BenevolentAI has secured $115 million in funding to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in the development of new medical treatments. On Wednesday, the startup said the cash injection came from both new and existing investors at a pre-money valuation of $2 billion. Founded in 2003, the British company has now raised $202 million to date, according to Crunchbase. Investors include Woodford Investment Management, Lundbeck, and Lansdowne Partners. The identity of some investors has not been disclosed.

In the ongoing race to build the best and smartest applications that tap into the advances of artificial intelligence, a startup out of London has raised a large round of funding to double down on solving persistent problems in areas like healthcare and energy. BenevolventAI announced today that it has raised $115 million to continue developing its core "AI brain" as well as different arms of the company that are using it specifically to break new ground in drug development and more. This venture round values the company at $2.1 billion post-money, its founder and executive chairman Ken Mulvaney confirmed to TechCrunch. Investors in this round include previous backer Woodford Investment Management, and while Mulvaney said the company was not disclosing the names of any other investors, he added it was a mix of family offices and some strategic backers, with a majority coming from the U.S., but would not specify any more. Notably, BenevolentAI does not have any backing from more traditional VCs, which more generally have been doubling down on investments in AI startups.

SenseTime Group has raised $600 million from Alibaba Group Holding (baba) and other investors at a valuation of more than $3 billion, becoming the world's most valuable artificial intelligence startup. The company, which specializes in systems that analyze faces and images on an enormous scale, said it closed a Series C round in recent months in which Singaporean state investment firm Temasek Holdings and retailer Suning.com. SenseTime didn't outline individual investments, but Alibaba was said to have sought the biggest stake in the three-year-old startup. With the deal, SenseTime has doubled its valuation in a few months. Backed by Qualcomm (qcom), it underscores its status as one of a crop of homegrown firms spearheading Beijing's ambition to become the leader in AI by 2030.

Voicera today announced it has acquired Wrappup to expand its meeting assistant Eva to the AI note-taking app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Voicera has raised $20 million from some of the biggest names at the intersection of enterprise and AI, including Microsoft Ventures, Cisco Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and GV, formerly Google Ventures. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cisco and Microsoft both shared plans last year to bring Spark Assistant and Cortana into the workplace and meeting rooms. With millions of G Suite customers and Alexa expanding into the workplace as well, Google Assistant may join other tech companies that want to bring their assistants into offices and meeting rooms.

International Business Machines Corp. rode the success of old technology to big gains at the end of last year, but investors will be looking for success from newer businesses in order to believe in Big Blue's future. IBM IBM, -0.86% is scheduled to report earnings on Tuesday after the close of markets. Key points will be the potential impact of China tariffs and the company's gross margins. Most important might be the company's services revenue, which is far behind systems revenue growth despite comprising newer efforts. Don't miss: IBM broke a long losing streak thanks to some of its oldest technology Compared with the year-ago quarter, analysts expect technology services and cloud-platform revenue to rise 0.8% to $8.28 billion and cognitive-solutions revenue to rise 3.8% to $4.22 billion.

The artificial intelligence industry just recorded its largest funding round in history. SenseTime, a Chinese startup that specializes in facial recognition, announced Monday that it has raised $600 million in Series C funding--making it the most highly valued artificial intelligence startup in the world. The company reportedly has a valuation higher than $4 billion, according to Bloomberg. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group led the round. SenseTime provides facial-recognition technology used in various fields from security to fintech.

The artificial intelligence industry just recorded its largest funding round in history. SenseTime, a Chinese startup that specializes in facial recognition, announced Monday that it has raised $600 million in Series C funding--making it the most highly valued artificial intelligence startup in the world. The company reportedly has a valuation higher than $4 billion, according to Bloomberg. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group led the round. SenseTime provides facial-recognition technology used in various fields from security to fintech.

SenseTime Group Ltd. has raised $600 million from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and other investors at a valuation of more than $3 billion, becoming the world's most valuable artificial intelligence startup. The company, which specializes in systems that analyze faces and images on an enormous scale, said it closed a Series C round in recent months in which Singaporean state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte and retailer Suning.com SenseTime didn't outline individual investments, but Alibaba was said to have sought the biggest stake in the three-year-old startup. With the deal, SenseTime has doubled its valuation in a few months. Backed by Qualcomm Inc., it underscores its status as one of a crop of homegrown firms spearheading Beijing's ambition to become the leader in AI by 2030.

Traditional and new-school retailers alike are using AI and robotics to automate various parts of the retail chain, from manufacturing to last-mile delivery. Retail is under pressure to crack the AI code. After all, corporations in every industry are scrambling to adapt and integrate artificial intelligence into their products -- and retail is no exception. Learn how Walmart, Amazon, Sephora, Zara, and other retailers are using AI to reinvent the brick-and-mortar store. For traditional retail giants, this means entering the playing field with the likes of e-commerce behemoths Amazon and Alibaba, both of which are leveraging big data and powerful AI algorithms to transform the retail space. In addition to fierce competition, the need for a change in strategy is being underscored by the record rates at which many US retailers are shutting down. In 2017 alone, 21 retail chains applied for bankruptcy, including high-profile names like RadioShack, Toys R' Us, and Aerosoles.

Corrindus has raised $118 million and installed 33 systems to date. Playground Global led the round, with participation from Sony Innovation Fund and existing investor Robotics Hub. Agility's two-legged Cassie robot is already deployed in 6 research institutes. Agility is planning on using Cassie for everything from deliveries to facility inspections to hazardous search-and-rescue operations.