IBM today took the wraps off a new release of PowerAI, the prepackaged bundle of deep learning frameworks that debuted last fall. With the addition of Google's TensorFlow framework, the company says its AI business model is starting to resemble the Linux distributor Red Hat. "In a sense, PowerAI makes IBM the Red Hat of deep learning," Sumit Gupta, the vice president of IBM's High Performance Computing & Data Analytics business, told Datanami. In the same way, instead of going to TensorFlow or Caffe or other websites [for deep learning frameworks], they want an enterprise-level distribution." The first release of PowerAI included "optimized" versions of Caffe-bvlc, Caffe-ibm, Caffe-nv, DIGITS, Torch, and Theano. With this release, the software includes TensorFlow 0.12, as well as Chainer, a deep learning framework that's very popular in Japan. Gupta says PowerAI--which is free and distributed as a binary for Ubuntu Linux (sorry, Red Hat)--is resonating with IBM clients, particularly those who have bought the "Minsky" Power8 servers to run deep learning and machine learning workloads on. "Enterprise customers prefer not to go to an open source website and download software and build it.

A year ago, in a report on Big Data and investment management, Citi Business Advisory Services predicted that "with the improved volume, velocity and variety of data inherent in the big data approach, the innovation seen in systematic trading models over the past decade could accelerate." One of the platforms highlighted in the Citi report was DataSift, a service that promises to "integrate social, blog and news data in a single place." Or as Citi put it, DataSift aggregates "marquee data source partners, including Edgar Online, Wikipedia, and WordPress." Edgar, of course, is consistent with old-fashioned ideas of what hedge fund managers through various third parties should keep track of. But Wikipedia presence on this short list might pull up short those who still think of it as a pastime for nerds who like to think of themselves as editors.

With every passing day, we're reminded that the future is here. Yeah, that's sort of a redundant thing to say. What I really mean is that new innovations and disruptions are popping up every day, and they're materializing at a rate never seen before. I mean, think about the fact that the modern computer, which was created in either 1942 or 1946, depending on who you ask, used to cost a fortune and fill up an entire room.[1] It was almost 50 years before that computer would be reduced to the size of an affordable desktop in 1995.

In coming years residential consumers will face real-time electricity tariffs with energy prices varying day to day, and effective energy saving will require automation - a recommender system, which learns consumer's preferences from her actions. A consumer chooses a scenario of home appliance use to balance her comfort level and the energy bill. We propose a Bayesian learning algorithm to estimate the comfort level function from the history of appliance use. In numeric experiments with datasets generated from a simulation model of a consumer interacting with small home appliances the algorithm outperforms popular regression analysis tools. Our approach can be extended to control an air heating and conditioning system, which is responsible for up to half of a household's energy bill.

On December 2nd, 1942, a team of scientists led by Enrico Fermi came back from lunch and watched as humanity created the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction inside a pile of bricks and wood underneath a football field at the University of Chicago. Known to history as Chicago Pile-1, it was celebrated in silence with a single bottle of Chianti, for those who were there understood exactly what it meant for humankind, without any need for words. Now, something new has occurred that, again, quietly changed the world forever. Like a whispered word in a foreign language, it was quiet in that you may have heard it, but its full meaning may not have been comprehended. However, it's vital we understand this new language, and what it's increasingly telling us, for the ramifications are set to alter everything we take for granted about the way our globalized economy functions, and the ways in which we as humans exist within it. The language is a new class of machine learning known as deep learning, and the "whispered word" was a computer's use of it to seemingly out of nowhere defeat three-time European Go champion Fan Hui, not once but five times in a row without defeat.

Most of the robot competitions we cover are serious business. Roboticists spend months (or years) and thousands (or millions) of dollars building and programming their robots to navigate through simulated disaster areas, solve complicated tasks that most people don't really understand, or just beat the stuffing out of each other. Building the best robot you can is difficult and stressful. You know what isn't difficult or stressful? Building the worst robot you can, and then seeing if it can manage to be even more terrible than a bunch of other robots trying to do the same thing.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's choice for labor secretary is CEO of a fast food empire that is outsourcing jobs, a stark contrast with Trump's scathing attacks on companies that send jobs overseas. A filing with the Department of Labor and Trump's criticism of outsourcing could be raised at Andrew Puzder's confirmation hearing, with Democrats questioning how well he can advocate for workers. Puzder's company, CKE Restaurants Inc., notified the government in August of 2010 that it was outsourcing its restaurant information technology division to the Philippines. Doing so, the agency found, "contributed importantly" to the layoffs of both CKE employees and those of an outside staffing firm at an Anaheim, California, facility. The agency's finding made workers eligible for federally funded benefits meant to dampen the impact of globalization on employees. "By outsourcing the function to a firm that employs hundreds of Help Desk specialists, CKE was able to improve the quality of service levels to their restaurants," the company said in a statement Wednesday to The Associated Press.

For many, the holiday season is a time of reflection, both from a personal and professional standpoint. I won't get too deep into politics and pop culture, but can't reflect on 2016 without thinking about the 2016 US presidential election and the Chicago Cub's finally winning the world series after 108 years. In my professional life I recall the challenges faced and overcome, the triumphs and even missed opportunities. Hopefully there were more triumphs than missed opportunities in your professional life, but reflecting on both can help prepare and potentially create your own opportunities in the new year – particularly if you work in digital commerce. If you're a digital commerce professional, either an online retailer or a B2B seller, last year saw a few milestones that are sure to impact your business in 2017 and beyond.

Growth hacking is common for startups to make unheard-of progress in building their business. Career Hacks can help Geek Girls and those who support them (yes, that's you too, Dad!) to excel in this typically male-dominated world. In her Day 2 Keynote at 17th Cloud Expo, Sandy Carter, IBM General Manager Cloud Ecosystem and Developers, and a Social Business Evangelist, discussed why this matters, how innovation will benefit, and how to foster an interest in tech. Learn why women need to take risks and embrace failure to give them the courage to crash through the glass ceiling. Sandy will share some of her own experiences and advice with five career hacks to help women get ahead, because talent is not enough.

This article is by Mark-Hans Richer, founder and president, Richer Inc., and former CMO of Harley-Davidson. It's post-CES season and naturally all the buzz is about cool, futuristic things that will change the world as we know it. And nothing is more buzzy than AI and Machine Learning (VR and AR are so 2016...). Most of those who strolled the wide alleys of Las Vegas' convention halls earlier this month--and especially the creative marketing community--buzzed about what they saw as cutting-edge cool, the zeitgeist that every creative person wants to be on the edge of. But what if the tech that is so attractive suddenly turned on its acolytes?