Ford’s ever-smarter robots are speeding up the assembly line

A transmission factory shows how AI may gradually creep into industrial processes

Ford is adding artificial intelligence to its robotic assembly lines.

Enlarge / Ford is adding artificial intelligence to its robotic assembly lines.

In 1913, Henry Ford revolutionized car-making with the first moving assembly line, an innovation that made piecing together new vehicles faster and more efficient. Some hundred years later, Ford is now using artificial intelligence to eke more speed out of today’s manufacturing lines.

At a Ford Transmission Plant in Livonia, Mich., the station where robots help assemble torque converters now includes a system that uses AI to learn from previous attempts how to wiggle the pieces into place most efficiently. Inside a large safety cage, robot arms wheel around grasping circular pieces of metal, each about the diameter of a dinner plate, from a conveyor and slot them together.

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Deutschland, einig Klimaland?

Die Reaktionen auf das Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgericht sollten stutzig machen. Damit können schnell weitere Zumutungen für große Teile der Bevölkerung begründet werden. Kommentar

Die Reaktionen auf das Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgericht sollten stutzig machen. Damit können schnell weitere Zumutungen für große Teile der Bevölkerung begründet werden. Kommentar

Onlineshopping und Altpapier: Ein Kampf für die Tonne

Wegen vermehrten Onlineshoppings quellen die Blauen Tonnen über. Weil das offenbar ein unlösbares Problem ist, muss ich kriminell werden. Ein Feature von Achim Sawall (Onlineshop, Wirtschaft)

Wegen vermehrten Onlineshoppings quellen die Blauen Tonnen über. Weil das offenbar ein unlösbares Problem ist, muss ich kriminell werden. Ein Feature von Achim Sawall (Onlineshop, Wirtschaft)

Das neue Böse im Osten

Eine Erinnerung zum 8. Mai 1945 und Deutschlands Rolle in der Welt (Teil 3 und Ende)

Eine Erinnerung zum 8. Mai 1945 und Deutschlands Rolle in der Welt (Teil 3 und Ende)

Disney gets special “theme park” exception to Florida’s anti-tech bill

A legal challenge to the new law seems inevitable.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Miami on April 08, 2021.

Enlarge / Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Miami on April 08, 2021. (credit: Joe Raedle / Getty)

Both houses of Florida's Republican-controlled legislature have passed new legislation banning social media companies from deplatforming political candidates or censoring large journalistic organizations. Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed support for the bill and is expected to sign it into law.

Tech companies could be fined as much as $250,000 per day if they deplatform a statewide political candidate in the state. Critics argue that the bill is likely to be struck down as unconstitutional. That seems especially likely because the bill is broad and vaguely worded.

But at least one company won't have to worry about the legislation: Disney. A last-minute amendment to the bill provides that it doesn't apply to a "company that owns and operates a theme park or entertainment complex"—like Disney World.

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More US agencies potentially hacked, this time with Pulse Secure exploits

Zeroday vulnerability under attack has a severity rating of 10 out of 10.

More US agencies potentially hacked, this time with Pulse Secure exploits

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

At least five US federal agencies may have experienced cyberattacks that targeted recently discovered security flaws that give hackers free rein over vulnerable networks, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said on Friday.

The vulnerabilities in Pulse Connect Secure, a VPN that employees use to remotely connect to large networks, include one that hackers had been actively exploiting before it was known to Ivanti, the maker of the product. The flaw, which Ivanti disclosed last week, carries a severity rating of 10 out of a possible 10. The authentication bypass vulnerability allows untrusted users to remotely execute malicious code on Pulse Secure hardware, and from there, to gain control of other parts of the network where it's installed.

Federal agencies, critical infrastructure, and more

Security firm FireEye said in a report published on the same day as the Ivanti disclosure that hackers linked to China spent months exploiting the critical vulnerability to spy on US defense contractors and financial institutions around the world. Ivanti confirmed in a separate post that the zeroday vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-22893, was under active exploit.

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Von Wagenknecht und Brecht

Wie der berufliche Aufstieg im Deutschland über Jahrzehnte hinweg eine millionenfache Lebenserwartung wurde und warum wir uns daran erinnern sollten

Wie der berufliche Aufstieg im Deutschland über Jahrzehnte hinweg eine millionenfache Lebenserwartung wurde und warum wir uns daran erinnern sollten