RPA, which covers AI and machine learning capabilities used to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that once needed humans, is coming. RPA stands for Robotic Process Automation, but don't be confused: it doesn't refer to R2D2, or any of the Kiva robots scurrying around the Amazon warehouse. RPA is language that covers the broad use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required humans to perform. Given the innovation it represents and the pain points it satisfies, RPA is quickly making its way towards a billion dollar revenue market. In recent months alone, leading startups in the space have raised over $300 million for their RPA systems.

Microsoft has announced that it is acquiring Bonsai – an AI startup focused on reinforcement learning – to expand its AI offerings. This move helps Microsoft in expanding its portfolio to autonomous systems and industrial control systems. Bonsai, an artificial intelligence startup based in Berkeley, California, aims to democratize AI by making the technology accessible to business decision makers. It is abstracting the complexity involved in implementing reinforcement learning. Mark Hammond, the co-founder, and CEO of Bonsai is not new to Microsoft.

Bonsai aims to make artificial intelligence technology easier to use in the real world. Microsoft has agreed to acquire Bonsai, a startup focusing on the hot field of artificial intelligence. Bonsai will become part of Microsoft's commercial AI offering through its own Project Brainwave foundation and its Azure cloud computing service, said Gurdeep Pall, Microsoft's corporate vice president of business AI, in a blog post Wednesday. "Bonsai has achieved some remarkable breakthroughs with their approach that will have a profound impact on AI development," he said. AI -- especially areas called machine learning and neural networks -- is an immensely important development in computing.

Microsoft on Wednesday said it has acquired Bonsai, a small artificial intelligence start-up. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Microsoft has increasingly bet on AI and has sought to commercialize ideas its own researchers come up with, a strategy also employed by Amazon, Google and other big technology companies. By buying Bonsai, Microsoft gains a product that has picked up some business use to help with the push. Bonsai's software draws on a trendy approach called reinforcement learning, which involves training systems to yield better outcomes through trial and error.

Influential has launched raised $12 million to expand its Social Intelligence platform to find influencers for brands with the help of artificial intelligence. The idea is to match influencers with brands who want to team up with the hottest social media attractions. Using IBM's Watson AI tech, Influential wants to make influencer marketing reach scale on the level that brand marketers need to get measurable results. Beverly Hills, California-based Influential uses three different application programming interfaces for Watson to predict whether Fortune 1000 brands will succeed with particular influencer-based marketing campaigns. Influential's Social Intelligence technology examines factors such as psychographic and contextual relevance for brands to identify their audience, profile, and personality based on social media analysis.

AI startup Wave Computing announced this week that it has acquired MIPS Tech, Inc. (formerly MIPS Technologies), a global leader in RISC processor Intellectual Property (IP) and licensable CPU cores. The acquisition will accelerate Wave's strategy of offering AI acceleration from the Datacenter to the Edge of Cloud by extending the company's products beyond AI systems to now also include AI-enabled embedded solutions. This is a major milestone not only in the history of our two companies, but also for the AI compute industry," said Derek Meyer, CEO of Wave Computing. "With working DPU commercial silicon and being in the final stages of bringing our first AI systems to market, now is the time for us to expand to the Edge of Cloud. The acquisition of MIPS allows us to combine technologies to create products that will deliver a single'Datacenter-to-Edge' platform ideal for AI and deep learning.

Chipmakers have been a red-hot sector for what now seems like forever. In the last five years, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has advanced nearly 200%, versus the S&P 500's total return of 90%. Perhaps the most notable chipmaker during this period is GPU-maker NVIDIA, as its stock increased 1,800%. This article originally appeared in The Motley Fool. Against that backdrop, you can forgive investors for overlooking other companies in the sector, which is exactly what has happened to Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN).

Influential announced today that it has raised $12 million in Series B funding. The funding came from existing investors Capital Zed, ECA Ventures, Paradigm Talent Agency, ROAR and Tech Coast Angels, as well as from Hollywood agency WME . Just a couple weeks ago, Influential said it was working with (and had raised money from) WME. The agency is the first to try out a new Influential product called Talent Pro, which gives agents access to social data around a broader pool of talent. Influential founder and CEO Ryan Detert said the product will allow WME -- and, in the future, other agencies -- to sweeten endorsement and promotional deals with more data and to "take an A-list celebrity… and now surround that person with 10 lookalike influencers who are not celebrities themselves." One of Influential's big selling points is its use of artificial intelligence (it's a developer partner with IBM Watson) to help brands and marketers find influencers who would be a good fit for their campaigns.

The Tender Offer referenced in this press release has not yet commenced. This communication is for information purposes only and is not an offer nor a solicitation of an offer to purchase, sell or exchange securities or a solicitation of a proxy from any stockholder. Subject to future developments, additional documents regarding the proposed transaction, such as a Schedule TO and a registration statement on Form S-4, may be filed with the SEC, which investors should read carefully if and when they become available because they contain important information. Investors may obtain a free copy of the documents filed by Recall Studios, when they are available, from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Recall Studios, its directors and certain of its executive officers may be deemed to be participants in a solicitation of proxies for the proposed transaction.

DirectView Holdings, Inc (DIRV) provides video surveillance solutions and teleconferencing products and services to businesses and organizations announced today that they are incorporating artificial intelligence into their video surveillance systems. This announcement comes a little over a week after they participated in the LD Micro Invitational. The show was just the start of 5 shareholder events that investors can anticipate in this summer. The remaining 4 events could include additional catalysts that such as more contracts/deals, positive quarterly financials, a website re-launch, and the up listing to the OTCQB. DirectView was one of 230 companies in the small-cap / micro-cap space which were allotted a 30-minute business presentation.