UK AI Firm Bought By Google

London-based AI (artificial intelligence) company DeepMind has been bought by Google in a deal reportedly worth £240m.

DeepMind was co-founded by child chess prodigy and Cambridge graduate, Demis Hassabis, along with two others. Currently, it develops algorithms for games, simulations and online commerce sites.

DeepMind develops machines capable of learning vision and language, with its founders having predicted AI machines will have learnt basic vision, basic sound processing, basic movement control, and basic language abilities by 2020, with artificial general intelligence (AGI) widespread by 2030.

UK press reports it claims to have a “world leading team” and its expertise has been compared to that at Google and Facebook.

DeepMind has been described in previous UK press reports as “a formidable AI player,” with speculation mounting that the acquisition is part of an on-going Google plan to embed more AI in its products.

For example, the firm recently bought robotics firm Boston Dynamics and smart home company Nest, among other similar advanced technology companies.

The search giant is also trialling driverless vehicles and believed to be working on next-generation robotic technologies, too. 

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