AI firm ASI Data Science raises £1.5m investment with backing from Skype founding engineer November 6, 2016 Jaan Tallinn, one of the men behind Skype, has backed a London firm that trains computer scientists in using artificial intelligence (AI). According to the Sunday Times, ASI Data Science, which works with the likes of easyJet and the BBC, has landed £1.5m of new investment, with LocalGlobe another backer. LocalGlobe was set up by [...]
Watch out Siri? Samsung’s next phone will have an AI assistant November 6, 2016 Samsung is following the lead of Apple and Google, revealing it will add a Siri-like personal assistant to its newest smartphone, the Galaxy S8. It's the first time a Samsung phone will have the feature and follows the tech company's acquisition of San-Francisco artificial intelligence startup Viv Labs last month. The open platform will let others [...]
Titanfall 2 review: Giant robots fighting one another has never been this fun November 4, 2016 Titanfall is a futuristic, multiplayer shooter about hyper-gymnastic soldiers who can perform cool parkour stunts, running along walls and leaping between buildings like well-armed squirrels. They’ve also got giant mechs: armoured walking tanks that they frequently use to pummel one another to death. While this sequel’s colourful and vibrant sci-fi setting feels fresh against the [...]
These top entrepreneurs will mentor the UK’s most ambitious startups November 3, 2016 Lady Martha Lane Fox and the man behind the hit game Candy Crush, Riccardo Zacconi, are among the top entrepreneurs who will mentor another new group of startups springing up in the UK. Tech City UK's Upscale programme, designed to support up-and-coming startups wanting to scale their business, has added a string of top mentors who will [...]
Meet the hottest 50 UK tech startups which are now “scale-ups” November 3, 2016 50 of the hottest startups from across the UK have now been named the country's top "scale-ups" – the fastest growing businesses boasting average growth of 47 per cent over the past year. Jobs website Adzuna and smart city technology firm Pavegen are among the new cohort of businesses chosen to join the scale-up club of [...]
How much did Twitter acquire Magic Pony for? November 2, 2016 Twitter caused a stir last year, buying up a nearly unknown startup from London working on artificial intelligence technology, in a surprise deal that signalled the status of the UK as a leader in AI. Magic Pony was snapped up for a reported $150m, back in June. Twitter reported spending $85.2m on two acquisitions since the start of the year, [...]
Keeping in the loop: City A.M. talks with LoopMe founder Stephen Upstone October 31, 2016 Stephen Upstone, chief executive and founder of LoopMe, is pondering his company's reach. "I think that out of the top 10 global brands, as rated by Interbrand, we work with eight of them,” he says. His business has touched 1.5bn people, handles 500bn bits of data a day, and has opened offices from Los Angeles to [...]
BT boss says “it’s quite possible” that 80 per cent of today’s jobs won’t exist in the future October 29, 2016 Gavin Patterson probably doesn't want to worry anyone but he thinks it's "quite possible" that 80 per cent of the jobs that people do today won't exist in the future. Yes, 80 per cent. Speaking at the HSBC Innovation Summit on Friday, the BT boss said: "It's a combination of ubiquitous networks, ubiquitous data, ubiquitous [...]
Polls could well be wrong on US election just like they were with Brexit, says Nigel Farage October 29, 2016 Nigel Farage had some words of warning for those dismissing Donald Trump's chances in the US presidential election. Speaking on his LBC show, the former Ukip leader said: "They thought Brexit wouldn't happen." Discussing his appearance in Mississippi alongside the Republican presidential candidate, Farage said: "I was there to talk about Brexit and possible crossover with the [...]
The House of Lords is investigating the pros and cons of driverless cars October 28, 2016 Anyone feeling edgy about the progress of driverless cars and their imminent arrival on UK roads can rest easy (sort of). Next week the House of Lords will get cracking on its inquiry into autonomous vehicles and their future on UK roads. The science and technology committee will meet on Tuesday 1 November and hear evidence [...]