The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "godfather of artificial intelligence", for "foundational advances in machine learning with artificial neural networks".
Hans Ellegren, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced the winners on Tuesday in Stockholm.
American Hopfield, an emeritus professor at Princeton University, created an associative memory that can store and reconstruct images and other types of patterns in data, the academy said.
Hinton, a British-Canadian professor at the University of Toronto, in the 1980s helped to develop a technique that has been instrumental in training machines how to “learn”, and has previously raised concerns about AI's risks.
Speaking at the ceremony in Sweden, Prof Hinton said he was “flabbergasted”, adding: “I had no idea this would happen. I’m very surprised.”
"I think it will have a huge influence. It will be comparable with the industrial revolution. But instead of exceeding people in physical strength, it's going to exceed people in intellectual ability."
He also said the advancement in AI would result in "huge improvements in productivity" but humanity had to worry about possible "bad consequences, particularly the threat of these things getting out of control."
Prof Hinton, born in London in 1947, spent a decade at Google but quit in 2023 to speak freely about the risks of AI.
In 2018, he was awarded the Turing Award in recognition of his research breakthroughs.
When asked whether he had any regrets about his work on AI, Prof Hinton said: “There are two kinds of regret – there is regret where you feel guilty because you did something you knew you should not have done, and then then there is regret where you did something that you would do again in the same circumstances.”
He said that he “would do the same again” but was “worried that the overall consequence of this might be systems more intelligent than us that eventually take control”.
Machine learning is a key component of AI – a technology that allow machines to perform tasks that mimic human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning and problem-solving.
"This year’s physics laureates’ breakthroughs stand on the foundations of physical science", the academy said. "They have showed a completely new way for us to use computers to aid and to guide us to tackle many of the challenges our society face.
"Thanks to their work humanity now has a new item in its toolbox, which we can choose to use for good purposes. Machine learning based on artificial neural networks is currently revolutionising science, engineering and daily life."
Ellen Moons, chairwoman of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said: “The laureates’ work has already been of the greatest benefit. In physics we use artificial neural networks in a vast range of areas, such as developing new materials with specific properties.”
Previous physics prize winners include Marie Curie in 1903 for her work on the discovery of radiation, and Albert Einstein who won in 1921 for his advances in the understanding of theoretical physics.
On Monday, Nobel Prize week kicked off when US citizens Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of microRNA.
Their research was based around studying the make-up of a 1mm-long roundworm, known as C.elegans, which despite being tiny possesses cell types such as nerves and muscles found in larger, more complex animals.
Last year, the physics prize was jointly awarded to three scientists - Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier - from USA, Germany and Sweden respectively, who study electrons in atoms during the tiniest of split seconds.
The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million) from a bequest left by its creator, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.
Nobel announcements continue with the chemistry prize on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on October 14. The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on December 10th, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
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Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
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The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
As You Were
Liam Gallagher
(Warner Bros)
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
Last-16 Europa League fixtures
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
