🤖 US Secret Service shoots armed man, ‘World’s first’ fully autonomous AI agent, how AI could shape the future of combat

The U.S. Secret Service has revealed that its agents shot an armed man near the White House during the early hours of Sunday while President Donald Trump was away at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida for the weekend.

According to reports, the Secret Service received intelligence from the local police that a “suicidal individual” was on his way from Indiana to Washington, D.C. Secret Service personnel later located the man’s vehicle and identified a person on foot matching the description provided by police. Let's take a closer look at this Must-Read

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🕵🏽‍♂️ US Secret Service shoots armed man near White House after confrontation

The incident occurred near the intersection of 17th Street and F Street NW, just a short walk from the White House. A statement released by the agency did not clarify whether the White House or Trump were intended targets. The unidentified man has been hospitalized, although his condition is not yet known.

In a statement shared on X, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi noted that as officers approached, the individual brandished a firearm, leading to an armed confrontation in which the agents fired shots.

The Secret Service added that none of its personnel were injured and that the incident remains under investigation. As with all officer-involved shootings in Washington, D.C., the investigation is being led by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division Force Investigations Team.

🤖 ‘World’s first’ fully autonomous AI agent unveiled in China, handles real-world tasks

A group of Chinese software engineers have developed what they have called the “world’s first” fully autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agent. Called “Manus,” the AI agent can independently perform complex tasks without human guidance.

Unlike AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, or Grok, which need human input to perform things, Manus can proactively make decisions and complete tasks independently. To this end, the AI agent doesn’t necessarily need to wait for instructions to do something.

For example, if a human asks, ” Find me an apartment,” Manus can conduct research, evaluate multiple factors (crime rates, weather, market trends), and provide tailored recommendations.

🔋 Scientists create highly sensitive diamond quantum sensors to monitor EV batteries

As EV manufacturers aim for cars with longer range, faster charging, and improved safety, the demand for effective EV battery management technology is increasing. The sensors currently used for monitoring EV batteries often suffer from heating and energy losses, struggle with low accuracy, and sometimes fail to detect small fluctuations in battery current, leading to less efficient energy management.

Diamond quantum sensors can overcome many of these challenges. However, one catch is that the diamond crystals used for these sensors are usually minute, measuring only a few millimeters wide.

In a bid to address the problem, Japanese researchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo (ISCT) have created a large-area diamond substrate with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers on a non-diamond substrate. This setup works like the perfect platform for highly sensitive diamond quantum sensors for EV batteries.

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