Twitter just acquired very cool London-based AI startup Magic Pony June 20, 2016 Twitter has acquired a London-based startup, Magic Pony, in a bid to ramp up its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities, in a deal reportedly worth $150m (£102m). "Machine learning is increasingly at the core of everything we build at Twitter," said Twitter boss Jack Dorsey in a blog post today. "It’s powering much of the work [...]
Meet Rolls-Royce’s crazy driverless supercar and the glass-fronted Mini concept car of the future June 16, 2016 Rolls-Royce has created a super luxury car of the future ditching a chauffeur and any kind of driver entirely while serving the super rich with a robot concierge. The car delivers passengers to their destination in the style of Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" with a canopy roof opening up to allow owners to stand up fully as [...]
Apple had plenty of “I’d definitely use that” moments at WWDC June 13, 2016 Once again the Apple faithful dutifully attended or watched its annual developer update to see what the company had in store. Apple’s momentum with developers is staggering. It claims to have over 30m developers and since the iPhone launched, the company claims to have shared nearly $50bn (£35bn) of shared revenue with app makers. It remains the [...]
Stressed out Brits want robots and virtual assistants to pick up the slack June 6, 2016 Overloaded Brits are increasingly willing to let technology pick up the slack of modern life, with more than half of us happy to hand over control to robots and virtual assistants. Making appointments and getting a smart coffee machine to order refills are just some of the tasks which people said they were willing to give up to technology, according to a global survey [...]
Amazon and Goldman Sachs have backed this cyber security startup June 1, 2016 Amazon and Goldman Sachs are among investors to have put millions into a cyber security startup as worries grow around keeping private information secure for businesses and consumers. Ionic Security, which works with several Fortune 100 companies, has landed $45m (£31m) in a series D round of funding led by Hayman Capital and bringing total funding of [...]
Why innovation should be top of every business’ agenda June 1, 2016 Last week's announcement that the UK government will launch the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) body, a £6bn funded group to champion research and innovation, should be warmly welcomed by the UK and indeed the global business community. In modern business, everyone is trying to innovate, but very few are truly succeeding. In a world [...]
Trump, Thiel and space travel: Three things we learned from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos June 1, 2016 One of the most successful entrepreneurs of the modern world, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has spoken candidly on pressing issues such as Donald Trump, Peter Thiel versus Gawker and freedom of speech, as well as his childhood passion for space travel. Here are the three things we learned from his talk at Recode's Code Conference in California… [...]
How digitisation can help save the UK’s creative industries June 1, 2016 Creativity is the lifeblood of the modern world we live in. From writers and designers, to architects and musicians, the world around us would not exist as it is if it wasn’t for our creators, who give every office, city and country its identity and history. The UK's creative industries, which generate £9.6m per hour for the UK [...]
This is how worried Brits are about robots taking their jobs May 31, 2016 A quarter of Brits believe robots are coming to take their jobs – and soon. Some 25 per cent of 2,000 people surveyed by OpenText said they believe they could be replaced by robot technology in the next 10 years. Read more: Meet Zenbo, Asus's Wall.E style home robot Meanwhile, 42 per cent say this could [...]
Forget negative interest rate gloom. In robotics Japan has a ¥9.7 trillion opportunity May 26, 2016 A negative interest rate and the perceived failure of Abenomics have undermined investor confidence in Japan, stealing attention from robust fundamentals and an untapped growth story. Strong company earnings and structural reforms combined with improving governance are creating real value in innovative sectors of Japan’s equity market, such as robotics. Japan has always been seen [...]