Podcast: Robot law and the consequences of autonomous systems

How should we govern robots? A conference taking place next week at the University of Washington in Seattle called We Robot invites scholars and technologists to discuss legal and policy questions relating to robots and artificial intelligence. On this week’s episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we spoke with UW law professor Ryan Calo, one of the organizers of the conference, about how the legal and regulatory landscape has changed in the past decade — and what to expect in the future. Listen here and read the episode recap. 

Startup evolves flying saucer concept: “It’s not just science fiction,” says Stephen Tibbitts, CEO of Tacoma, Wash.-based Zeva Aero, which is developing a flying vehicle that takes off and lands vertically, but pivots for horizontal forward flight. Read more.   

UW curbs investments in fossil fuels: The University of Washington said it will divest its multi-billion dollar endowment from fossil fuel companies by 2027.

Speaking of fuel: Booster, a startup that got its start in Seattle and helps fuel delivery fleets for Amazon and UPS, is expanding to Portland and other cities.  

VR venue launching in Seattle area: Zero Latency VR, an Australia-based virtual reality technology company, is bringing one of its free-roam gaming spaces to Redmond, Wash., near Microsoft’s headquarters. Read more.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com.