New Startup Sets Out to Bring Google-Style AI to the Masses

Richard Socher carries a resume that would seem to make him rather attractive to the giants of the internet. He just finished a PhD at Stanford University, where he explored a form of artificial intelligence called "deep learning," teaching machines to recognize images and understand natural language using software that operates a bit like the networks of neurons in the human brain. In recent years, the giants of net--including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Baidu--have seized on deep learning as a path to the future of automated computer systems, and they've been hiring researcher after researcher from the relatively small community of academics that specialize in this rather complicated technology. Socher says the big names have knocked at his door--"I had some very, very attractive offers"--but he turned them down. He wanted to start his own company, a company that would build deep learning technologies anyone can use, not just the internet giants. That company is called MetaMind, and it's backed by $8 million in funding from Saleforce.com