Group of companies to explore use of AI and 5G connectivity on first-response applications.

The service robots market, which includes household, healthcare, and retail, will grow thanks to technological advances and strong demand, predicts Global Market Insights.

We can see clearly now that automation transactions in early 2018 will build on a familiar pattern of investment in AI, the mobility market, and industrial automation. The question remains as to which companies will lead and which will be absorbed or fall behind.

When we look back on 2017, we’ll remember a back-flipping robot, the arrival of social robots, brain-controlled robots, major developments for autonomous vehicles, the rise of mobile manipulators, and a certain security robot that drove into a water fountain.

Google’s latest overture to China is an AI lab, as the country positions itself to be a leader in mobility services. Among other AI apps news this week, we look at the importance of cybersecurity for self-driving cars.

A 16-month-old boy was allegedly knocked down and run over by a Knightscope K5 security robot at the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Shopping Center.