TCS, Wipro, Infosys to carry out Research at JNTU-Kakinada

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January 24, 2022

Industry-leading technology companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, and Infosys collaborate to conduct joint research at the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU-Kakinada) in various fields, including artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and data science.

The announcement was made during a meeting convened by JNTU Kakinada’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof.G.V.R. Prasada Raju. According to the agreement, the Indian technology giants will collaborate to primarily focus on areas such as Industry-Institution Collaborative Research, Industry Sponsored Research, sponsorship for Ph.D. applicants, and internship opportunities for M.Tech students.

Prof Prasada Raju said, “The JNTU-K will go for collaborative research with each company. A joint patent will be claimed for the ‘outcome’ of the research in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and Data Science.”

He also mentioned that this research is to find solutions for numerous emerging real-life challenges with the help of new technologies. TCS, Wipro, and Infosys have agreed to finance JNTU-K research in their respective domains under the Industry-Sponsored Research category.

TCS, Wipro, and Infosys have also committed to providing full-time Ph.D. candidates with financial assistance. In addition, the companies will give one-year guaranteed internship opportunities for M.Tech students at their deemed organizations.

Financial aid will also be provided to two Ph.D. students from each department, the tech companies clarified. Prof Prasada Raju added, “We are preparing to begin the collaborative projects from the present academic year itself. The research wings have been communicated about the development.”

This new joint venture will not only accelerate the pace of research in artificial intelligence, data science, and IoT but will also provide students access to high-tech research laboratories and assistance from experts working with TCA, Wipro, and Infosys, mentioned Prof. Prasada Raju.

Dynam.AI reveals next-generation AI platform Vizlab

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 24, 2022

Dynam.ai next-generation AI platform Vizlab

Artificial intelligence solutions developing company Dynam.AI reveals its new next-generation AI platform named Vizlab. The unique AI platform identifies the needs of enterprise data scientists and provides solutions for them using artificial intelligence and machine learning applications.

Initially, the AI platform was developed by Dynam.AI to support its internal consultative services. But now, Dynam.AI has decided to launch Vizlab commercially.

Vizlab provides data scientists with the tools they need to create explainable AI solutions based on highly accurate analytics insights. Vizlab is an entirely customizable platform with an end-to-end AI/ML development solution, allowing data scientists to develop and deploy artificial intelligence engines at scale.

CEO of Dynam.AI, Diana Shapiro, said, “To put it simply, Vizlab is a game-changer for enterprises with an in-house data scientist team looking to gain actionable insights from their proprietary data, regardless of industry. We are proud to unveil our Vizlab platform as a subscription model for enterprise AI data scientists to access directly.”

She further added that they are expecting data scientists and experts to visit the Vizlab platform and join the waitlist to get a demo of the working of the artificial intelligence-powered platform. Interested individuals can register for a demo from the official website of Vizlab.AI. United States-based artificial intelligence startup Dynam.AI was founded by Bfrank Colson in 2017.

The firm specializes in providing AI-powered solutions to its clients according to their unique requirements. Dynam.AI has a proven track record of solving problems related to inventory optimization, customer conversions, behavioral risk, machine failure and maintenance, content optimization, and more. To date, the company has raised more than $2 million from Analytics Ventures.

Dynam.AI has acquired a vast customer base over the spread, including industry-leading companies like Ondas Holdings, a subsidiary of American Robotics, and many others. “We’re eager to utilize the Vizlab platform to further advance and accelerate our broad portfolio of industrial inspection applications,” said CEO of American Robotics, Reese Mozer.

ei3 Completes Acquisition of AI Firm Cognitive Solutions and Innovation AG

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 23, 2022

ei3 Acquisition Cognitive Solutions and Innovation AG

Industrial Internet of Things manufacturing company ei3 announces that it has completed the acquisition of artificial intelligence firm Cognitive Solutions and Innovation AG. The acquired company is a leading developer of artificial intelligence-powered products for industrial manufacturing.

ei3 did not provide any information regarding the valuation of this acquisition deal, but it was revealed that the transaction was completed through cash and stock. Additionally, after the acquisition, ei3 plans to rebrand itself to ei3 Europe. As a part of the acquisition deal, Dr. Stefan Hild, CEO and founder of COGSI AG, will become a board member of ei3 and serve as the Vice President of data science at ei3.

CEO of ei3, Spencer Cramer, said, “As companies continue to invest further in ESG and CSR programs to increase sustainability and meet regulatory demands, they need a partner who can help connect their goals to meaningful and measurable results.”

He further added that through technology, ei3, and Cognitive Solutions would collaborate to accomplish a shared vision of secure, smart, and sustainable manufacturing. Switzerland-based artificial intelligence company Cognitive Solutions and Innovation AG was founded in 2016. The firm specializes in developing top-of-the-line analytics and artificial intelligence solutions for industrial applications.

Over the years, COGSI has acquired a vast customer base of companies spread across the world, including in the United States. The company has a highly talented team of artificial intelligence engineers, which COGSI uses to develop innovative solutions for common industrial assets that can be quickly customized to meet individual client needs.

“Our teams share a strong sense of purpose. Because ei3 is one of the first Industrial IoT companies, it has connected some of the largest fleets of machines and other assets. This provides a rich background for creating value by applying AI,” said Dr. Stefan Hild.

He also mentioned that they have already seen the advantages of incorporating artificial intelligence-powered analytics into the mix, and they plan to further enhance its capabilities to help their clients achieve more efficiency.

Honda Invests in Helm.ai to Strengthen its Software Technology Development

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 22, 2022

Automobile manufacturing giant Honda announced that last year it invested in United States-based technology firm Helm.ai to further strengthen its software development in various fields, including artificial intelligence and computer vision.

Honda invested in Helm.ai to boost value generation in the company’s efforts to make mobility products smarter and achieve greater results faster. According to Honda, the investment will also help strengthen the relationship between Honda and Helm.ai and accelerate the product development process by integrating the companies’ expertise.

Earlier, Honda had worked with Halem in 2019 under Xcelerator, a global open innovation program of Honda. The program is designed to facilitate partnership between startups and Honda and is run by Honda’s subsidiary, Honda Innovations.

California-based scalable artificial intelligence firm Helm.ai was founded by Tudor Achim and Vlad Voroninski in 2016. The company specializes in developing artificial intelligence solutions for autonomous driving vehicles. To date, Helm.ai has raised over $39 million from several investors like Honda, Base Capital Funding, One Way Ventures, Freeman Group, Amplo, and many others.

Helm.ai is particularly experienced in the domain of unsupervised learning-based artificial intelligence image identification technology. Unsupervised learning, also known as unsupervised machine learning, analyses and clusters unlabeled datasets using machine learning techniques.

These algorithms identify hidden patterns or data groupings. It is the best solution for exploratory data analysis, cross-selling techniques, consumer segmentation, and image identification because of its ability to recognize similarities and differences in information.

According to Honda, it would continue to offer highly competitive and attractive products and services to its customers by partnering with multiple startups under its Xcelerator program.

MIT CSAIL has developed a programming language for Quantum Computing, Twist

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 21, 2022

MIT CSAIL Twist Quantum Computing language

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (CSAIL) have developed their new programming language – Twist – for quantum computing.

Quantum computing is different from conventional computing as it uses qubits to encode information as zeros or ones, or both simultaneously. Therefore, conventional programming languages can not be used in quantum computing.

The newly developed programming language Twist can effectively describe and confirm which knowledge items are entangled in a quantum program. The information displayed by Twist is in a language that is easily understandable to a classical computer programmer.

MIT Ph.D. pupil Charles Yuan said, “Because understanding quantum programs requires understanding entanglement, we hope that Twist paves the way to languages that make the unique challenges of quantum computing more accessible to programmers.”

He further added that their developed language enables developers to write safer quantum computing programs explicitly stating when a qubit must not be entangled with another.

One of the major benefits of quantum computing is that it can be used to solve highly complex problems with a minimal number of qubits if the right programs are run. Twist was created by the researchers at MIT to be expressive enough to jot down applications for well-known quantum algorithms and identify problems in their implementations.

Scientists also tested that programming language, in which it was found that Twist has lower than 4% overhead when compared to current quantum programming strategies.

“By introducing and reasoning about the ‘purity’ of program code, Twist takes a big step toward making quantum programming easier by guaranteeing that the quantum bits in a pure piece of code cannot be altered by bits, not in that code,” said the Seymour Goodman Professor of Laptop Science on the University of Chicago, Fred Chong.

Amazon plans to use ML Algorithm for providing Styling Recommendations at Stores

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 21, 2022

Amazon ML Algorithm Styling Recommendations Stores

Technology giant Amazon plans to use an artificial intelligence-powered algorithm in its stores to provide styling recommendations to visiting customers. The system will be initially deployed at an Amazon store located in California.

The unique algorithm is capable of offering tech-advanced services, including fashion recommendations, to customers. Amazon plans to debut this fashion recommendation system at its 30,000 f2 shops named Amazon Style near Los Angeles. The fashion store will feature clothing items for both men and women, including shoes and other accessories of various price points.

A Managing Director, Simoina Vasen, said, “We wouldn’t do anything in physical retail unless we felt we could significantly improve the customer experience.” Amazon believes that its new styling recommendation system will help provide an enhanced buying experience to shoppers.

According to officials, machine learning algorithms will be used to generate personalized, real-time recommendations based on preferences like style and fit.

Recently, online consignment and thrift shop Swap partnered with Find.Fashion to offer unprecedented visual searching features using artificial intelligence and emotion recognition technologies. Find. Fashion’s solution prioritizes emotions behind user actions instead of solely relying on text-based actions of users to offer unmatched quality and relevance of search results to customers.

In the Amazon Style store, the display items will be showcased on racks, and customers need to scan a code using the amazon mobile application to select the color and size they would like to buy. Customers can then enter a virtual queue for the trial room as it gets unlocked on their smartphones.

This one-of-a-kind technology will not only reduce the required size of a fashion store but also help in providing a unique shopping experience to customers. Vasan said that inside the trial rooms is “a personal space for you to continue shopping without ever having to leave.” Amazon analyzes every item that customers scan and runs the data through its machine learning algorithms to offer personalized fashion recommendations according to their preferences.

Datatron to offer Accelerated AI Model Deployment and AI Governance Program

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 21, 2022

Datatron AI deployment governance program

Enterprise-grade cloud-native AI platform provider Datatron announces that it plans to offer accelerated artificial intelligence model deployment and AI governance program. This new offering of Datatron will help companies quickly develop and deploy their artificial intelligence models.

Datatron will select five companies to let them participate in a hyper-accelerated program that guarantees their AI models will be deployed or governed in less than two weeks.

Most companies lack machine learning and artificial intelligence expertise, which makes model development a tedious and time-consuming task. The program is designed to tackle this challenge and guarantee model deployment in just a few weeks.

CEO of Datatron, Harish Doddi, said, “We want to show once and for all how our solution, tested and proven by a Super Bowl sponsor, stands head and shoulders above any other MLOps solution in the market. Over the years, there have been a lot of solutions and tools in the marketplace that do not offer real business benefits.”

He further added that they are taking a stance to cut out a lot of confusion that prevents many companies from being successful with artificial intelligence. Datatron will provide the following to the selected five companies –

Tips to generate revenue with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Datatron expertise to integrate toolsets in enterprises.
An on-premises or cloud instance delivering one model into production in a week’.
Leading MLOps, governance, and operationalizing functionalities.
Best practices to monitor and govern artificial intelligence models for performance and compliance.

San Francisco-based technology company Datatron was founded by Harish Doddi and Jerry Xu in 2016. The company is known for developing an automated Enterprise scale model monitoring and model governance platform for machine learning data science and artificial intelligence models in production.

To date, the firm has raised over $12 million from investors like Synapse Partners, Plug and Play Tech Center, Authentic Ventures, and many more in its seed funding round. Interested companies can easily apply for the program from the official website of Datatron.

ITE College Central launches AI program with NVIDIA

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 21, 2022

The Institute of Technical Education (ITE)launches its new program in artificial intelligence. ITE has collaborated with technology company NVIDIA to come up with the newly designed AI program.

It is a three-year partnership deal to offer a jointly developed AI Workforce Readiness Program. The country’s Education Minister launched the AI training program in an event where he also viewed a showcase of NVIDIA-powered AI applications that support students’ learning.

The partnership will allow ITE College to build a new artificial intelligence training facility in its campus equipped with NVIDIA’s best-in-class computing machines that will be used to develop AI applications.

Minister of Education, Chan Chun Sing, said, “Students will be exposed to skillsets in computer vision, pattern recognition, and data analytics, and trained to support AI applications in predictive maintenance, industrial inspection, and video analytics.”

He also mentioned that the AI Workforce Readiness Program would provide ITE students with a suite of artificial intelligence capabilities for the future. ITE College’s new AI facility named AiTE, will allow students to work closely with companies and develop AI solutions to tackle business challenges.

It is the first AI establishment at the ITE College that will enable students to work with real-world artificial intelligence projects. According to the college, the newly launched AI Training Program will help more than 400 students acquire relevant skills that the artificial intelligence market currently requires.

NVIDIA will not only provide infrastructure but will also provide appropriate training to faculty members of ITE, enabling the faculty to deliver NVIDIA’s AI curriculum to the students of the course.

“These are programs that are widely adopted by the industry, and they provide the students here in ITE a very good grasp of what AI technology is and also this is very hands-on, very practice-oriented, which basically suits the curriculum the ITE students will endeavor to learn,” said Nvidia’s senior director for enterprise business in Southeast Asia and Australia, Dennis Ang.

Pony.ai reveals Autonomous Computing Unit built on NVIDIA Drive Orin

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 20, 2022

Pony.ai Autonomous Computing Unit NVIDIA Drive Orin

Full-stack autonomous driving solutions developing company Pony.ai reveals its newly developed autonomous computing unit built on the NVIDIA Drive Orin system-on-a-chip.

The NVIDIA SoC can achieve a maximum of 254 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of performance and comes with comprehensive CUDA and NVIDIA deep learning accelerator (NVDLA) toolchain support.

Pony.ai became one of the first autonomous driving technology developing companies to use NVIDIA Ampere Architecture GPUs. With the development of the computing unit, Pony.ai will be able to scalably deploy autonomous trucks and robotaxis soon.

This new development is a significant step towards shifting to automotive-grade hardware from industry-grade. According to Pony.ai, the new autonomous computing unit will allow the company to reach level 4 autonomy in its self-driving vehicles. The autonomous computing unit will be ready for mass production by 2022, mentioned Pony.ai in a statement.

Co-founder and CEO of Pony.ai, James Peng, said, “By leveraging the world-class NVIDIA DRIVE Orin SoC, we’re demonstrating our design and industrialization capabilities plus the ability to develop and deliver a powerful mass-production platform at an unprecedented scale.”

He further added that this new development would help them realize their vision of bringing safe autonomous mobility solutions to all. Pony.ai’s new autonomous computing unit features top-notch capabilities like low latency, high performance, and reliability. Last year, Pony.ai received clearance for paid autonomous robotaxi service in the Beijing Intelligent Networked Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone, China.

“As a close collaborator with Pony.ai since their inception, we applaud their vision and execution with the development of their AV system architecture to bring safe, Level 4 capabilities to market,” said Senior Vice President of Engineering at NVIDIA, Gary Hicok.

World’s leading autonomous driving technology developer Pony.ai was founded by James Peng and Tiancheng Lou in 2016. To date, the company has raised over $1 billion from investors like Eight Road Venture, ClearVue Partners, and many more.

Abacus.AI to invest $50 million in India

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 20, 2022

Cloud services providing company Abacus.AI announces its plans to invest $50 million in India for its research and development center located in Mumbai. The investment will roll out phase-wise in the coming three years.

Abacus.AI’s new investment is a part of the company’s further global expansion plan. The research and development center of Abacius.ai will primarily focus on promoting the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies by businesses of all sizes operating in multiple industries.

Apart from the investment, the company will also hire more than 200 skilled engineers during the next three years. According to Abacus.AI’s statement, initially, it plans to hire 20 engineers.

CEO and Co-founder of Abacus.AI, Bindu Reddy, said, “Enterprises in India and all over the world are embracing cloud computing, AI, machine and deep learning to reduce costs and increase efficiency. AI is an incredibly powerful tool for rapid innovation, which is crucial in meeting increasing consumer demands from billions of customers and skilled labor.”

She further added that establishing an R&D division in India is crucial as it has become an integral asset of a rapidly growing hub for companies and engineers who are passionate about artificial intelligence technologies.

India Head of Abacus.AI, Manish Vora, said that having a division located in India will allow customers to provide opportunities for businesses to expand their artificial intelligence infrastructure. San Francisco-based cloud services company that helps organizations design, train, and customize machine and deep learning models Abacus.AI was founded by Arvind Sundararajan, Bindu Reddy, and Siddartha Naidu in 2019.

The company specializes in developing artificial intelligence solutions that organizations can use to plug and play deep learning systems into their existing customer and business processes. To date, Abacus.AI has raised nearly $90 million from investors like Tiger Global Management, Index Ventures, Alkeon Capital, and many others over four funding rounds.