The National Institute of Standards and Technology wants comment by Aug. 5 on its effort to identify and manage AI bias. NIST plans several virtual events on its proposal. The agency seeks to develop "voluntary, consensus-based standards" for managing AI bias and reducing the risk of "harmful outcomes that it can cause,” it said.

The U.S. and EU will tackle AI issues together in the newly launched Trade and Technology Council because it's vital they "write the rules of the road" together, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a Thursday virtual BSA|The Software Alliance event. The two regions don't have widely different views on technology, and they share commitments to privacy, democracy and equity, she said: One challenge is to determine how to regulate and set standards for emerging tech in a way that lets it flourish while safeguarding fundamental values. The European Commission unveiled an AI regulatory framework last month based on risk management (see 2104210003). The U.S. wants to develop similar, said Raimondo. She said the key is "robust industry engagement. Industry needs to lean in" and partner with the U.S. government: The goal is to "harness the power but keep a lid on the danger." Ensure tech doesn't undermine trust, said Margrethe Vestager, EC executive vice president-Europe Fit for the Digital Age: That includes ensuring there's no bias in AI. Creating trust and safety for AI is "market-creating," she said: The marketplace for the many applications for AI use within public sector activities won't function without trust. BSA launched its framework for confronting bias in AI Thursday. It calls for a process for carrying out impact assessments to identify and mitigate potential bias risks; identifies existing best practices and technical tools for lessening specific bias risks; and lays out corporate governance processes and safeguards needed for effective risk management. Separately, Raimondo met with EU officials at the June 14-16 U.S.-EU summit, Commerce newly blogged. She and EC officials agreed on the importance of data transfers and the need to continue talks on a successor to data-sharing mechanism Privacy Shield. They "recognized that, while key issues remained to be addressed in those negotiations, the liberal values and commitment to individual privacy shared by the U.S. and EU would help drive those negotiations to a mutually-agreeable resolution at the appropriate time."

The European Commission's "first-ever" draft rules for AI unveiled Wednesday prompted a mix of praise and criticism. "Trust is a must" for AI, and the rules will spearhead "the development of new global norms to make sure AI can be trusted," said Margrethe Vestager, EC vice president for a Europe fit for the digital age. The rules take a risk-based approach. AI systems deemed a clear threat to users' safety, livelihoods and rights would be banned, including AI that manipulates human behavior to circumvent users' free will and systems allowing government "social scoring." High-risk uses include those involved in critical infrastructure; those that could put people's lives at risk; safety components; and law enforcement. High-risk systems would be subject to strict obligations, including adequate risk assessment and mitigation; logging activities to ensure results are traceable; and giving users clear, adequate information. "All remote biometric identification systems are considered high risk and subject to strict requirements." Limited-risk AI systems such as chatbots would have specific transparency conditions, like notifying users they're interacting with a machine. Low-risk uses such as AI-enabled videogames or spam filters, which comprise the majority of AI systems, won't face the regulation. The EC proposed that national market surveillance authorities supervise the rules and that a European Artificial Intelligence Board be established. The plan foresees voluntary codes of conduct for non-high-risk AI. It needs the European Parliament's and EU governments' OKs. Parliament's Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age welcomed the proposal. Lawmakers now "need to act on two fronts," said Chair Dragos Tudorache of Renew Europe and Romania: Reduce unnecessary burdens on startups, small and midsize businesses, and industry so "AI can be unleashed to its full economic potential" and boost citizens' rights. The Computer & Communications Industry Association applauded the risk-based approach, saying the proposal should be "clarified and targeted to avoid unnecessary red tape for developers and users. ... Regulation alone will not make the EU a leader in AI.” It's a "bold step towards pioneering regulation in this field," said the Information Technology Industry Council, urging the EC to focus on flexible rules targeted to the highest-risk applications. BSA|The Software Alliance urged the EC to engage with international partners, since building trust in AI is a shared responsibility. Others were less enthusiastic. The draft fails to prohibit "the full extent of unacceptable uses of AI," particularly biometric mass surveillance, and allows too much industry self-regulation, said European Digital Rights. The Center for Data Innovation accused the EC of striking "a damaging blow to the Commission’s goal of turning the EU into a global AI leader by creating a thicket of new rules." The recommendations overly focus on too limited a range of AI uses, said the European Consumer Organisation: It omits many uses that affect people's everyday lives, such as smart thermostats, and doesn't ensure consumers have enforceable rights.

Imax announced a joint venture with visual effects company Maximus to deliver AI-based 4K video enhancement technologies for home entertainment streaming services and smart devices, it said Thursday. Imax Enhanced will work with Imax AI to accelerate growth across streaming platforms and consumer devices, said the company. AI “has the potential to revolutionize how we create, distribute and enjoy entertainment," said Imax CEO Rich Gelfond. Maximus founder Daniel Nadler will be special adviser to the Imax board.

On-device AI has become the most important technology in smartphones, reported Strategy Analytics Wednesday, saying 71% of smartphones sold globally this year will use AI. Smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max and Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, run machine learning and deep learning tasks using dedicated AI cores and co-processors with little or no data transmitted to the cloud. Smartphone and chipset vendors are moving to add on-device AI computational power to enable edge AI computing, said the researcher. AI is being used on smartphones for intelligent power optimization, imaging, virtual assistants and device performance improvement, delivering lower latency, better data privacy and lower power consumption, said analyst Ville-Petteri Ukonaho. Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant thus became “more intelligent and aware of their environment,” he said. Some 80% of smartphones globally will have virtual assistants this year, growing to 97% by 2025, said SA. Camera AI, a top selling point of imaging-focused smartphones, enables features such as object recognition and motion detection, said analyst Ken Hyers. About 30% of smartphones have AI-enhanced functionality.

Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and four other members of the Democratic caucus pressed Amazon Wednesday about reports of AI-capable surveillance cameras in its delivery vehicles. The cameras reportedly used Driveri software to “constantly record video footage when drivers are on their delivery routes and reportedly also capture footage of the roads and sidewalks,” Markey’s office said. “Although community and automobile safety are of the utmost importance, they must not come at the expense of workers and the publics’ safety, privacy, and wellbeing,” the senators said in a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos. They asked Bezos to detail whether the Driveri cameras also “employ facial recognition technology or other biometric recognition technology” and whether any “driver of Amazon’s vehicles” can opt out. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Markey; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked whether footage will be used for personnel reasons and under what circumstances the e-tailer might share the content with law enforcement. The company didn’t comment.

Qualcomm introduced an augmented reality reference design based on the Snapdragon XR1 platform for immersive experiences. The design, requiring less power than previous-generation models, is designed for AR viewers that connect to a smartphone, Windows PC or processing puck powered by a Snapdragon platform. Use cases include smartphone applications divisible into multiple virtual displays that can be anchored within the user’s environment as well as the ability to view protected movie and streaming services content. Used with a PC, the smart viewer combines plane detection and the ability to render multiple virtual displays to allow virtual PC windows to be anchored to planes in the real world, Qualcomm said. The design supports an 8 MB RGB camera with image stabilization to deliver a hands-free, “see what I see” experience for remote assistance, and dual monochrome cameras on the viewer enable six-degrees-of-freedom head tracking and hand tracking with gesture recognition, it said. Lenovo plans a smart viewer based on the platform, due midyear, for AR-assisted workflows and immersive training.

Social media usage and online shopping traffic "exploded" during COVID-19 lockdowns, forcing many brands to embrace augmented reality and virtual stores “to remain competitive and engaged with their customers,” reported ABI Research Wednesday. It estimates the global AR market in retail and commerce will exceed $12 billion in 2025. “Within the next two years, more and more brands will transfer their marketing campaigns and online shopping platforms from static webpages and 2D images to interactive experiences and platforms,” said analyst Eleftheria Kouri. “Online shopping will continue to grow after the pandemic, especially in product categories supported by AR experiences."

OLED microdisplay supplier eMagin had an 8% Q3 revenue decline, partly due to completing a project under a contract with a tier 1 consumer tech company that will become active again in Q4, said CEO Andrew Sculley on a Thursday investor call. “We completed the wafer design for this company and it is now being fabricated at a foundry,” he said. “We anticipate receiving these newly designed wafers in early Q2 and then we'll begin to directly pattern the OLED." The customer’s goal is to commercialize an augmented- or virtual-reality headset for the consumer electronics business, he said. He thinks "this market will take off is because we talked to the companies themselves who are interested.” Companies are shopping eMagin because they “want the next generation to be a display that has no screen door effect,” he said. That’s a mesh-like appearance when gaps between pixels can be seen on-screen. “The companies that we're dealing with certainly are pushing us very hard to get these things done quickly,” he said. "There's great belief in consumer electronics companies that this is a path forward.” The stock closed 15.7% lower Thursday at $1.13.

ON Semiconductor bowed a high-performance sensor for machine-vision cameras, augmented- and virtual reality headsets and autonomous mobile robots, it said Wednesday. The sensor captures single frames and 1080p video operating up to 120 frames per second. The 2.3 megapixel sensor minimizes frame-to-frame distortion in high-speed scenes and reduces motion artifacts, said the company.