Ethical decisions for autonomous cars continue to spark debate worldwide, the Middle East sees rising investments in AI, and countries bring robotics and AI technologies to a space race.

Through a mix of homegrown innovation, international partnerships, and industrial policy, the China robot market should continue to grow, note analysts.

Restaurants, nursing homes, museums, and theme parks are just some of the places where service robots and AI are becoming useful. Nations must develop strategies and address fears of automation taking jobs.

The promise of peace with North Korea offers opportunities for international robotics providers, but they should be aware of the challenges and the competition.

Thailand and Japan plan to work together to build robotics and AI talent, and drones cause national security headaches for law enforcement and defense authorities.

While some nations look to forge bonds with other nations around automation and AI, other foreign adversaries are looking to attack and steal data.

The U.S., China, and other nations are looking to make the most of their AI opportunity in the races for self-driving cars and the world’s fastest supercomputer.

In this week’s global roundup, Watson Health layoffs could signal an AI bubble, China launches facial recognition platform in Africa, and labor unions continue to be concerned with automation efforts.

This week saw Asian superpowers teaming up on AI and big data, the U.K. considering a robot tax to address automation job losses, and Microsoft creating AI to detect AI bias.

An AI strategy can be directed by the central government, focus on regional hubs, or pursue a particular niche market. In addition, we look at how machine learning can be localized.

While the U.S. military has historically been a leader in the development of swarm robots, universities are also significant. Costs, controls, and applications offer opportunities for business.

Swarm robotics can provide an agile way to gather large amounts of environmental data and coordinate operations of multiple devices. The U.S. military has been a key backer.

More governments are focusing on artificial intelligence through funding and other initiatives.

In addition to the latest coffee-serving robot, this week saw AI news editors and a world that might finally see flying cars promised to us in The Jetsons.

Language barriers and culture limitations could be eased through the use of ‘robot ambassadors’; construction robots disrupt labor force in some countries while helping others facing shortage of human workers.

Robotics developments in South Korea aren’t limited to industrial robots and manufacturing. South Korean AI is rapidly catching up to the world’s best systems, and is seeing use in a variety of industries within the country.

This week saw developments in AI around spying, nuclear war decision-making and European investment.

This week saw humans voting for an AI entity, China moving to AI for treating patients, and continued automation in the shipping and shipbuilding space.

This week saw continued fears from people over artificial intelligence being used to create autonomous weapons, or that robots may take jobs from lower-skilled workers.

Robots and AI are taking on new roles, from inspecting oil rigs to hiring human workers. How do self-driving car regulations and Russian AI reflect new fronts in geopolitical competition?

Surprising collaborations between China and South Korean robotics developers mark a change of tone in the East Asian robotics race while highlighting broader national strategies for both nations.

Walmart is testing robots in U.S. locations, self-driving pact links Waymo and Jaguar, and governments could start mandating limits on automation to protect jobs.

India think tank sets goals for AI development, and a report predicts 1 in 3 jobs will be lost to automation in Australia

As the crash investigation continues, more questions are raised around liability, regulations, and government policies surrounding autonomous vehicles.

Lyft and Magna’s partnership to create a driverless car brain faces speed bumps in China, and the departure of physicist Stephen Hawking renews attention to his warnings about AI.