We are now free to share some of our perspectives on the company and its mission to accelerate the future with custom chips for deep learning. I'll share a recap of the Nervana story, from an investor's perspective, and try to explain why machine learning is of fundamental importance to every business over time. In short, I think the application of iterative algorithms (e.g., machine learning, directed evolution, generative design) to build complex systems is the most powerful advance in engineering since the Scientific Method. Machine learning allows us to build software solutions that exceed human understanding, and shows us how AI can innervate every industry. By crude analogy, Nervana is recapitulating the evolutionary history of the human brain within computing -- moving from the logical constructs of the reptilian brain to the cortical constructs of the human brain, with massive arrays of distributed memory and iterative learning algorithms. Not surprisingly, the founders integrated experiences in neuroscience, distributed computing, and networking -- a delightful mélange for tackling cognitive computing.

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 03: The Apple logo is displayed on the back of an iPhone on August 3, 2016 in London, England. Apple is continuing to make inroads into artificial intelligence. The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech behemoth bought Turi, a machine learning platform, for 200 million, according to sources at GeekWire. Apple would not confirm the move to USA TODAY, but said the company buys smaller technology companies "from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans." The Cupertino-based tech behomouth appears to be coming to terms with slumping demand for the iPhone by expanding into other markets, including artificial intelligence.

Algorithms, we all know them. If you're not technically inclined, you may tangentially know that they have something to do with coding. If you ARE technically inclined, you know that they are what makes our IT-based world go round. Well, according to one company, they can do a whole lot more. Zebra Medical Vision, an organization dedicated to creating machine learning diagnosis mechanisms, claims to be able to save over 500,000 Americans every year.

Around October 2015, Google announced it would be using artificial intelligence to help deliver its search results. This machine-learning AI system is called RankBrain. Since RankBrain uses machine-learning AI, it learns by itself, consuming web pages and search queries by the second with the intent of delivering the best and most relevant results to users. You need to understand that this is an addition to Google's algorithm and not an algorithm update such as Hummingbird, Penguin, etc. In fact, it is reported that RankBrain is now Google's third most important signal contributing to search queries and results.

Intel's acquisition yesterday of Nervana, a San Diego, CA-headquartered, two-year old machine learning specialist, signals the chip giant's wager that artificial intelligence (AI) will spark the next big...

Firefighters undergo rigorous training before responding to their first call but they still aren't superhuman. In a burning building there's a difference between what someone can sense in the surroundings and all the environmental data around him. Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are working to fill that gap with an artificial intelligence system that can collect relevant information from the environment and relay it back to firefighters in real time. AUDREY -- or, the Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction, and sYnthesis -- is integrated with the Internet of Things, which lets the system connect to wearable sensors and head-mounted displays on each firefighter, communicating data about temperatures, hazardous gases, and even GPS locations from one team member to another. "When first responders are connected to all these sensors, the AUDREY agent becomes their guardian angel," Edward Chow, manager of JPL's Civil Program Office and program manager for AUDREY, said in a press release.

We hear from Apple CEO Tim Cook during the company's quarterly earnings calls, but lately the leader of Apple has been opening up in ways that non-analysts can understand. First he sat down with Fast Company, and on Monday an in-depth Washington Post interview on Cook's 5-year anniversary as CEO offered more insight into the company's past failures and future surprises. A lot has changed in the last five years, Cook told the Post. Steve Jobs passed away just six weeks after Cook took the reins, which came as a shock, he said. Apple expanded its product lineup after Jobs's death, and some of those devices were conceived of and developed entirely without Jobs's input.

After my second year at Stanford, I got an internship at the National Institutes of Health, doing neuroscience research with TMS. I was very excited about it, TMS is a technology that uses magnetic fields to influence electrical activity inside a person's brain without having to cut their head open. I had read a lot about it and thought it was the coolest thing ever. After I got there, it turned out to be actually kind of boring. The first time you get to zap someone's brain, it is indeed very exciting.

Have you ever talked to your computer or smartphone? Maybe you've seen a coworker, friend or relative do it. It was likely in the form of a question, asking for some basic information, like the location of the best nearby pizza place or the start time of tonight's sporting event. Soon, however, you may find yourself having entirely different interactions with your device – even learning its name, favorite color and what it thinks about while you are away. It is now possible to interact with computers in ways that seemed beyond our dreams a few decades ago. Witness the huge success of applications as diverse as Siri, Apple's voice-response personal assistant, and, more recently, the Pokémon Go augmented reality video game.

Data is the fuel that drives the machine learning algorithmic engines and ultimately provides the business value. In his session at Cloud Expo, Ed Featherston, a director and senior enterprise architect at Collaborative Consulting, will discuss the key considerations around quality, volume, timeliness, and pedigree that must be dealt with in order to properly fuel that engine. Speaker Bio Ed Featherston is a director/senior enterprise architect at Collaborative Consulting. He brings 35 years of technology experience in designing, building, and implementing large complex solutions. He has significant expertise in systems integration, Internet/intranet, and cloud technologies, Ed has delivered projects in various industries, including financial services, pharmacy, government and retail.