Tag Archives: Waymo

What’s happened in AI: December 3rd-9th

By | December 10, 2018
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Despite recent reports of Chinese VCs pulling back AI investment, many top AI players continue to raise large amounts of cash. ByteDance, the $75bn unicorn that has now surpassed Uber’s valuation, is in talks to raise another $1.45bn. The use of proceeds is to pursue their aggressive global expansion plans. 

Meanwhile in the U.S., Republican Senator John Thune and Democratic Senator Gary Peters circulated a draft of a revised self-driving vehicle bill aimed at breaking a legislative stalemate. With the pace of innovation in the field, let’s hope they get this passed sooner rather than later.

What’s happened in AI: October 15th-21st

By | October 22, 2018
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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.

What’s happened in AI: October 8th-14th

By | October 17, 2018
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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 »

What’s happened in AI: August 19th-26th

By | August 27, 2018
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Big highlight this week is China Growth Capital’s Wayne Shiong predicting that Chinese AI companies could see their valuations decrease by 30-50%, reflecting signs of a liquidity crunch. My take is it’s too early to tell if the valuation hits will actually happen. You have to look at it on a macro / political perspective… Read More »

What’s happened in AI: July 31st – August 5th

By | August 6, 2018
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This week was relatively light compared to others, but nonetheless, there were some important developments. In particular, Microsoft revealed another failed chatbot. This time it’s so politically correct that it’s cringeworthy. Speaking of failed AI technology, Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Sens. Ron Wyden, Chris Coons, Ed Markey and Cory Booker are pushing for an investigation… 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 »

AI in logistics: Truckload shipping

By | June 16, 2018
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One industry that AI is already having an enormous impact on is the logistics industry. As such, I’ve decided to pursue a series of posts relating to four main areas of logistics being impacted by AI. These areas are 1. Truckload shipping 2. Air / drone shipping 3. Maritime shipping and 4. Rail freight shipping. This first article will focus on truckload shipping. I’ll provide a quick overview of the trucking industry, my thoughts on the top use cases of AI in the industry, and highlight AI startups tackling these use cases.

What’s happened in AI: May 28th-June 3rd

By | June 5, 2018
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Special shout out this week to David Vandegrift and Ablorde Ashigbi of 4Degrees, who officially announced their $1mm pre-seed funding round. Very proud of the team they’ve assembled and overall progress of the company. In general, there was a ton of fundraising news in AI this week. Highlights include Sensetime’s $620mm follow on round, Softbank’s… Read More »