Honda to use Artificial Intelligence technology for making roads safer

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November 26, 2021

Honda Artificial Intelligence Roads Safer

Automobile manufacturing giant Honda revealed its motive to use artificial intelligence technologies in making roads safer for every individual. The announcement was made during Honda’s recently held ‘World premiere of advanced future safety technologies’ event.

Honda plans to equip its upcoming vehicle with advanced AI solutions that would help in reducing accidents that occur on roads mainly due to traffic rules violations and human errors while driving. The artificial intelligence driving assistant will analyze real-time data and provide assistance suited to particular traffic situations.

According to the company, it will achieve ‘zero traffic collision fatalities involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles globally by 2050.’ Honda’s new artificial intelligence-enabled driving assistant system uses various kinds of camera modules and high-end sensors to minimize any chance of road accidents.

Head of Automaker’s research Aem at Honda, Keiji Otsu, said, “For the realization of a collision-free society where all road users care for each other and the freedom of mobility becomes possible, we will further accelerate our industry-wide and public-private initiatives.”

Apart from Honda’s ‘Intelligent Driver-assistive technology,’ the company has also collaborated with SoftBank to develop a new system named ‘Safe and Sound Network Technology.’ The jointly developed system will use telecommunication to connect the people present on roads and automobiles in order to make roads safer and accident-free.

A press release mentioned, “Striving for a collision-free society for everyone sharing the road, represented by the global safety slogan Safety for Everyone.” Honda is currently working on both hardware and software products to provide better safety to automobile passengers and pedestrians. Honda aims to reduce the global traffic collision fatalities involving Honda automobiles to half by the end of 2030.
The press release also mentioned, “Honda will strive to offer the new value of ‘error-free’ safety and peace of mind which are suited to the driving behavior and situation of each individual driver and keep them away from any potential risks.”

NVIDIA announced a Strategic Investment and Partnership with Kore.ai

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Dipayan Mitra

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November 24, 2021

Computing platform company NVIDIA announces its new strategic investment partnership with conversational AI product developing firm Kore.ai. NVIDIA has invested in Kore.ai’s Series C funding round that raised the AI company’s financing to over $73 million.

This new partnership aims to develop new and innovative artificial intelligence-powered conversational solutions for enterprises operating in various sectors worldwide. Kore.ai noticed the rapidly growing demand for customer care solutions and hence wants to develop cutting-edge AI-enabled customer support solutions to help companies prove a better, quick, and reliable experience to their customers.

Industry general manager for financial services and technology at NVIDIA, John Ashley, said, “Expanding our relationship with Kore.ai will help us work towards the mutual goal of building domain-specific and real-time voice assistants with impressive voice quality that can be adapted by every company to represent their brand.”

He further added that this collaboration would help organizations tackle key challenges involved in speech recognition. Kore.ai plans to integrate its technology with NVIDIA’s GPU accelerated SDK Riva to provide higher accuracy and low latency to end customers.

Both the companies will combine their expertise in natural language processing and speech artificial intelligence to bring in new innovations in the conversational AI domain. Kore.ai will use NVIDIA AI software to offer best-in-class performance customization options at a low cost to its customers.

Kore.ai is a United States-based AI software developing firm founded by Raj Koneru in 2013. The company specializes in developing artificial intelligence-powered conversational virtual assistants for many industries, including banking, IT support, insurance, HR, and many more. Apart from NVIDIA, the company has received funding from many investors like Sterling National Bank, PNC, and Vistara Growth.
“NVIDIA brings an industry-leading team and advanced AI technology. We will work together to expand best-in-class support to enterprise customers so that they can leverage conversational AI modules to power their customer and internal workforce applications,” said the founder and CEO of Kore.ai Raj Koneru.

Lloyd’s Register launches the first ever Artificial Intelligence Register

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Dipayan Mitra

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November 23, 2021

Lloyd’s Register Artificial Intelligence Register

Engineering, technical, and risk consultancy service providing company Lloyd’s Register launches its first-ever industry-leading artificial intelligence register. The newly launched product is a standardized register of LR (Lloyd’s Register) certified AI providers and solutions meant for the maritime industry.

The LR artificial intelligence-powered register comes with various one-of-a-kind capabilities like human-level observation and decision making. The product will provide accurate recommendations to maritime stakeholders to help them choose the right solution for tackling business challenges.

The register will allow users to access existing solutions that are currently available in the market effortlessly. According to Luis Benito, the director of innovation at Lloyd’s Register, there has been a significant boost in the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies in the maritime industry. However, there is still a risk of maritime stakeholders investing in untested technologies that can lead to substantial financial losses.

Many industry-leading artificial intelligence solutions providers like Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Furuno Hellas, HAT Analytics, and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering are currently listed on the newly launched AI Register of LR.

The register will automatically categorize the listed AI solutions into various segments based on their LR certification status. The categories include Digital Twin Ready, Digital Twin Approved, Digital Twin Commissioned, and Digital Twin Live.

Technology innovation manager of Lloyd’s Register, Joseph Morelos, said, “LR’s new AI Register, the first of its kind for the maritime industry, has been designed to help maritime stakeholders find safe and proven providers and solutions, so they can successfully benefit from these technology advances, by ultimately improving business outcomes and competitive advantage.”

According to the company, LR’s AI register would help its clients and partners to drive business outcomes through the safe deployment of artificial intelligence technologies. “The AI Register articulates the value of our AI technology to both existing and potential clients enabling their buying decision,” said Theodoros Katemidis, MD of Furuno Hellas.

Microsoft and Heathrow announces AI model to detect illegal wildlife trafficking

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Dipayan Mitra

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November 20, 2021

Microsoft and Heathrow announced that their developed one-of-a-kind AI model to detect illegal wildlife trafficking named Project SEEKER is ready to be deployed at airports. The newly developed system aims to combat the challenge of illegal wildlife trafficking that has become a $23 billion business.

The system will scan the cargo luggage at airports to detect any evidence of wildlife trafficking. During the testing process of SEEKER, it showed a dependable accuracy rate of over 70%. The artificial intelligence-powered model has a maximum capacity of scanning 250,000 bags in a single day. Once SEEREK detects any abnormalities, it automatically sends a notification to the necessary departments to help them resolve the problem in a short time.

CEO of Microsoft UK, Clare Barclay, said, “The untapped potential of AI and machine learning can help solve some of the world’s most complex environmental challenges. Our first-of-its-kind multispecies AI model Project SEEKER can help tackle the wildlife trafficking trade, while protecting animal ecosystems.”

She further added that this collaboration with Heathrow could not be more significant as they share a common aim of protecting the world’s most endangered species. The Royal Foundation’s United for Wildlife will be working closely with its partners to support the global rollout of this new technology developed by Microsoft.

As authorities will receive alert notifications earlier than usual, they will have more time to plan and take action against any illegal activity related to wildlife trafficking. Project SEEKER mainly focuses on identifying the trafficking of Pangolins, rhinos, elephants, tigers, and other vulnerable animals.

Chairman of the United for Wildlife taskforce, Lord William Hague, said, “The illegal wildlife trade is among the five most lucrative global crimes and is often run by highly organized criminal networks who exploit our transport and financial systems to move illegal animal products and their criminal profits around the world.” He also mentioned that this partnership is crucial in order to solve the issue of wildlife trafficking for good.

Grammarly raises over $200 million in recent Funding Round

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Dipayan Mitra

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November 19, 2021

Artificial intelligence-powered writing assistant tool Grammarly raised over $200 million in its recent funding round led by Baillie Gifford. The latest funding has increased Grammarly’s market valuation to $13 billion.

With the new funds, Grammarly wants to further invest in artificial intelligence technologies to expand the capabilities of its assistant. According to company officials, Grammarly is prioritizing its efforts to accelerate the process of improving the platform to help people communicate in this ‘digital-first world.

Grammarly uses natural language processing and machine learning technologies to display suggestions and rectifications for writing mistakes in documents, emails, and many others. The platform provides over 100 million writing suggestions to more than 30 million users every month.

CEO of Grammarly, Brad Hoover, said, “Grammarly’s latest funding round underscores the importance of our mission and the broad need for effective communication. By enabling clear and confident communication, Grammarly’s platform helps people excel both personally and professionally.”

He further added that the funding coming a week after the launch of Grammarly’s desktop version for Windows and macOS is a big step towards breaking down technological barriers in order to achieve effective communication.

Grammarly is a San Francisco-based software firm that was founded by Alex Shevchenko, Dmytro Lider, and Max Lytvyn in 2009. Since the launch, Grammarly has brought in many innovations in the writing assistant domain, which has made the company the most widely used writing assistance platform.

“Since our last funding round two years ago, we’ve doubled down on our investments in security so our customers can rest assured their data is safe and secure,” added Hoover. Grammarly will also use this funding to strengthen its backend AI tasks to provide better-personalized feedback to users about their writing.

Google announces free scholarship in India to Train Job Seekers in Digital Technologies

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Dipayan Mitra

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November 19, 2021

Technology giant Google announced its plans of offering 100,000 free scholarships for Indian job seekers to help them gain the skills that tech companies are currently seeking in employees. The surge in demand for highly skilled workers can be witnessed in the technology industry of India.

The program aims to bridge the digital skill gap between Indian job seekers and employers, which would help in meeting the market demand of trained specialists. Google has collaborated with NASSCOM Foundation, Safeducate, and TATA Strive to offer this scholarship program. The companies will identify underprivileged learners across India and provide them with free enrollment to a Google Career Certificate course of their choice.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “With the digital economy’s potential to add millions of jobs, the government is committed to providing Indians every opportunity to upskill.” He further added that he is delighted to see Google Career Certificates provide training in key digital skills and launch an employer consortium to boost employment in the country.

Google also plans to provide grooming support to learners by offering training in soft and business skills. Learners will receive assistance in building their resumes and interview preparation. Apart from this scholarship program, Google Career Certificate courses are available on Coursera.

Learners can opt for various courses, including IT Support, IT Automation, Project Management, Data Analytics, and UX Design, on Coursera’s online platform. Google has partnered with many industry-leading companies such as Accenture, Wipro, Genpact, Tech Mahindra, Times Internet, and Better.com to provide employment opportunities to learners.
Interested companies can sign up for this program to increase the employer pool further. Last year, Google announced a fund of $10 billion to boost the digitization process in India, which has shown remarkable results. With this new program, Google further strengthens its commitment to transform India’s digital ecosystem.

Latent View Analytics to share IPO allotment Today

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Dipayan Mitra

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November 18, 2021

Predictive analytics and enterprise management service company Latent View Analytics will most likely announce the allotment of its initial public offering today. According to NSE, the IPO worth ₹600 crores received bids of over 5 billion against offered shares of 10 million.

Bidders can view their allotment status by voting on the BSE website or the official website of the IPO registrar. The bidding process started on 10th November and lasted for three consecutive days.

According to the company, 75% of the issued shares have been reserved for qualified institutional buyers, and the rest are for non-institutional investors and retail investors. The shares had a price band of between ₹190-197, said officials of Latent View Analytics.

Stock dealer Pawan Dharnidharka said, “It’s quoting around Rs 300 in the unofficial grey market. The recent bumper listing of Nykaa shows the investor frenzy in IPOs, which can offer good money to investors on listing.”

The Indian artificial intelligence firm Latent View Analytics was founded by Venkat Viswanathan in 2006 and had its global delivery center in Chennai. Deloitte recognized Latent View Analytics as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in India in 2009 and 2010.

The company uses various technologies like high-end analytics and machine learning to develop solutions for businesses operating in different industries like finance, consumer goods, retail, and many more.

In 2021, Latent View Analytics generated revenue of over ₹300 crores and a profit of ₹91 crores. The company also got listed as a Representative Vendor in the “Market Guide for Data and Analytics Service Providers” published by Gartner in 2019.

BigBear.ai Announce Strategic Partnership with Palantir

By

Dipayan Mitra

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November 17, 2021

BigBear.ai Palantir Strategic Partnership

Artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions providing company BigBear.ai announces a strategic partnership with data analysis and visualization software developer Palantir.

With this partnership, the companies plan to integrate their products to provide better artificial intelligence-powered solutions in order to provide better advice and actionable insights for complex business decisions. The partnership will also help the companies to increase their respective customer base at a global level.

Palantir’s Foundry platform will be integrated with BigBear.ai’s Observe, Orient, and Dominate products that will provide global data collection, generate insights and deliver anticipatory intelligence. The platform will help businesses and government institutions operating in various industries, including space, logistics, energy, retail, and many others.

Chief Technology Officer of BigBear.ai, Brian Frutchey, said, “We are confident that this partnership will accelerate BigBear.ai’s penetration into high growth markets, including commercial markets and the Federal government, and help us expand our existing customer relationships as well as attract new customers at this critical stage of expansion for BigBear.ai.”

He further added that they are extremely thrilled to collaborate with Palantir to provide better services to their customers at a time when a rise in demand can be witnessed in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions.

The integrated product will help businesses to achieve a higher and faster return on investment. The platform will also come with out-of-the-box features to optimize pricing, asset allocation, inventory, customer targeting, operations management, and many more related tasks.

President of Palantir, Akash Jain, said, “We see immense opportunities to deliver more, faster for customers by partnering with cutting edge companies who can leverage Foundry as Infrastructure in their offerings.” He also mentioned that BigBear.ai’s artificial intelligence capabilities could achieve scalable distribution across various government and commercial customers.

Bokaro Steel Plant Starts trial of AI-powered Predictive Monitoring System

By

Dipayan Mitra

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November 17, 2021

Bokaro Steel Plant AI Predictive Monitoring system

The Bokaro Steel Plant, a unit of Steel Authority of India Limited, recently announced that it has started testing its new AI-powered predictive monitoring system. This new development is expected to bring more transparency, productivity, and efficiency in various tasks involved in the steel production process.

Bokaro Steel Plant partnered with Hyderabad-based artificial intelligence company M/S MINTO AI to further enhance its artificial intelligence-powered predictive tool. BSL has installed numerous current-based sensors in various equipment, including the cold screen motor of Sinter Plant, rotation motor for material distribution in the blast furnace, and crane main hoist motors at Hot Strip Mill. The technology works on M/S MINTO AI’s Industrial Internet of Things platform named, Spidersense.

Manikant Dhan, the chief of communications at BSL, said, “A big leap has been achieved by BSL in the strategic direction of digital transformation with the beginning of trials of the Artificial Intelligence-based Predictive Monitoring System at various shops such as blast furnace, sinter plant and hot strip mill.”

He further added that the installed sensors use many technologies, including artificial intelligence, physics, and deep process knowledge, to deliver operational intelligence in steel plants.

The newly deployed technology will help plant engineers and workers to effectively plan maintenance procedures based on predictive monitoring and alerts. Center of Digital Transformation supervised the trial execution of this predictive monitoring system.

Senior manager of Energy Management Department at BSL, Saurabh Singh, said, “The system has started collecting and storing various critical data on cloud which will be modelled under an algorithm for creating alerts and analytics. This will be able to help in machine health monitoring through digital technology.”

AudioCodes Acquires Conversational AI provider Callverso

By

Dipayan Mitra

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November 16, 2021

Voice over IP and data networking products developing company AudioCodes acquires conversational AI and speech recognition system developer Callverso in a recent deal. Company officials did not provide any information regarding the valuation of the acquisition deal.

However, it is mentioned that the acquisition transaction will be made in cash and will also have an additional earn-out arrangement based on sales targets over the next three years. With this new development, AudioCodes plan to expand their product portfolio by utilizing Callverso’sCallverso’s expertise to develop new contact center and live CX services like work from home services, click-to-call, and voice channel integration with chatbots.

Callverso’sCallverso’s virtual agent technology has already been deployed in various healthcare institutions with excellent results. The virtual agent automates various critical tasks involved in the healthcare industry, like scheduling medical appointments and bill payments. Callverso’sCallverso’s virtual assistant also successfully attended over 14 million calls in 2020.

CEO and President of AudioCodes, Shabtai Adlersberg, said, “The technology and expertise of Callverso in developing and deploying conversational AI solutions will effectively complement AudioCodes’’ existing Voice.ai offering and be instrumental in modernizing contact center operations.” He further added that this acquisition would help AudioCodes to serve the growing adaptation of conversation AI solutions in contact centers at a global level.

Callverso is an Israel-based information technology company founded by Simon Rapoport in 2008. The company specializes in developing conversational AI and speech recognition applications for various industries.

Director of services and marketing technologies at Clalit, Marko Gabay, said, “We deployed VICA during the early phases of the COVID 19 pandemic to coordinate PCR tests and provide our customers with test results. VICA allowed us to handle the huge increase in calls to our contact center efficiently while reducing our operating costs dramatically.”

He also mentioned that Callverso had been a reliable long-term vendor for Clalit. Callversp’sCallversp’s VICA solution has been deployed in over 1600 Clalit clinics and contact centers for the last eight years.