Microsoft acquires Bonsai to help with its artificial intelligence push

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.