May 22, 2018 - Technology

Baidu loses a key AI executive

Baidu COO Lu Qi speaks at an AI conference in China last year. Photo: Liu Guanguan/CHINA NEWS SERVICE/VCG via Getty Images

Lu Qi, an AI expert and former Microsoft executive, stepped down as COO of Chinese search company Baidu, Caixin reports (subscription required). Shares in Baidu fell 9.5% after the announcement, the sharpest drop in 3 years.

Why it matters: Lu had been responsible for "Baidu’s transition to becoming an ‘All in AI’ company,” Credit Suisse analyst Thomas Chong wrote in a note cited by Caixin. The market reaction reflects the centrality of AI expertise in the valuation of global big tech companies, often concentrated in a single star scientist at the top.

Go deeper

Axios
5 mins ago - Podcasts

The art and business of political polling

The election is just eight days away, and it’s not just the candidates whose futures are on the line. Political pollsters, four years after wrongly predicting a Hillary Clinton presidency, are viewing it as their own judgment day.

Axios Re:Cap digs into the polls, and what pollsters have changed since 2016, with former FiveThirtyEight writer and current CNN politics analyst Harry Enten.

Orion Rummler
2 hours ago - Technology

Twitter launches warnings on election misinformation and delays

Photo: courtesy of Twitter

Twitter will start pinning notices to the top of all U.S. Twitter users’ timelines warning that results in next week’s election may be delayed and that they may encounter misinformation on mail-in voting.

Why it matters: Delayed election results are expected across many states that are handling unprecedented amounts of absentee and mailed ballots, which President Trump has baselessly called "very dangerous" and "corrupt."

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Miriam Kramer, author of Space
3 hours ago - Science

NASA confirms water exists on sunny parts of the Moon

Photo: NASA/JPL/USGS

Water on the Moon might be more easily accessible than previously thought, opening up new possible avenues for future human exploration, according to a new study.

Why it matters: NASA is aiming to send people back to the Moon as part of its Artemis program by 2024, with plans to eventually create a sustainable presence on the lunar surface. That sustainability relies on mining the moon for its resources, like water.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow