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| Google buys UK artificial intelligence start-up DeepMind for £400m | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Google has bought a London artificial intelligence company for a reported £400m ($650m), its biggest ever European acquisition. | |
| The US technology giant has reportedly spent the sum on artificial intelligence firm DeepMind, according to technology website Re/Code. Google confirmed it has bought the start-up but would not discuss the price. | The US technology giant has reportedly spent the sum on artificial intelligence firm DeepMind, according to technology website Re/Code. Google confirmed it has bought the start-up but would not discuss the price. |
| DeepMind was founded in 2012 by former chess prodigy, video games designer and neuroscientist Demis Hassabis. The company's website describes it as a “cutting edge artificial intelligence company” combining “the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms.” | DeepMind was founded in 2012 by former chess prodigy, video games designer and neuroscientist Demis Hassabis. The company's website describes it as a “cutting edge artificial intelligence company” combining “the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms.” |
| These algorithms allow programmes and systems to learn from experience and DeepMind’s says its initial commercial applications have been in simulations, e-commerce and games. | These algorithms allow programmes and systems to learn from experience and DeepMind’s says its initial commercial applications have been in simulations, e-commerce and games. |
| IBM recently pledged $1 billion to fund Watson (above) - its own 'cognitive computing' machine that its hoped will one day understand the nuances of human language. | IBM recently pledged $1 billion to fund Watson (above) - its own 'cognitive computing' machine that its hoped will one day understand the nuances of human language. |
| An ad posted by the company looking for an intern, asked: “Are you worried that the only place for smart people with a passion for software in London is in soul-crushing finance? Are you looking to work in a company that invests in hard research to create cutting edge new machine learning algorithms?” | |
| Founder Hassabis worked on classic PC games including Theme Park and Black & White, on which he was a lead artificial intelligence programmer. The Mind Sports Olympiad (an international competition for games of mental skill) described Hassabis as "probably the best games player in history". | Founder Hassabis worked on classic PC games including Theme Park and Black & White, on which he was a lead artificial intelligence programmer. The Mind Sports Olympiad (an international competition for games of mental skill) described Hassabis as "probably the best games player in history". |
| Sources speaking to Re/Code said that although DeepMind was not a household name, it was respected in the artificial intelligence community and competed with the likes of Google and Facebook in attracting engineering talent. | Sources speaking to Re/Code said that although DeepMind was not a household name, it was respected in the artificial intelligence community and competed with the likes of Google and Facebook in attracting engineering talent. |
| It's not clear exactly how Google will be using DeepMind's machine learning technology, but speculation ranges from improving the company's Google Now services to integration with its recently-purchased robotics technologies. | |