Will Knight
Senior Writer
Will Knight is a senior writer for WIRED, covering artificial intelligence. He was previously a senior editor at MIT Technology Review, where he wrote about fundamental advances in AI and China’s AI boom. Before that, he was an editor and writer at New Scientist. He studied anthropology and journalism in the UK before turning his attention to machines.
Now You Can Rent a Robot Worker—for Less Than Paying a Human
Automation is reaching more companies, imperiling some jobs and changing the nature of others.
Self-Driving Vehicles Are Here—If You Know Where to Look
Glossy visions of an autonomous future always seem just out of reach. But two insiders say the technology is available on farms and on clear, dry streets.
John Deere's Self-Driving Tractor Stirs Debate on AI in Farming
The automation, and control of the resulting data, raises questions about the role of human farmers.
The Year Everyone Remembered That Chips Matter
Shortages of semiconductors messed up production of everything from cars to toys. Plans are in the works for more factories, but they'll take years.
Autonomous Weapons Are Here, but the World Isn’t Ready for Them
A UN report says a drone, operating without human control, attacked people in Libya. International efforts to restrict such weapons have so far failed.
Robots Won’t Close the Warehouse Worker Gap Anytime Soon
Even Amazon’s new AI-powered machines aren’t nearly capable enough to handle the most important fulfillment tasks.
Why the Chip Shortage Drags On and On … and On
Demand is still surging, but it takes time to build new factories. And a history of highs and lows may deter some investors.
Even as China Cracks Down on Tech, AI Companies Plan IPOs
SenseTime and Megvii both include facial recognition technology among their offerings and do a lot of business with government agencies.
This Program Can Give AI a Sense of Ethics—Sometimes
Researchers trained an algorithm to answer questions about human values. Some of the responses are troubling.
The New MacBook Pro Chips Flex the Power of Custom Silicon
The new M1 Pro and M1 Max better integrate the computers’ hardware with their software—much like the iPhone.
LinkedIn’s Exit From China Cuts Another East-West Bridge
The Microsoft subsidiary had agreed in 2014 to censor content in China, but that apparently wasn’t enough for tougher government regulators.
AI’s Smarts Now Come With a Big Price Tag
As language models get more complex, they also get more expensive to create and run. Some companies are locked out.
These Virtual Obstacle Courses Help Real Robots Learn to Walk
Researchers used specialized chips and simulation software to teach a four-legged robot to navigate stairs and blocks.
Clearview AI Has New Tools to Identify You in Photos
In an interview with WIRED, CEO Hoan Ton-That said the company has scraped 10 billion photos from the web—and developed new ways to aid police surveillance.
AI Can Write Code Like Humans—Bugs and All
New tools that help developers write software also generate similar mistakes.
A Stanford Proposal Over AI's 'Foundations' Ignites Debate
A research paper that dubs some artificial intelligence models "foundations" is sparking a dispute over the future of the field.
Why Tesla Is Designing Chips to Train Its Self-Driving Tech
Developing AI is costly and time-consuming. Custom silicon can give companies an edge.
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The $150 Million Machine Keeping Moore’s Law Alive
ASML’s next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography machines achieve previously unattainable levels of precision, which means chips can keep shrinking for years to come.
A New Chip Cluster Will Make Massive AI Models Possible
Cerebras says its technology can run a neural network with 120 trillion connections—a hundred times what's achievable today.
AI Can Write in English. Now It's Learning Other Languages
Startups in Germany, China, Israel, and elsewhere are following the path blazed by GPT-3—with local twists.