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Canada needs to do better on leading AI innovation says Trudeau (BETAKIT)
“We need to make sure there is a business ecosystem, supporting and drawing on this world-class talent we have.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Athenascope nabs $2.5M seed led by First Round to bring gamers AI-edited highlight reels (TECHCRUNCH)
Athenascope is a small startup aiming to tap computer vision intelligence to record, review and recap what more novice gamers were able to pull off in their latest battle royale with a short, shareable highlight reel.
Deep Learning ‘Godfather’ Bengio Worries About China’s Use of AI (YAHOO)
Bengio, who is also a co-founder of Montreal-based AI software company Element AI, said he was concerned about the technology he helped create being used for controlling people’s behavior and influencing their minds.
DataSine raises $5.2M in Series A funding (FINSMES)
The round was led by Pentech and Propel Venture Partner, with participation from C.Entrepreneurs/Cathay Innovation, Twin Ventures and Sistema_VC.
Motorleaf partners with greenhouse supplier Cultilene to provide AI to growers (BETAKIT)
Motorleaf’s algorithm could automate harvest forecasting and provide crop yield predictions with 50 to 70 percent less error than estimates made by a human.
KenSci raises $22 million for AI that cuts health care costs (VENTUREBEAT)
KenSci’s AI-driven prediction platform helps practitioners cut costs intelligently by identifying contributing clinical and financial factors and by analyzing data across sources like electronic medical records, public records, demographics, claims data, and devices.
Databricks raises $250M at a $2.75B valuation for its analytics platform (TECHCRUNCH)
Databricks’ platform allows enterprises to build their data pipelines across data storage systems and prepare data sets for data scientists and engineers.
Facebook’s artificial intelligence grows with acquisition of visual shopping startup GrokStyle (FORTUNE)
The GrokStyle purchase marks the second reported acquisition by Facebook this year.
Vector Institute to offer $17,500 AI master’s scholarships in Ontario (BETAKIT)
The Vector Institute will award up to 115 scholarships to students who are pursuing a full-time AI-related master’s degree in the 2019-20 academic year.
Zoovu raises $14 million for AI-driven ecommerce experiences (VENTUREBEAT)
The funding was led by Berlin-based Target Global and existing investor Beringea.
Insurtech AI startup ProNavigator closes $2 million seed round (BETAKIT)
“The insurance industry has typically been slow to adapt to this shift.”
Amazon quietly acquired robotics company Dispatch to build Scout (TECHCRUNCH)
The Dispatch.AI website is still active — and press reports have even called its robot a rival to Scout — but the people behind Dispatch have actually been working for Amazon for well over a year.
