Big week highlight this week is Baidu’s development of simultaneous language translation through one of their AI programs. It’s considered a major step forward in the natural language processing realm.
Elsewhere on the M&A side Lyft made an acquisition of Blue Vision to further enhance their autonomous vehicle program.
I spent some time over the past week to read what’s now one of my favorite books. Written by Kai-Fu Lee, who was the former head of Google China and is currently CEO of Sinovation Ventures, AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order offers a glimpse into the various scenarios that could unfold as AI technology develops. Lee’s unique perspective from being a top AI executive in both the U.S. and China allows him to straddle two worlds that will ultimately decide the fate of how our world adapts to the AI revolution. His key message is a powerful one, essentially summarized by his ending words:
“AI’s greatest potential to disrupt and destroy lies not in international military contests but in what it will do to our labor markets and social systems. Appreciating the momentous social and economic turbulence that is on our horizon should humble us. It should also turn our competitive instincts into a search for cooperative solutions to the common challenges we all face as human beings”
Big week for Samsung as they announced an acquisition of Spanish AI company Zhilabs to bolster their 5G capabilities, and separately opened an AI research center in Montreal (their 4th AI center in North America).
Meanwhile on the partnership front, Baidu became the 1st major Chinese tech company to join the American-led Partnership for AI (PAI). Current members include Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft, who also collaborate with government entities like the UN and Human Rights Watch.
Another week, another win for Google’s AI program. This time, its Lymp Node Assistant (LYNA) achieved 99% accuracy in metastatic breast cancer detection. Hopefully these types of applications of AI continue, in particular, to other types of cancer. Meanwhile on the autonomous vehicle front, we have numerous developments from companies and governments. Arizona is launching… Read More »
Highlights this week include two big autonomous vehicle partnerships and some heavy fundraising rounds. Honda and GM, in addition to Toyota and Softbank, launched autonomous vehicle partnerships with major commitments. The space continues to build and scale based on who partners with who. On the fundraising side, ZipRecruiter and Hopper both had over $100mm fundraising… Read More »
Big week across the board in the AI world. To start, there were a few developments related to social good including Microsoft’s $40mm fund dedicated to developers focused on solving humanitarian problems and Google using its AI to predict floods in India. We definitely to see more of this. For the major company developments, look no further than DeepMind partnering with Unity to develop simulated AI training environments and Ford potentially eyeing an IPO for its self-driving car unit.