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Yoshua Bengio explains the limits and potential of AI at #Activate18 (BETAKIT)
“For an industry, implementing AI is not a question of competitiveness, but a question of survival as the machines are extending humans’ cognitive power, and AI can double growth rates.”
Oracle acquires DataFox, a developer of ‘predictive intelligence as a service’ across millions of company records (TECHCRUNCH)
Oracle said that it is not committing to a specific product roadmap for DataFox longer term, but for now it will be keeping the product going as is for those who are already customers.
Report: Canadian VC activity falls for second straight quarter in Q3 2018 (BETAKIT)
Looking back over eight quarters, Q3 2018 is the only quarter where VC activity in Canada didn’t increase year-over-year.
Samsung opens new artificial intelligence centre in Montreal (MOBILESYRUP)
This is the South Korean tech giant’s second AI centre to be opened in Montreal, following the establishment of its first AI hub in the city in September 2017.
eSentire acquires Seattle-based Versive (BETAKIT)
Versive allows enterprises to map out their cybersecurity capabilities and react quickly to attacks.
Eerie AI-generated portrait fetches $432,500 at auction (TECHCRUNCH)
The question of whether a machine can create art, or anything at all, is at the heart of many a philosophical debate and has been for decades. But whether it’s worth something on the market? That point has been settled as a portrait-like image issuing from an AI recently sold for nearly half a million dollars at auction.
EyeSight raises $15 million for AI-powered in-car monitoring (VENTUREBEAT)
The funding round was led by Jebsen Capital, with participation from Arie Capital and Mizrahi Tefahot.
Mike Shaver joins integrate.ai as CTO (BETAKIT)
integrate.ai was Mike Shaver’s first investment during his time at Real Ventures.
People.ai raises $30M in Series B funding (FINSMES)
People.ai, which provides sales, marketing, and customer success teams with a platform to uncover revenue opportunities, raised the funding from Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, GGV Capital, and Y Combinator.
How messaging, AI, and bots are rescuing customer service (VENTUREBEAT)
Companies that transition from voice- and email-based customer support see a 25 percent greater annual growth in revenue — plus an 8.6 percent increase in average profit margin per customer.
Finn AI closes $14 million Series A with Yaletown Partners, Flying Fish Partners (BETAKIT)
Finn AI helps financial institutions launch chatbots that help customers manage accounts and money.
Customer service ‘behavioral pairing’ startup Afiniti quietly raised $130M at a $1.6B valuation (TECHCRUNCH)
This latest round includes former Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg; Fred Ryan, the CEO and publisher of the Washington Post; and investors Global Asset Management, The Resource Group, Zeke Capital, and others.