The Daily Crunch 10/12/16 AI is powerful enough to need stronger government oversight, VR attracts another gaming legend and The Sims becomes real life. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for October 12, 2016. 1. AI is mature enough to merit major government attention Both the White House and the UK government are concerned about the future of AI research, which is good news for the progress of the field I guess. Regulators tend to only step in after something is decently mature (and maybe too far gone, in fact). In the U.S., the White House is providing guidelines for how projects with government funding should pursue AI research, in the best way possible to avoid and end of human civilization type outcome. Noble goal. 
2. Atari creator comes back to gaming for VR VR has long been a dream for gamers everywhere, so it makes a lot of sense that Atari founder Nolan Bushnell would come into the virtual reality for with a new company called Modal VR, with a Pong game as one of its first products. The VR setup is still designed for wireless use across a number of different potential verticals, but Bushnell's Atari and Chuck E. Cheese pedigree means gaming must be top of menu. 3. Amazon is making music stream more affordable for Echo owners Amazon's new Music Unlimited streaming service stands out as competitive with existing music service with a base rate of $9.99 per month, but it also comes in two cheaper flavours, including a $7.99 monthly subscription for Prime members, and $3.99 per month for Echo owners, which a great deal vs. other options including Spotify. You also get a bonus discount if you pay up front for a whole year, meaning there's a lot to like from the service. Unfortunately for international folks, it's only available in the U.S. right now. 4. The Sims might be the model for real virtual social interaction In my worst nightmares from a misspent youth, The Sims turned into real life (I played a lot of the game as a teen and beyond). But now Facebook may help tha actually come to pass; the social networking company hired The Sims executive Rachel Rubin Franklin to lead its social virtual reality team, which is yet another brick in the dystopian wall Zuckerberg seems intent on building. 5. No Sandberg administration Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is "staying at Facebook," and is "very happy," the executive told the New York Times at the Virtuous Circle conference this week. This essentially lets the air out of rumors that she would become the next Treasury or Commerce Secretary under a Clinton administration. Minds can always change, of course. 6. Don't be creepy, Geofeedia Facebook and Twitter have cut off data feeds to Geofeedia, a location-based social media surveillance company that's often used by governments, private security firms and others you'd rather not have knowing your whereabouts all the time. The ACLU noted the news, which is indeed cause for celebration. 7. Some first NHTSA self-driving shots fired Toyota North America executive Hilary Cain noted some dissonance between proposed NHTSA guidelines around self-driving tech, California's test autonomous vehicle licensing process and current testing practices. Cain also noted that the rules need clarity and better specificity, which is something many automakers agree on. | 
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