L&T wins $45 million deal from US-based Automotive Company

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January 20, 2022

Engineering research and development services company L&T Technology Services (LTTS) announces that it has recently won a deal worth $45 million from a United States-based automotive firm.

The information was revealed while the company was announcing its quarterly;y results this week. The deal is a five-year agreement that will allow LTTS to work with customers to develop and deliver cutting-edge solutions using its expertise in e-mobility technology.

The company will be able to offer better services to customers under its electric vehicle portfolio with this $$5 million deal. According to LTTS, it will have over 300 engineers work from the Krakow R&D center located in Poland in the coming three years to expand further into the European market.

CEO and Managing Director of LTTS, Amit Chadha, said, “We have been investing in Electric, Autonomous and Connected Vehicle (EACV) as part of our six big bets and our engineers have developed several new scalable e-mobility solutions that can accelerate global automotive players’ EV development journey. This landmark deal reinforces that our strategic investment is paying off and establishes LTTS’ dominant position in the EACV landscape.”

He further mentioned that the Krakow R&D center would operate as a nearshore center to Western European and North American clientele across verticals. Moreover, the company has also signed a $10 million contract with TCV as LTTS mentioned its revenue from the technology sector stood at 56% in the last quarter.

LTTS has already hired more than 1900 trainees in the previous two quarters, marking the company’s confidence in its future growth. LTTS plans to have a workforce of over 20000 by the end of the third quarter of this year. “In three quarters in FY 22, we have taken on 3,000 trainees,” added Chadha.

Vislink Launches New Mobile Viewpoint Stellar Camera

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 20, 2022

Advanced communication technology developing company Vislink launches its new mobile viewpoint stellar camera for artificial intelligence-powered live sports production. The newly launched camera caters to all needs for automatic coverage of popular sports.

Vislink has equipped that camera with high-end features that allow it to capture high-resolution videos at higher frame rates with zooming capabilities. It is an extremely reliable camera as it is waterproof and has a strong built quality.

The product will be showcased at the NCAA 2022 Convention Trade Show in booth number 309. It will be among the all-IP wireless streaming products designed for use in remote and live sports productions showcased by Vislink.

CEO of Vislink, Mickey Miller, said, “Stellar Cam represents the latest in a long line of AI solutions brought to market by our Mobile Viewpoint brand. It is a key component of IQ Sports Producer, our platform for capturing live sporting events without the need for onsite staff.”

He also mentioned that IQ Sports Producer is appropriate for mid to low-tier sports matches. The platform also allows Over The Top (OTT) media platforms to capture and broadcast sporting events very cost-effectively. United Kingdom-based technology company Vislink was founded by Roger G. Branton in 1999.

The company is a global leader in capturing, delivering and managing high-quality live video for various industries, including sports, entertainment, law enforcement, defense, and many more. Vislink has successfully acquired several companies, including Mobile Viewpoint, Pebble Beach Systems, Focus Communications, Pacific Microwave Research, and many others.

“At the beginning of our AI journey, we offered an off-the-shelf 4x 4K panoramic surveillance camera to our customers. Though it was ideal for web streaming, many of our higher-end broadcast customers wanted a camera with a higher frame rate, adjustable lenses, and something that did not rely on an optical zoom,” said Managing Director of Mobile Viewpoint, Michel Bais.

Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 19, 2022

Technology giant Microsoft announces its plans to acquire leading video game developer, publisher, and distributor Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion. After the acquisition, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company after Tencent and Sony.

The valuation of this deal makes it the biggest tech acquisition in history, and it is expected to close by 2023. According to the company, the new acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate its gaming business for consoles, PC, and mobile.

Online and cloud gaming are gaining immense popularity over the years and are expected to grow even further in the coming years. The acquisition is also a step for Microsoft towards building its metaverse. Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard in an all-cash deal for $95 per share.

CEO and Chairman of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, said, “We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”

He also mentioned that gaming is one of the most dynamic categories in the entertainment industry across all platforms, and it will play a vital role in the development of metaverse. With this acquisition, Microsoft will be able to launch Activision Blizzard games in its Game Pass, which has more than 24 million active users across the globe.

Activision Blizzard, famous for developing video games like Candy Crush, Call of Duty, World of Worldcraft, Diablo, and many others, currently has over 400 million monthly active players spread across 190 countries. The acquisition of Activision Blizzard will increase the number of Microsoft’s internal game development studios to 30. Additionally, Microsoft will also get access to Activision Blizzard’s publishing and esport production capabilities.

“The combination of Activision Blizzard’s world-class talent and extraordinary franchises with Microsoft’s technology, distribution, access to talent, ambitious vision, and shared commitment to gaming and inclusion will help ensure our continued success in an increasingly competitive industry,” said the CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick.

He further added that their team has been developing top-notch games for over three decades, and this partnership will further strengthen the abilities of Activision Blizzard.

CDAC and IITs to offer Online Courses on Artificial Intelligence

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 19, 2022

CDAC IITs Online course Artificial Intelligence

The Center for Development of Advanced Computing and several Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) plan to offer new online courses on artificial intelligence jointly.

The online course will primarily focus on applied artificial intelligence, and students with basic knowledge of machine learning can readily apply for the jointly offered course.

Several IITs, including Kharagpur, Madras, Palakkad, and Goa, will provide the online course along with CDAC from January 31st, 2022. The online course will teach learners how to implement artificial intelligence solutions in various sectors like healthcare, smart city applications, and many more.

As a part of the curriculum, learners will be given demonstrations, code walkthroughs, and industrial use cases to make them industry-ready. It will include subjects like artificial intelligence accelerator, system setups, end-to-end accelerated deep science, deep learning, and many more to teach learners the critical skills that the market currently demands.

The online course consists of 33 sessions of one hour each followed by a 30 minutes Q&A session to help learners resolve any doubts. The sessions will be conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM.

The course is divided into two portions, and learners need to appear for an online examination after completion of each of the two sections. Prof. Satyadhyan Chickerur, Dr. Satyajit Das, Mr. Bharat Kumar, and Mr. Adesuyi Tosin will conduct the online sessions. The online course price is Rs. 800 for students and Rs. 3200 for others.
Recently, IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad incubated startup GUVI announced that it has partnered with the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) to offer free Python and artificial intelligence courses to students.

Reliance Industries invests $132 million in Addverb Technologies

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 19, 2022

Reliance Industries’ retail venture unit invests $132 million in eCommerce robotics startup Addverb Technologies to acquire 54% shares of the company. This new investment makes Reliance the majority shareholder of Addverb Technologies.

The company has clarified that Addverb Technologies will continue to work as an independent unit after Reliance becomes its majority stakeholder. According to Addverb Technologies, it plans to use fresh funds to expand its robotics facility to make it one of India’s largest robotics manufacturing facilities.

The company will also expand into global markets like Europe and the United States using the freshly raised funds. Additionally, both companies will build 5G robotics and battery systems and use carbon fiber to build affordable robots soon.

Co-founder and CEO of Addverb Technologies, Sangeet Kumar, said, “Reliance was already one of our esteemed clients, with whom we had co-created and delivered highly automated warehouses for their Jio-Mart grocery business. The comfort level and the trust factor were already in place, which led to this association.”

He further added that this strategic partnership between Addverb and Reliance would help them develop innovative products in the future. Currently, Addverb Technologies operates in multiple industries, including retail, grocery, pharms, fashion, and lifestyle, but it plans to increase its robot deployment in other sectors, including hospitals and airports.

According to the company, it aims to reach the target of $1 billion of which, the majority will come from international markets over the next five years. Noida-based robotics firm Addverb Technologies was founded by Amit Kumar, Bir Singh, Neeraj Sharma, Prateek Jain, Sangeet Kumar, and Satish Shukla in 2016.

The company specializes in developing intra-logistics automation solutions using industry 4.0 technology. To date, Addverb’s manufacturing facility has the potential of developing nearly 10,000 robots annually for varied purposes.

The new investment will allow the company to increase this number as it plans to set up a new facility by 2023 with a production capacity of 50,000 robots each year.

Self-driving Car startup Wayve raises $200 million in Funding

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 19, 2022

Self-driving car developing company Wayve raises over $200 million in the new funding round from veteran investors like Microsoft, Virgin, and Baillie Gifford. Other investors like D1 Capital Partners, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Linse Capital also participated in the funding round.

Wayve did not provide any information regarding the new valuation, but it can be expected to be above $1 billion. The new funds will allow Wayve to accelerate its product development process of autonomous driving technology and launch more pilot projects with commercial fleet partners. The company plans to extensively hire leading artificial intelligence scientists to fuel its research and development process along with rapid global expansion.

“As the industry struggles to solve self-driving with traditional robotics, it is becoming increasingly clear that AV2.0 is the right pathway to build a scalable driving intelligence that can help commercial fleet operators deploy autonomy faster,” said Seth Winterroth, partner, Eclipse Ventures.

The United Kingdom-based artificial intelligence-powered autonomous driving technology developing startup Wayve was founded by Alex Kendall and Amar Shah in 2017. To date, the company has raised more than $256 million in funding from several investors over five funding rounds. Wayve specializes in developing fully autonomous driving solutions, which are data-driven.

The technology uses end-to-end deep learning to develop artificial intelligence that allows vehicles to move autonomously in multiple complicated environments. The company currently operates a fleet of electric vehicles appropriate for autonomous operations. Wayve’s solution named AV 2.0 is a one-of-a-kind technology that intends to teach a car to drive itself using complex machine learning software.
Co-founder and CEO of Wayve, Alex Kendall, said, “It’s able to learn to do things that are more complex than humans can hand-program. It can make its own decisions based on what it sees and drive in very complex environments like we have in central London.”

Data Science and Machine Learning jobs are rising in 2022 says LinkedIn

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 19, 2022

LinkedIn mentioned in a recent report that data science and machine learning roles are among the top 15 jobs which are rising in India 2022. The pandemic has changed the global scenario drastically, forcing most companies working in various industries to work digitally.

With the boost in the digital transformation of enterprises, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and several other related sectors are witnessing a massive boom. According to a recent report, the global data science platform market was valued at USD 31.05 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 230.80 billion by 2026.

The above mentioned data further shows why the market is currently looking forward to extensively hiring talents in the data science and machine learning industries. Data science job roles require candidates to collect and interpret large amounts of data for various purposes, including analytics related to customers and market trends.

The role is available in multiple industries, including information technology, education management, and many more. According to LinkedIn, the top hiring locations for data science specialist roles are Bengaluru, Chennai, and New Delhi.

Another fast-growing job role is Machine Learning Engineer, in which individuals have to develop artificial intelligence algorithms of products and applications for multiple purposes. Various industries, including information technology, the internet, computer software, and many others, are hiring machine learning engineers in India.

LinkedIn mentioned that Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai are the top locations for this job role.

Samsung unveils new Exynos chip With Xclipse GPU Powered By AMD

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 19, 2022

Technology giant Samsung unveils its newly designed Exynos 2200 microprocessor for mobile phones equipped with Xclipse GPU powered by AMD. The Xclipse GPU is based on AMD RDNA 2 architecture.

According to the company, its Exynos 2200 will be an extremely powerful processor that uses ARM-based CPUs and an upgraded neural processing unit (NPU) to effectively handle graphic-intensive tasks.

The powerful NPU will allow smartphones to carry out complicated artificial intelligence tasks on-device. The processor will not only provide a lag-free gaming experience to users but will also enhance the overall experience in multiple social media applications and photography.

President of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics, Yongin Park, said, “Built on the most advanced 4-nanometer (nm) EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) process, and combined with cutting-edge mobile, GPU and NPU technology, Samsung has crafted the Exynos 2200 to provide the finest experience for smartphone users.”

He further added that their newly developed Xclipse GPU would allow the company to redefine the mobile gaming experience by providing unmatched graphics and better artificial intelligence performance.

The launch of Exynos 2200 marks Samsung’s commitment towards making continuous efforts to bring innovations in the logic chip domain. The octa-core CPU is the world’s first microchip that integrates Arm’s latest Armv9 CPU cores to offer better security and performance.

Apart from the top-of-the-line performance, the chip will also provide enhanced 5G connectivity using a fast 3GPP Release 16 5G modem, which supports sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrum bands.
President of IP Products Group at Arm, Rene Haas, said, “As one of the first processors to incorporate the new Armv9 CPU cores, Samsung’s Exynos 2200 takes advantage of Arm’s Total Compute strategy and key security features, like MTE, to deliver the purpose-built compute and specialized processing needed to power future mobile experiences.

Researchers are using AI to analyze Tweets debating Vaccination and Climate Change

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 18, 2022

AI Analyze tweets vaccination Climate Change

Researchers from the University of Waterloo and University of Guelph use artificial intelligence technology to analyze tweets debating vaccination and climate change. They have developed a one-on-a-kind machine learning algorithm capable of scrutinizing a vast number of tweets.

The primary goal of the research was to identify how sentiments regarding climate change and vaccination are related to each other and how people act and make decisions in daily life. The research pointed out that during 2007 and 2017, online sentiments regarding climate change were somewhat consistent.

It was discovered that climate change sentiment was more inclined towards the people who believe climate change is caused by human activities and demand action. Additionally, users with different opinions regarding climate change heavily interacted with each other.

However, when vaccination is concerned, a difference of opinion was seen after the analysis of thousands of tweets. Unlike the former, individuals with different views regarding vaccination also rarely interacted with each other. Only around 20% of the people clearly stated their opinions and views on vaccination, while more than 70% of people did not have clarity regarding their opinion.

Professor of applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo, Chris Bauch, said, “It is an open question whether these differences in user sentiment and social media echo chambers concerning vaccines created the conditions for highly polarized vaccine sentiment when the COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out.”

He also mentioned that if they do the same study with the data collected over the last two years, the results might be astonishingly different as vaccination is a much more happening topic right now, and people will have polarized opinions regarding it.
“We expected to find that user sentiment and how users formed networks and communities to be more or less the same for both issues. But actually, we found that the way climate change discourse and vaccine discourse worked on Twitter were quite different,” added Bauch.

XMachina acquires Brain Public to diversify its AI capabilities

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Dipayan Mitra

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January 18, 2022

XMachina acquired Brain Public organization planning platform developing company Brain Public. According to the CEO of XMachina, the company plans to become the most diversified artificial intelligence company in the United States with this new acquisition of Brain Public.

XMachina and Brain Public mutually agreed on the terms and conditions for the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of Bain Public. The companies did not provide any information regarding the valuation of the acquisition deal, but it was announced that it would consist of a combination of cash and shares that would close over a defined period of time.

“We see the Bain Public acquisition as part of a strategic growth strategy for XMachina. Firstly, we have an opportunity to grow XMachina revenues through the continued development of the Bain Public brand while adding a layer of in-house product expertise for the targets that we acquire,” said CEO of XMachina, Claude Théroret.

He further added that Bain Public’s presence across the Montréal AI accelerator ecosystem would help bring the best deal flow and presence to XMachina. San Francisco-based business management solutions developing firm Brain Public was founded by Paul Ortchanian in 2017. The company is best known for its product named SOAP that helps various teams in an organization operate efficiently.

SOAP gathers information and structures them accordingly, which helps in product planning and roadmap prioritization based on principles of product strategy, data science, and more. According to XMachina, Brain Public’s expertise has enabled the firm to build a niche services company for the enhancement of enterprise value.

“The acquisition is a milestone for us as it enables more clients within the North American Artificial Intelligence ecosystem to access our proven product management methodologies,” said CEO and founder of Brain Public Paul Ortchanian. He also mentioned that the acquisition would help the team of Brain Public to further increase its capabilities to provide better services to customers.