Tag Archives: Stanford

What’s happened in AI: June 3rd-9th

By | June 10, 2019
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What do you do when you have a talented team but no chance to compete against better scaled competitors? You sell and move on. Looks like this is the situation Drive.ai finds itself in as it’s rumored to be in talks with Apple to be acquired.

I’m personally a huge fan of Drive.ai. They were one of two startups I pitched in my AI VC thesis a few years ago (the other one being Netra). My thesis on them held true, as I said they were a strong candidate to be acquired by a self-driving player who felt “behind the game”, which Apple very much is. With that being said the return early stage investors are getting likely isn’t great as this will be an acqui-hire and Drive.ai was looking for a buyer for 6 months (not the best sign). Regardless, I wish the team the best of luck in their next adventure. More weekly news below.

What’s happened in AI: February 18th-24th

By | February 25, 2019
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Lots of news out of China this week. Biggest story was Victor Gevers, a security researcher for the GDI Foundation, finding a database belonging to SenseNets. The Shenzen based company provides facial recognition and other monitoring systems to the Chinese police. Everyone knows that China is utilizing AI to enhance the government’s surveillance capabilities, but this was the first insight we’ve gained into the scope of the government’s operations in the Xianjiang province. It’s looking quite Orwellian there. It’s also notable that SenseTime divested their stake in SenseNets right after finding out about the security breach.

What’s happened in AI: January 14th-20th

By | January 22, 2019
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The AI research capabilities of Microsoft continue to expand. This week they opened two separate AI labs in China.

The first will be located in Nanchang city and will focus on VR in addition to AI applications in established manufacturing companies. The second will be located in Shanghai and will focus on IoT in addition to AI. It’s clear Microsoft has gained favor with the Chinese government as these are two major developments with regards to their China strategy.

What’s happened in AI: October 1st-7th

By | October 8, 2018
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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 »

What’s happened in AI: June 10th-17th

By | June 18, 2018
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Another busy week in AI. In particular, I’ve noticed more news on AI’s impact on the continent of Africa. Highlights there include Google’s new AI research center in Ghana, Zimbabwe looking to expand their AI capabilities with the help of China, and a great profile of Azuri Technologies’ initiatives to bring solar energy to east… Read More »

What’s happened in AI: April 15th-22nd

By | April 24, 2018
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This week’s news features interesting developments with regards to fundraising. Sinovation Ventures landed Spanish bank BBVA as a new LP, and BenevolentAI raised over $100mm to continue its development of AI for drug discovery. Company developments: Jack Ma says Alibaba ‘doing a lot of research’ on driverless cars – Apr. 19, 2018 (Phys.org) “What we… Read More »

What’s happened in AI: April 1st-7th

By | April 8, 2018
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This week has seen a heavy push on policies and government initiatives related to AI. Looks like the Uber accident in Arizona has failed to deter most regulatory bodies from halting autonomous vehicle legislation and policy. Among the many other developments this week, for all ramen lovers, Google has developed a program that can categorize… Read More »