AI & RoboticsNews

Graphcore raises $222 million to scale up AI chip production

December 30, 2020
Graphcore, a Bristol, U.K.-based startup developing chips and systems to accelerate AI workloads, today announced it has raised $222 million in a series E funding round led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board. The investment, which values the company at $2.77 billion post-money and brings its total raised to date to $710 million, will be used to support continued global expansion and…
Read more
AI & RoboticsNews

AI jobs in 2021: here are some key trends

December 29, 2020
There’s no doubt about it – Artificial Intelligence has been a bit of a buzzword this year. Artificial intelligence has been established as the main driver of emerging technologies such as big data, robotics, and the IoT. So, what do the next 12 months look like for…
AI & RoboticsNews

AI Weekly: The trends that shaped 2020

December 29, 2020
A few days ago, I published a story about books that I read throughout the year to improve and inform my job covering artificial intelligence and adjacent industries. In all, the multi-part review contains nine books published in 2020 that explore subjects like business…
AI & RoboticsNews

Researchers find evidence of bias in art-generating AI systems

December 28, 2020
As research pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with AI, the popularity of art created by algorithms — generative art — continues to grow. From creating paintings to inventing new art styles, AI-based generative art has been showcased in a range of applications. But a new study from researchers at Fujitsu investigates whether biases might creep into the AI tools used to create art.
Read more
AI & RoboticsNews

13 acquisitions highlight Big Tech’s AI talent grab in 2020

December 25, 2020
It’s no secret that Big Tech has for years nabbed top technology talent through product acquisitions and acqui-hires. In fact, this is something the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently looking into through ongoing antitrust investigations. So it should come as little surprise that Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet (FAAMG) have also engaged in an AI talent arms race that…
Read more
AI & RoboticsNews

An AI reporter’s favorite books of 2020

December 24, 2020
The older I get, the more I wish I could stop time so I could read more books. Books that earn my time and attention are those that promise to enrich me as a person and deepen my understanding of AI for the work I do as senior AI staff writer at VentureBeat. This year, I…
AI & RoboticsNews

Let this eerily accurate AI dunk on your Spotify habits

December 24, 2020
If you’re a Spotify user, you might have checked out your 2020 listening data with Spotify Wrapped. It’s a straightforward celebration of your year in music and podcasts, a judgement-free overview of what you listened to. The Pudding, however, is distorting that…
AI & RoboticsNews

Honeywell lays down $1.3 billion to drive AI and IoT into life sciences

December 24, 2020
Honeywell announced yesterday it will acquire Sparta Systems for $1.3 billion to gain control of quality management software (QMS) that the company is promising to augment with machine learning algorithms and other AI capabilities. Within the life sciences sector, Honeywell is also pledging to integrate the TrackWise Digital QMS software from Sparta with internet of things (IoT) platforms as part…
Read more