Latest from John Mannes
AI
The most overlooked path to commercialize AI is for companies to do it themselves
12:30 pm PDT • April 15, 2019
The Bessemer Process patented in 1856 by Sir Henry Bessemer is one of the inventions most closely associated with catalyzing the second industrial revolution. By reducing the impurities of iron…
Enterprise
Primer helps governments and corporations monitor and understand the world’s information
1:30 am PDT • October 24, 2017
When Google was founded in 1998, its goal was to organize the world’s information. And for the most part, mission accomplished — but in 19 years the goalpost has moved…
Ian Rountree, the thirty something captain at the helm of Cantos Ventures, an SF-based micro-fund, is characteristic of a new breed of venture capitalists in tech — a group of…
AI
Google’s AVA data set raises the bar for identifying human actions in videos
4:59 pm PDT • October 19, 2017
Today Google announced a new labeled data set of human actions taking place in videos. That may sound obscure, but it’s a big deal for anyone working to solve problems…
AI
Apple makes the case that even its most banal features require a proficiency in machine learning
12:27 pm PDT • October 19, 2017
Amidst narratives of machine learning complacency, Apple is coming to terms with the fact that not talking about innovation means innovation never happened. A detailed blog posting in the company’s…
AI
Intel to ship new Nervana Neural Network Processor by end of 2017
11:07 am PDT • October 17, 2017
Intel has formally unveiled its Nervana Neural Network Processor family of chips designed for machine learning use cases. The technology underlying the chips is heavily tied to Nervana Systems, a deep learning…
Fintech
Feedzai closes $50M Series C to help banks and merchants identify fraud with AI
5:09 am PDT • October 17, 2017
Feedzai is announcing a $50 million Series C this morning led by an unnamed VC with additional capital from Sapphire Ventures. The six year old startup builds machine learning tools…
Startups
Terminal makes it easy for companies to open international offices
9:00 am PDT • October 16, 2017
Born out of a frustration with recruiting within the peninsula-trapped City of San Francisco, Terminal is a platform allowing companies to tap into talent abroad. Starting with campuses in Kitchener-Waterloo, Montreal…
AI
TensorFlow Lattice ensures your machine learning models follow global trends
1:37 pm PDT • October 11, 2017
Google’s TensorFlow team released TensorFlow Lattice today to help developers ensure that their machine learning models adhere to global trends even when training data is noisy. Lattice draws from the…
Enterprise
ROSS Intelligence lands $8.7M Series A to speed up legal research with AI
11:34 am PDT • October 11, 2017
Armed with an understanding of machine learning, ROSS Intelligence is going after LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters for ownership of legal research. The startup is announcing an $8.7 million Series A today led by iNovia…
Startups
Dow Jones said that Google was buying Apple, and the bots bought it
10:57 am PDT • October 10, 2017
There you have it. Steve Jobs’ will + Dow Jones + Apple Park = Google’s buying Apple. I think we finally have algorithmic transparency. This morning Dow Jones shot some…
Startups
Deepgram opens up its machine transcription platform to everyone
9:10 am PDT • October 10, 2017
Deepgram, a startup applying machine learning to audio data, is releasing its machine transcription platform this morning for free. No more will you have to pay for other services like…
With a shortage of machine learning developers bearing down on the industry, startups and big tech companies alike are moving to democratize the tools necessary to commercialize artificial intelligence. The…
Enterprise
Butterfly nabs $2.4M seed round to improve managers with targeted tips
10:20 am PDT • October 6, 2017
One of life’s puzzles that eludes me most is how a person could enjoy corporate trainings enough to spend their time designing and running them. Perhaps only with disdain for…
Context is everything when dealing with dialog systems. We humans take for granted how complex even our simplest conversations are. That’s part of the reason why dialog systems can’t live…
Today’s Stories Missouri forms public-private partnership to advance Hyperloop One route Tesla electric semi truck possibly spied in new photo Judge delays Waymo/Uber trial until December 4th Credits Written and…
This morning, Judge William Alsup ruled that the Waymo v. Uber trial would be delayed until December 4th. The trial had initially been expected to start with jury selection next…
Startups
Artificial intelligence is about the people, not the machines
7:49 pm PDT • September 30, 2017
It takes money to make money and right now a lot of that money is going into the development of artificial intelligence. Ray Dalio explains the importance of understanding and…
Enterprise
Accela gets acquired by Berkshire Partners as it looks to move govtech services to the cloud
1:05 pm PDT • September 28, 2017
Boston-based private equity shop Berkshire Partners announced this afternoon that it is acquiring Accela — a nearly 20 year old startup that sells regulatory management solutions to government clients. Accela has gone…
Last week, Uber’s legal team told Judge William Alsup that Waymo was seeking $2.6 billion for an allegedly stolen trade secret related to the company’s autonomous vehicle efforts. Over the weekend,…
Transportation
Uber says Waymo wants $2.6 billion for one allegedly stolen trade secret
11:30 am PDT • September 20, 2017
During a tense exchange, Judge William Alsup allowed an Uber lawyer to disclose that Alphabet’s Waymo is seeking $2.6 billion for the highest value of a series of stolen trade…
Enterprise
Pluralsight IQ allows engineers to compare skills and proficiencies
8:30 am PDT • September 20, 2017
Pluralsight is announcing a new tool this morning to help satiate our innate desire to compare ourselves against one another. Pluralsight IQ is designed to assist developers in assessing their…
AI
Matternet’s autonomous delivery drones can now refuel and reload by themselves
3:09 am PDT • September 20, 2017
Matternet, a startup building autonomous drones for delivery, has been working to commercialize its tech via transportation of blood and pathology samples to labs. Taking traffic out of the equation has…
Disrupt SF 2017
Ourotech is taking the guesswork out of cancer treatment
1:47 pm PDT • September 19, 2017
Every day spent with late stage cancer matters — that’s why it’s so important to get treatments right the first time. Unfortunately, despite having dozens of cancer treatments available, we…
AI
Google Cloud’s Natural Language API gets content classification and more granular sentiment analysis
7:35 am PDT • September 19, 2017
Google Cloud announced two updates this morning to its Natural Language API. Specifically users will now have access to content classification and entity sentiment analysis. These features are particularly valuable…
Enterprise
TalkIQ raises $14 million Series A to give enterprises AI insights into voice communication
6:17 am PDT • September 19, 2017
There’s no shortage of startups building their brands around AI for enterprise. And within the enterprise, few spaces are as competitive as AI-powered voice analytics. TalkIQ is the latest company…
Fintech
US Justice Department investigating Equifax execs who dumped shares before announcing breach
10:48 am PDT • September 18, 2017
The U.S. Justice Department is said to be investigating the questionable sale of stock by Equifax executives in advance of the company’s public announcement of its massive data breach. The…
AI
Matroid picks up $10M Series A to automate video stream monitoring
9:00 am PDT • September 18, 2017
As computer vision and object recognition technology continue to mature, we’re edging closer to automating away the exceedingly boring task of monitoring closed circuit TV cameras. Matroid is one of…
What do you and researchers on Google’s Brain Team have most in common? You both probably spend a lot of time triaging email. In a Reddit AMA, 11 Google AI…
As AI creeps deeper into each and every industry vertical, demand for experienced technical talent continues to increase. Now online education tools like Udacity and Coursera are being thrust into…
