Amazon's Alexa team is disproportionately affected by the company's ongoing layoffs, according to a Business Insider report. Alexa is part of Amazon's Worldwide Digital group, which reported an operating loss of $3B in Q1 and is on track to lose $10B this year. A majority of the losses were attributed to Alexa and other devices. More: - Amazon is now laying off employees across its various Alexa programs, including Alexa Auto, Games, Communications, Skills Kit, Speech, and Routines.
- The Alexa Ambient and Alexa Health and Wellness programs are also expected to be shut down.
- Insider interviewed more than a dozen employees on the Amazon hardware team and concluded that the Alexa voice assistant unit is a "division in crisis."
Zoom-out: - The unit, a "pet project" of former CEO Jeff Bezos before he began to lose interest in 2020, has failed to maintain an ongoing revenue stream.
- Attempts to turn around Alexa's monetization issues have not worked out, resulting in the recent layoffs, according to Insider sources.
- In a note to employees, CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon still has "conviction in pursuing" Alexa.
BUSINESS INSIDER 
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The FIFA World Cup is using various AI technologies to improve the soccer tournament for players, referees, and fans. The Washington Post outlined some core AI innovations being deployed during this year's matches. Highlights: - The tournament will rely on video assistant referees to aid call-making for on-field referees. The technology relies on data points, algorithms, and cameras to track players' limbs, as well as the ball's movement. The data is fed into an AI system to improve the accuracy of offside calls and other penalties.
- An Adidas-made soccer ball contains motion sensors to report the location data of the ball 500 times every second. That data will also be used to track statistics and gameplay.
- Qatar's Lusail Stadium, host of the World Cup final, plans to deploy facial recognition technology to track fans, prompting some privacy concerns.
- AI and algorithms will also be used to predict crowd patterns and prevent possible stampedes at the stadium.
Related: - Researchers at the U.K.'s Alan Turing Institute developed an algorithm to predict this year's most likely winner.
- In simulations, Brazil won the World Cup about 25% of the time, followed by Belgium at 18% and Argentina at 15%.
THE WASHINGTON POST
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Driverless delivery vehicle maker Nuro will lay off 20% of staff members following a period of rapid growth, according to an email sent to employees on Friday. The layoffs will impact about 300 employees, who will be offered 12 to 14 weeks of severance pay. More: - In the email, the company's co-founders said the layoffs are needed after leaders exhausted all other options.
- The co-founders, Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, were previously on the team of Google's self-driving car project, which later became Waymo.
- Starting in 2021, Nuro significantly raised operating expenses and doubled its workforce in less than two years during a strong fundraising environment, they said.
- The startup is now being forced to cut costs amid broader macroeconomic conditions. It currently has more than $1B on its balance sheet.
Zoom-out: - The company introduced its third-gen driverless delivery vehicle in January. The slim battery-electric car navigates roads using lidar, cameras, radar, and thermals and delivers goods at a max speed of 45 mph.
- In November, Nuro announced a $600M funding round led by Tiger Global Management, giving it a valuation of $8.6B.
SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL
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Automaker Stellantis signed an agreement to purchase aiMotive, a developer of advanced AI and autonomous driving software. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Stellantis said the deal will support its AI technology and the development of its STLA AutoDrive platform. More: - The platform, developed in partnership with BMW, will equip vehicles with Level 2, 2+, and 3 autonomous driving capabilities through over-the-air software updates.
- Amsterdam-based Stellanis plans to begin deploying STLA AutoDrive and two other technology platforms starting in 2024.
- It predicts the software will generate about $20.5B in incremental annual revenues by 2030.
- Stellantis, the world's fifth largest automaker, claims 16 brands, including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram.
- Once the deal closes, Hungary-based aiMotive will operate as a subsidiary of Stellantis.
TESLARATI
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Care.ai, a provider of a hospital monitoring platform powered by AI edge sensors, secured $27M from Crescent Cove Advisors. Care.ai says its "Smart Care Facility Platform" continuously monitors clinical and operational workflows at hospitals, nursing homes, and other care facilities. More: - The platform "learns" from what it monitors over time to predict, report on, and alert care providers about safety, quality, and other issues.
- The system, now in use at more than 1,500 healthcare facilities, is touted as a way to address the nursing shortage.
- The startup also offers an invite-only mobile app for nurses to receive notifications and monitor patients in real time.
- Care.ai says it will use the fresh funding to grow and scale deployments of the smart care facility platform in the U.S.
AXIOS
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AI Events and Conferences: - NeurIPS, Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems: Nov. 24-Dec. 4, New Orleans and virtual.
- Scaling AI Summit: Nov. 30-Dec. 1, Silicon Valley.
- AI & Big Data Expo Global: Dec. 1-2, London and online.
- The AI Summit New York: Dec. 7-8, New York City.
- AI for Science Workshop: Dec. 12-16, Rabat, Morocco.
- World Artificial Intelligence Cannes Festival: Feb. 9-11, 2023, Cannes, France, and online.
- Data Science Salon: AI & Machine Learning in the Enterprise: Feb. 21-22, 2023, Austin, Texas, and virtual.
- The European Chatbot & Conversational AI Summit: March 15-16, 2023, Edinburgh, U.K., and online.
- Ai4 2023: Aug. 7-9, 2023. Las Vegas, Nevada.
- AI Hardware Summit: Sept. 12-14, 2023. Santa Clara, California.
- Edge AI Summit: Sept.12-14, 2023. Santa Clara, California.
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- Integrated automation provider Bowe Group led an $8.2M investment round in Mov.ai, a developer of software for autonomous mobile robots.
- University of Maryland researchers created a sweater that helps its wearer "hide" from machine vision systems.
- Microsoft filed a patent for AI models that can generate real-time audio for movies, games, and other media.
- SoundHound launched Dynamic Interaction, a conversational AI tool for businesses to add voice AI tech to their services.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | 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 and 1972 Fords. | |
Laika is a unified compliance platform that automates workflows for audits, infosec monitoring, and vendor due diligence in a single, collaborative space. | |
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