YORK TIMES 
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Three congressional Democrats introduced an updated version of legislation that would require companies to audit their AI systems in banking, healthcare, and other areas. U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) are behind the Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022, which seeks to create a database where the public could view how companies are making decisions using AI. More: - In 2019, Wyden introduced an earlier version of the bill, which never passed committees in Congress.
- In the 2022 version, Booker, Wyden, and Clarke spoke with experts and added technical improvements, such as clarifying what companies and algorithms would have to abide by its rules.
- The bill would require companies to do "impact assessments" analyzing AI bias and more in their automated decision-making.
- It also directs tech companies that specialize in consumer AI tools to submit the assessments to the FTC, which would then create a public repository of the info.
- Businesses that fail to submit could violate the FTC's rules on unfair and deceptive practices.
- The 2022 bill has more co-sponsors than its predecessor bill, including Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and others.
- Committee votes have yet to be scheduled.
ENGADGET
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 New venture capitalist Mustafa Suleyman, a DeepMind co-founder, said he will explore more investment opportunities in Europe, particularly for AI companies. Suleyman, who was the head of applied AI at Alphabet-owned DeepMind, recently left Google as a VP to become a venture partner at VC firm Greylock. More: - Suleyman told CNBC he's looking to invest across a range of sectors in Europe and is "especially on the lookout for AI companies."
- He's also seeking to partner closely with founders to incubate teams.
- A Greylock spokesperson said the firm is "excited" about the opportunities to invest in AI, which they called "one of the most transformative industries in technology."
- Suleyman, who is well-connected in the AI ecosystem, will be especially resourceful to AI company founders, the person added.
Zoom-out: - According to a recent report, the U.K. ranks first among European countries in AI technology development and funding.
- London remains the most attractive U.K. city for AI talent and investment, followed by Cambridge and Edinburgh, according to the report.
CNBC
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Celestial AI, which is developing technology for AI chips that use light rather than electricity to move data, raised $56M to grow its engineering efforts. The Sunnyvale, California-based AI accelerator startup has raised more than $64M to date. More: - Celestial is working on an accelerator chip called Orion that can speed up ML applications.
- Its Photonic Fabric tech platform can transport data among chips in the form of light rather than electricity, reducing the power needed and heat generated, which can in turn boost performance.
- Its photonics-based architecture can scale across multichip systems for light-based data transfer within chips as well as chip-to-chip.
- The latest Series A was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, with participation from Temasek's Xora Innovation fund, Tyche Partners, M-Ventures, The Engine, Fitz Gate, and IMEC XPand.
- The proceeds will help Celestial expand its engineering team and invest in "product development and strategic supplier" partnerships, including data-center chip supplier Broadcom Inc.
VENTUREBEAT
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 The average salary for an AI expert in the U.S. fell 8.9% in 2021 as competition in the market softened, according to data from Dice. The online recruitment firm also reported salary decreases for machine learning and natural language processing experts, which fell 2.1% and 7.8%, respectively. More: - The data comes after sometimes-hefty salary increases for AI positions in recent years.
- From 2018 to 2019, the average salary for software engineers with ML skills grew by 22%.
- Among all tech positions in the U.S., the average salary rose 7% in 2021 to $104,566.
- Meanwhile, Indeed last year released its list of the 10 most in-demand AI jobs in the U.S. Data scientist was the top, with a yearly salary of $110,000.
- LinkedIn's latest Jobs on the Rise report lists ML engineers as the fourth fastest-growing job in the U.S. The salary range was $72,600 to $170,000.
IEEE SPECTRUM
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This week's M&A: - Diabetes management platform Glooko acquired xbird, which uses AI to identify health risks for those with diabetes.
- Salesfloor, a mobile virtual-shopping platform, purchased Automat, a conversational AI platform for guided shopping.
- Gupshup, a developer of AI chatbots and messaging services for businesses, announced its acquisition of cloud communications startup Knowlarity Communications.
- Switzerland-based bank UBS will buy U.S.-based robo-adviser Wealthfront for $1.4B in an all-cash deal.
- Atlassian acquired AI company Percept.AI for an undisclosed sum.
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QUICK HITS - For completeness of vision and ability to execute, the Gartner Magic Quadrant named Adobe a leader among 17 vendors – See why here.*
- The U.S. Air Force created the role of chief responsible AI ethics officer, which will be held by senior pilot Joe Chapa. He formerly led the Air Staff's AI Cross-Functional Team.
- Companies in North America spent a collective $2B to acquire 40,000 industrial robots in 2021, a 28% increase from 2020. Part of the jump is attributed to the labor shortage impacting warehouse and factory operations.
- Google is joining Ford to convert a Detroit train station into a research hub focused on electric and autonomous vehicles.
- Your money matters. Let's make more of it. Stocks are great, but there are many more options now. That's why we've been reading the Alts newsletter.*
*This is sponsored content.
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 |  | Beth is an Inside Analyst and a former public policy/investigative reporter. She has covered AI, VR, technology, and e-commerce for Inside. When she's not busy writing, she's hiking in Arizona's desert, playing pickleball, or trying out new Mexican food recipes. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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