Can AI help keep college kids attending class?

Can AI help keep students in college? A US startup called Straia is pulling together data scattered across university departments to help advisers spot students who are struggling to pay tuition or attend classes regularly, Bloomberg reports. Straia just raised USD 3.1 mn in a seed round led by Speedrun, Andreessen Horowitz’s startup accelerator.

Qatar gets an AI HQ: Qatar is setting up a National Center for Artificial Intelligence to steer the country’s AI strategy and write its AI rules, after Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed off on the plan, The Peninsula reports. The center will be housed at the Communications Ministry and report directly to minister Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai.

Worried that angry locals will block your data center project? There’s now an insurance policy for that. New York-based insurer Arbol has launched coverage that pays out if a government halts or suspends construction on a data center project, Bloomberg reports. Local opposition blocked or delayed at least 45 data center projects worth USD 68 bn in the second quarter alone, according to tracker Data Center Watch.

The undead, cont’d: Don’t sleep on Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland either.

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