Cisco Systems Plans $3.7 Billion Acquisition of AppDynamics

As part of its push to ramp up software offerings for enterprise customers, Cisco Systems is purchasing software maker AppDynamics Inc. for a premium $3.7 billion, just as the company was about to go public. AppDynamics software helps companies — including airlines, banks and retailers — monitor their applications’ performance and address any potential problems across cloud services offered by Google, IBM and others. The startup was founded by engineer Jyoti Bansal in 2008. Continue reading Cisco Systems Plans $3.7 Billion Acquisition of AppDynamics

IBM, Microsoft Execs Promote the Ethical Development of AI

Many in the artificial intelligence community have called for ethical guidelines for the burgeoning field, and IBM chief executive Ginni Rometty is the latest to add her voice, which she did at the World Economic Forum in Davos. MIT, Harvard and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman have established a $27 million fund to analyze the impact and implications of AI; the IEEE has proposed ethical guidelines; the Obama administration issued a report on AI’s impact on jobs; and Carnegie Mellon studies the future of AI. Continue reading IBM, Microsoft Execs Promote the Ethical Development of AI

Wall Street Adopts Blockchain Technology to Record Trades

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the “back end” for much of Wall Street trading, is replacing a central database with Bitcoin-inspired software. The New York-based DTCC records and reports almost every stock, bond and valuable derivative trade in the U.S. IBM, already experienced in blockchain technology, is leading the DTCC software transition, which is slated to be functioning by early 2018. The shift marks Wall Street’s most serious effort thus far to adopt Bitcoin’s underlying technology. Continue reading Wall Street Adopts Blockchain Technology to Record Trades

CES 2017: Distinguishing Between Machine Learning and AI

As predicted, artificial intelligence has been one of the most repeated phrases of CES 2017. It seems every other vendor here is slapping the “AI” label on its technology. So much so that it inspired us to take a (short) step back and look at what AI is in relation to machine learning. The reality is: there are still very few applications that can be legitimately labeled as artificial intelligence. Self-driving cars, DeepMind’s AlphaGo, Hanson Robotics’ Sophia robot, and to a lesser extent Alexa, Siri and the Google Assistant, are all AI applications. Most of the rest, and certainly most of what we’ve seen here at CES, are robust, well productized machine learning applications (usually built on neural network architectures), often marketed as AI. Continue reading CES 2017: Distinguishing Between Machine Learning and AI

Under Armour Collects Data for Smart Shoes, Digital Pajamas

In his keynote address at CES 2017, Under Armour founder/chief executive Kevin Plank had a long wind-up to the afternoon’s highlight: multiple gold-medal Olympian Michael Phelps on stage, encouraging everyone in the auditorium to get up and “Jump Around” to the infectious beat of the House of Pain anthem. Phelps was doing more than dancing. All it takes is six jumps for him to activate his brand new Under Armour shoes, connected to the company’s MyFitnessPal app as of February 1. The company also introduced a new focus on sleep. Continue reading Under Armour Collects Data for Smart Shoes, Digital Pajamas

Yves Bergquist to Present Trailblazer Talk at January AI Event

ETC’s Yves Bergquist will be presenting “From Demographics to Storygraphics: Audience Intelligence at the Frontier” during the Lionbridge #AIShowBiz conference on January 12 in downtown Los Angeles. The new conference brings together industry leaders to discuss trends and strategies related to the intersection of artificial intelligence and the entertainment industry. Members of the ETCentric community will receive 50 percent off the early-bird ticket by entering ‘AIHoliday50’ as the promo code. For more information about the conference, visit the AIShowBiz site. Continue reading Yves Bergquist to Present Trailblazer Talk at January AI Event

Microsoft Imagines a Practical Future for Quantum Computers

Microsoft is going full bore into quantum computing, moving from pure research into efforts to build a prototype of what has been primarily an experimental field. If and when they come to fruition, quantum computers could have an impact on drug design, artificial intelligence and even our understanding of physics. For that reason, IBM and Google are also investing in quantum computing, although Microsoft has taken a singular approach, based on so-called braiding particles (also known as anyons). Continue reading Microsoft Imagines a Practical Future for Quantum Computers

Slack Faces Messaging Competition From Microsoft, Facebook

Group messaging is heating up. Startup Slack Technologies, valued at $3.8 billion, got it going and, now, Microsoft, with Teams, and Facebook, with Workplace by Facebook, are moving in on the space. Slack has been expecting this level of competition for some time, and it’s one of the reasons behind the company’s recent partnership with IBM to use Watson artificial intelligence services. All of this makes it clear that tech companies, big and small, see messaging as the next big thing after email. Continue reading Slack Faces Messaging Competition From Microsoft, Facebook

Group Chat, Chatbots Gain Traction as Business Applications

Chat is the latest significant tool in enterprise, as evidenced by Facebook’s introduction of Workplace by Facebook, a version of its social network for organizations, and Microsoft’s new Office 365 productivity tool Microsoft Teams. More such chat tools come from HipChat and Slack Technologies, the latter of which counts four million daily active users and is valued at $3.8 billion. Facebook also opened Messenger for businesses to build virtual assistants, and developers have already built more than 33,000 so-called chatbots. Continue reading Group Chat, Chatbots Gain Traction as Business Applications

IBM’s Watson Predicted to Reach 1 Billion People by Q4 2017

According to IBM chief executive Virginia Rometty, a billion people will, in some form, use the company’s Watson artificial intelligence tech by the end of 2017. For example, Watson is now integrated with General Motors’ OnStar system in automobiles; Rometty says IBM is working on numerous similar contracts. Watson, one of IBM’s “strategic imperatives,” is a bundle of artificial-intelligence software that is delivered by cloud computing. As IBM’s total revenue slumped for the 18th straight quarter, its servers, software and computing services grew 15 percent in Q3. Continue reading IBM’s Watson Predicted to Reach 1 Billion People by Q4 2017

Deep Learning Pioneer Yoshua Bengio Launches AI Incubator

Yoshua Bengio, a leader in deep learning and professor at the University of Montreal, is opening Element AI, a startup incubator focused on this form of artificial intelligence. The incubator will help develop AI-centric companies coming from both Bengio’s university and nearby McGill University, part of Bengio’s stated goal of creating an “AI ecosystem” in this Canadian city. According to Bengio, Montreal is home to “the biggest concentration in the world” of researchers in the powerful field of deep learning. Continue reading Deep Learning Pioneer Yoshua Bengio Launches AI Incubator

IBM Looks to Commercialize Artificial Intelligence with Watson

IBM is launching commercialization of its artificial intelligence technology Watson with the hope of growing it into a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Big Blue has already invested billions of dollars and, currently, a staff of 10,000 employees to evolve Watson, which was launched as a business unit in 2014. The effort is beginning to pay off, as Watson is now assisting in diagnosing cancer. IBM is also marketing its AI in TV ads featuring Watson bantering with Nobel laureate Bob Dylan and tennis celebrity Serena Williams. Continue reading IBM Looks to Commercialize Artificial Intelligence with Watson

Amazon, VMware Ink Landmark Deal to Take VMs to the Cloud

After years of starkly different strategies in computing, Amazon and VMware have inked an agreement marking a new stage in the development of cloud computing. The partnership, which takes effect in 2017, will allow VMware customers to use their familiar toolset to manage virtual machines in Amazon’s cloud. VMware virtual machines can already run on Amazon’s cloud, but the service, which VMware will sell, is a new version of Amazon’s cloud and also integrates nicely with Amazon cloud services for databases and storage. Continue reading Amazon, VMware Ink Landmark Deal to Take VMs to the Cloud

Tech Behemoths Establish Partnership on Artificial Intelligence

Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM and Microsoft established the Partnership on AI to create ground rules for protecting people and their jobs in the face of rapidly expanding artificial intelligence. The organization is also intended to address the public’s concern about increasingly capable machines, and corporations’ worries about potential government regulation. One of the organization’s first efforts was to agree upon and then issue basic ethical standards for development and research in artificial intelligence. Continue reading Tech Behemoths Establish Partnership on Artificial Intelligence

IBM Uses AI to Create Trailer for 20th Century Fox’s ‘Morgan’

“Morgan,” a horror film released by 20th Century Fox, has the distinction of being the first movie whose trailer was created with artificial intelligence. The studio partnered with IBM Research to develop what they’re calling a “cognitive movie trailer” largely created by AI. The IBM team faced several challenges, not the least of which is that the nature of horror is subjective. The team had to teach the system to be able to identify scary moments, and then make a trailer that audiences would find compelling. Continue reading IBM Uses AI to Create Trailer for 20th Century Fox’s ‘Morgan’