Microsoft bought a Samsung-backed startup and signed a top expert in its quest to build better robots
Maluuba
And as part of the deal, Maluuba advisor Yoshua Bengio - a University of Montreal professor who also happens to be a leading authority on artificial intelligence - will be signing on with Microsoft in an advisory role, working directly with Microsoft Research boss Harry Shum.
This acquisition reflects a big strategic imperative for Microsoft, as it banks that its combination of artificial intelligence expertise, plus its deep hooks into the business software that people use every day, will give it a big leg up as Amazon and Google make increasing inroads into the enterprise IT market.
As for what Maluuba actually does: "Maluuba's vision is to advance toward a more general artificial intelligence by creating literate machines that can think, reason and communicate like humans - a vision exactly in line with ours," Shum writes in that blog entry.
In a more material sense, Shum lays out a scenario where a Maluuba-powered bot could help you sift through piles of emails, documents, and directories to find the best tax experts in your company, delivering an instant answer, rather than just a dumb search bar that returns every single file that mentions "tax law."
That's helpful for Microsoft, as it builds out the capabilities of Windows 10's Cortana virtual assistant to fill more roles and answer more questions in the workplace, as a counterpoint to the more consumer-focused Amazon Alexa.
Maluuba had raised a relatively modest $11 million in venture capital funding since it was founded in 2011, including seed funding from Samsung Ventures.
- I spent $2,000 for 7 nights in a 179-square-foot room on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Take a look inside my cabin.
- Saudi Arabia wants China to help fund its struggling $500 billion Neom megaproject. Investors may not be too excited.
- Colon cancer rates are rising in young people. If you have two symptoms you should get a colonoscopy, a GI oncologist says.
- FSSAI in process of collecting pan-India samples of Nestle's Cerelac baby cereals: CEO
- Narcissistic top management leads to poor employee retention, shows research
- Audi to hike vehicle prices by up to 2% from June
- Kotak Mahindra Bank shares tank 13%; mcap erodes by ₹37,721 crore post RBI action
- Rupee falls 6 paise to 83.39 against US dollar in early trade