Google to buy London-based artificial intelligence company DeepMind
27 Jan 2014
Internet giant Google Inc yesterday agreed to buy London-based artificial intelligence company DeepMind Technologies Ltd.
Google did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but technology news website Re/code, put a price tag of $400 million.
Founded in 2012 by Demis Hassabis, a former child chess prodigy, Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman, privately-held DeepMind claims on its website that it is "a cutting edge artificial intelligence company," which combines "the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms."
It is said that the company has raised more than $50 million in funding from investors that include Founders Fund, Horizons Ventures and Skype and Kazaa developer Jaan Tallin.
Technology news site recode said sources in the artificial intelligence community describe the company as a formidable AI player and say it has been aggressively recruiting in the space.
Quoting multiple sources it said, the company has been developing a variety of approaches to AI, and applying them to various potential products including a recommendation system for e-commerce.
