New Robotic Technique to Help Rehabilitate Injured Workers

New Robotic Technique to Help Rehabilitate Injured Workers
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New Robotic Technique to Help Rehabilitate Injured Workers

New Robotic Technique to Help Rehabilitate Injured Workers

Researchers in Canada have managed to train robots to guide injured workers through simulated tasks as part of their return-to-work evaluations and treatment programs.

According to the German News Agency, researchers from the University of Alberta reported that robots with machine learning capabilities can help provide effective treatment methods for injured workers in order to measure their abilities after work accidents and rehabilitate them.

The Phys.org website quoted researcher Doug Gross, a physical therapist at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta, saying: "This research will hopefully improve the rehabilitation treatment methods, and help the patient return quicker to work after healing."

The new technique aims at training the robot on accompanying the injured worker during the rehabilitation treatment and assisting him/ her, like through lifting injured leg to walk. The robot can also monitor patients' movements, and provide their physician with regular reports to help assess the progress. These trained robots can help the injured patients without the need for a nurse or any kind of human contribution during physiotherapy sessions.



OpenAI to Introduce Ads to All ChatGPT Free and Go Users in US

The ChatGPT app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. (Reuters)
The ChatGPT app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. (Reuters)
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OpenAI to Introduce Ads to All ChatGPT Free and Go Users in US

The ChatGPT app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. (Reuters)
The ChatGPT app icon on a smartphone in this illustration taken October 27, 2025. (Reuters)

OpenAI will begin showing ads to all users of the free and Go versions of ChatGPT in the United States in the coming weeks, a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The move was ‌first reported ‌by The Information.

OpenAI has ‌recently ⁠integrated Criteo, an ⁠advertising technology firm that provides an interface for buying ads and improving targeting, into its advertising pilot for the free and Go versions of ChatGPT in ⁠the US, Criteo said in ‌a statement earlier ‌this month.

Criteo has been pitching advertisers ‌on committing between $50,000 and $100,000 ‌in spending, according to The Information.

OpenAI has also advised advertisers that supplying more variations of ad text and ‌visuals can increase how often ads are shown and improve ⁠performance, ⁠the Information added.

OpenAI has been exploring advertising as a new revenue stream as usage of ChatGPT has surged, Reuters has reported.

The company is seeking to diversify revenue as it faces rising costs for computing infrastructure amid intensifying competition in generative AI.


Czech Authorities Probe Suspected Arson at Drone Technology Company

Emergency services attend the industrial storage hall after a fire in Pardubice, Czech Republic, Friday March 20, 2026. (Josef Vostarek/CTK via AP)
Emergency services attend the industrial storage hall after a fire in Pardubice, Czech Republic, Friday March 20, 2026. (Josef Vostarek/CTK via AP)
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Czech Authorities Probe Suspected Arson at Drone Technology Company

Emergency services attend the industrial storage hall after a fire in Pardubice, Czech Republic, Friday March 20, 2026. (Josef Vostarek/CTK via AP)
Emergency services attend the industrial storage hall after a fire in Pardubice, Czech Republic, Friday March 20, 2026. (Josef Vostarek/CTK via AP)

Czech authorities said Friday they were investigating a fire at a warehouse of a company that makes drone technology as a suspected arson linked to terrorism.

The fire broke out in an industrial zone in the city of Pardubice, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Prague, causing no injuries, police said.

LPP Holding confirmed a fire in one of its buildings. It said it was cooperating with the investigation and declined further comment.

The company develops and makes products for civilian and military use, such as drone technologies used by Ukraine’s armed forces in the fight against the Russian invasion.

Interior Minister Lubomír Metnar said “the incident may be related to a terrorist attack.”

“At the moment, we don’t have information about a further danger,” he said.

According to The Associated Press, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš called the news “very serious.” Top police officer Martin ondrášek said police assumed arson.

The fire was extinguished by firefighters and police said there was no danger to the public. It was not immediately clear what was inside the warehouse that was on fire.

LPP Holding had previously said it was planning to open a center to develop and produce drones and train personnel in cooperation with Israeli Elbit Systems, a military technology company.

Metnar said the Czech side will share details of the investigation with its foreign partners.


White House Urges US Congress to Act on AI

FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration created on February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration created on February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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White House Urges US Congress to Act on AI

FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration created on February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration created on February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The Trump administration on Friday unveiled a sweeping legislative blueprint for regulating artificial intelligence, pressing Congress to establish a uniform federal standard and override a potential patchwork of state-level laws.

The four-page framework, billed by the White House as a "commonsense national policy framework," lays out broad priorities, including provisions on child protection, energy costs, intellectual property and free speech.

The White House is also seeking federal preemption of state AI rules, after states moved to pass their own laws amid political gridlock that has blocked federal legislation in Washington, AFP reported.

"Congress should preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens to ensure a minimally burdensome national standard consistent with these recommendations, not fifty discordant ones," the framework states.

In a major shift, the difficulty in passing laws at the federal level has seen major AI companies pivot to supporting state laws they can get behind.

OpenAI said this week that in the absence of a national framework, states "should align around the emerging model in California and New York."

Google president of global affairs Kent Walker told Axios that state coordination on AI laws is welcome and flagged legislation California and New York backed by pro-big tech governors as a good example to follow.

On child protection, the White House calls for age-verification requirements for AI platforms likely to be accessed by minors, parental controls over privacy settings and screen time, and mandatory features to combat sexual exploitation and self-harm risks.

On intellectual property, the Trump administration believes that the training of AI models on copyrighted material "does not violate copyright laws," but acknowledging arguments to the contrary, it "supports allowing the Courts to resolve this issue."

Despite the White House's push for swift action, like most attempts at tech regulation in the United States, the legislation faces a tough road to become law in Congress.

Two previous attempts by the White House to enshrine federal preemption in Congress have failed.

The administration has also threatened to impose broadband and internet funding restrictions on states whose AI legislation is judged as too cumbersome.