The Samsung Galaxy S8 finally is getting its voice. When it first shipped a few months back, Samsung's Bixby smart assistant didn't automatically get included with the company's new Galaxy S8. That is now changing, as Samsung is now rolling out Bixby in its latest updates for the S8.

While Amazon tinkers with its Amazon Go pilot store where shoppers select itmes abd bypass checkout, a commerce giant in China has launched its own version. Alibaba Group opened a trial run of its facial and voice recognition payments at the Tao Cafe.

Tesla chief Elon Musk has views on plenty of thing, including artificial intelligence. At a gathering of U.S. governors, Musk suggested the government should immediately start regulating AI.

An accident involving a Tesla occured, but there is yet to be agreement on excactly how it happened. A Tesla driver in Minneapolis was driving over the weekend and the car accelerated into a crash landing. The driver and passengers were slightl injured after the car landed on its roof.

Augmented reality seems to keep chugging along. Bigger things are seen for it next year as AR moves into design, marketing, field services and manufacturing, according to Techconnect.

 Amazon’s physical stores have displays where shoppers can see Amazon Alexa devices in action, aggregated with smart products that work with Alexa. Now Apple is aggregating smart products that work with its HomeKit in its stores worldwide.

To keep up with the competition, Amazon is reportedly considering giving audio recording transcripts from Alexa smart devices to developers. As in other digital voice devices, recording only starts after a wake word, such as “Hey Alexa.’

Artificial intelligence is finding its way into every industry, including retail. At a recent presentation, one Walmart executive discussed how the retailer is enhancing shopping thanks to machine learning.

The Nest thermostat is planning to move into more homes. The Google-owned connected thermostat company is expanding, now launching in Australia. 

More money is flowing into artificial intelligence. Toyota Research Institute just announced that it is launching a corporate venture arm to finance startups in artificial intelligence. The unit is putting up $100 million for it.