Artificial Intelligence

25Aug By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Former Amazon Alexa Employee Launched Level AI with $15 Million in Funding

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 25TH Aug 2021-- Level AI a company founded by former Amazon Alexa product leader Ashish Nagar launched to modernize customer service using conversational artificial intelligence to uniquely help organizations work with customers to solve any issues in real-time and elevate the customer’s overall experience. The Level AI platform debuts amid a COVID-driven surge in customer-service call volumes and as enterprise contact centers shift to the cloud. With strong early demand for its cloud-based solution, Level AI is already working with more than 30 brands through its enterprise partners. Level AI also announced the close of $13 million in Series A funding in conjunction with its launch, bringing its total funding to date to $15 million. The round was led by t...

1Dec By Gauri SinghNo Comments

CHINA

China’s AI Startup is Helping 280 Hospitals Worldwide Detect Cancers from Images

Beijing-based AI startup Infervision is among a handful of AI companies around the world racing to improve medical imaging analysis through deep learning, the same technology that powers face recognition and autonomous driving. The startup, which has to date raised $70 million from leading investors like Sequoia Capital China, began by picking out cancerous lung cells, a prevalent cause of death in China. At the Radiological Society of North America’s annual conference in Chicago this week, the three-year-old company announced extending its computer vision prowess to other chest-related conditions like cardiac calcification. “By adding more scenarios under which our AI works, we are able to offer more help to doctors,” Chen Kuan, founder and chief executive officer of Infervision state...

Shanghai and Baidu Enter an Agreement Focusing AI Development

28Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

CHINA

Shanghai and Baidu Enter an Agreement Focusing AI Development

The Shanghai municipal government and Chinese technology major Baidu have reportedly signed a strategic cooperation agreement for the purpose of developing artificial intelligence (AI) industry in the city and giving it a boost. Following the agreement, a Baidu innovation center will be built to make Shanghai a major AI development center. The company will also help Shanghai in building smart city. Shanghai has talent from home and abroad and is open to the world, which provides a conducive environment for the company's future development, said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu. "Baidu will increase its research and development investment, land more new modes, applications and products in Shanghai so as to make bigger contributions to the AI industry development and mega-city mana...

Microsoft Acquires an Austin-based Software Developer

15Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Microsoft Acquires an Austin-based Software Developer

The international technology giant Microsoft has reportedly acquired an Austin-based software developer called Xoxco. This acquisition has marked the fourth AI-related company Microsoft has purchased this year. Founded in 2009, Xoxco has raised $1.5 million. It began working on bots in 2013, and is credited with developing the first bot for Slack to help schedule meetings. However, the financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. “Today, we are announcing we have signed an agreement to acquire Xoxco, a software product design and development studio known for its conversational AI and bot development capabilities,” Lili Cheng stated. With this move, Microsoft is continuing to realize our approach of democratizing AI development, conversation and dialog, and integrating conver...

Walmart Plans to Launch Intelligent Retail Lab in New York

10Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

Walmart Plans to Launch Intelligent Retail Lab in New York

The retail giant Walmart has announced its plans to roll out an Intelligent Retail Lab inside one of its stores in Levittown, New York. The basic ideas behind this is to test both associate and customer experiences. With this, the company wants to use artificial intelligence to better identify when items are running low on stock so that it can proactively replenish the stock. This would be led by an internal team called Kepler. Also, the retailer is planning to use the technology to identify spills, better understand when shopping carts are running low near the entrance and identify when items are on the wrong shelf. It has also been stated that Project Kepler would entail cashierlesss stores. However, the company mentioned that Kepler is the name of the team building the AI lab i...

US-Based Technology Firm Oracle Acquires DataFox

23Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

ACQUISITION

US-Based Technology Firm Oracle Acquires DataFox

The American technology corporation Oracle has announced another acquisition of a startup that has amassed a huge company database called DataFox. Following this acquisition, the company aims to enhance both the kind of data that it can provide to its business customers and its artificial intelligence capabilities. The acquired company currently covers 2.8 million public and private businesses, adding 1.2 million each year. DataFox makes use of AI to analyse that to make larger business predictions. The combination of Oracle and DataFox will enhance Oracle Cloud Applications with an extensive set of AI-derived company-level data and signals and would also enable customers to reach even better decisions and business outcomes. “Together, Oracle and DataFox will enrich cloud applicatio...

10Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

CHINA

China’s Tencent Partners with a UK Firm to Boost AI in Health Space

China’s Tencent Holdings is tying up with a technology firm from the United Kingdom called Medopad Ltd to use artificial intelligence for the purpose of improving Parkinson's disease treatment. The company is collaborating with Medopad to develop a system to remotely monitor patients with severe movement disorder. The company said that the basic goal is to allow doctors to set drug doses and modify care without patients having to go to the hospital. Healthcare is increasingly "not only about what happens in the clinic, but what happens in the real world", Wei Fan, Tencent's executive director for medical AI research said. "The reason we want to work with Medopad is they're experts in monitoring patients." Founded in 2011, Medopad has received funding from German pharmaceuticals firm B...

AI Firm Machinify Raises $10 Million in Series A Round

9Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

AI Firm Machinify Raises $10 Million in Series A Round

Artificial intelligence company Machinify has reportedly raised funds amounting to $10 million in Series A funding round. The round was led by Battery Ventures with participation from GV and Matrix Partners. Through Machinify, the companies feed the system raw data, specify what they’re trying to optimize for. Based on past decisions, the machine can figure out the right thing to do. “Our core notion is that today, enterprises are collecting a ton of data,” Machinify founder and CEO Prasanna Ganesan stated. “But if you look at how many of them are successful in turning it into smarter decision-making to drive efficiency, very few companies are succeeding.” Machinify is laser-focused on the critical operational issues created by the deployment of what we often call Software 2.0 within ...

Facebook Marketplace has Launched New AI-Powered Features

5Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

Tech

Facebook Marketplace has Launched New AI-Powered Features

This year Facebook has been dealing with a lot of issues related to security and safety of users. Since then the company has been making efforts to improve its image and come back in the scenario clean and clear. Celebrating the second anniversary of its ‘Martketplace’, the social media giant has launched new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered features to assist its buyers and sellers complete transactions faster. Facebook Marketplace came into existence in 2016 as a place for Facebook users to buy and sell within their local communities. It has emerged to be a popular place where people around the world can discover things they love, connect with people locally, launch a business, and earn a living through Facebook. "We believe AI can fundamentally change the way people shop, and...

Uber to Invest $154 million to Boost Canadian Operations

15Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

Uber to Invest $154 million to Boost Canadian Operations

Global cab aggregator Uber has announced that it would invest up to $154 million (Can$200 million) over five years for the purpose of expanding its Toronto lab which is concerned with developing artificial intelligence for self-driving cars. Along with this, the company is planning to open a new engineering office in Canada's largest metropolis in early 2019. Uber's new engineering hub will join the company's efforts to launch the new features for its app. Also, they would expand into other modes of transportation such as electric bikes and scooters, as well as partnerships with public transit. In the 15 months since the Uber lab led by University of Toronto professor and machine learning expert Raquel Urtasun opened, it has delivered "significant technical breakthroughs towards m...

Microsoft Launches New AI Capabilities For Microsoft 365

13Jul By Gauri SinghNo Comments

Tech

Microsoft Launches New AI Capabilities For Microsoft 365

The global technology firm Microsoft has launched fresh artificial intelligence (AI) powered capabilities in its Microsoft 365. This new feature will enable the people in an organization to make live and on-demand events. With the introduction of this new feature, events can now be seen in real-time or on-demand, with high-definition video and interactive discussion. "Today, we are introducing new ways Microsoft 365 connects people across their organization and improves collaboration habits, including new AI-infused capabilities," said Ron Markezich, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft. Microsoft 365 was inaugurated a year back and its usage has increased by more than 100 percent, building on over 135 million commercial monthly Office 365 users, 200 million Windows 10 commercial devic...

OYO Acquires Mumbai Based IoT Startup AblePlus

11Jul By Gauri SinghNo Comments

ACQUISITION

OYO Acquires Mumbai Based IoT Startup AblePlus

The pocket-friendly hospitality chain OYO has announced a new acquisition. The company has taken over an Internet of Things (IoT) technology company known as AblePlus Solutions Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount. After this acquisition, the hospitality startup will be bringing in IoT into the basic zones of their hotel management system. The main purpose of this acquisition is to enhance its technology portfolio with the help of artificial intelligence and much more. OYO objects to create a sustainable ecosystem through technology and artificial intelligence for managing hotels and assets as stated by the company. Anil Goel, OYO Chief Technology Officer said, "With the introduction of IoT into the basic precincts of hotel management, we aim to enhance customer and partner experienc...