Google Powers Up AI, Machine Learning Accelerator for Healthcare

With the mandate of fostering an ecosystem of applied machine learning startups, Google on Wednesday revealed the first four companies to join its Launchpad Studio and said this initial track is aimed squarely at healthcare and biotech. It--s no secret that Google and rivals Amazon, Apple, IBM and Microsoft are eyeing the $2.7 trillion healthcare market as fertile ground for technological disruption--though it appears Google is the first of the titans to formally establish a program for working with startups specific to the industry. The first four startups, Augmedix, BrainQ, Byteflies and Cytovale, get what Google deftly described as --equity-free support,-- and access to Google mentors, community engagement as well as datasets and testing environments for prototyping, as examples. Augmedix is working to minimize the time doctors spend on a computer during patient visits by leveraging Google Glass to automate scribing and collect audio, video and written notes then use natural language processing to help clinicians make sense of that information. Cantor described BrainQ as a research project concentrating on taking advances in neural networks and applying machine learning to signal processing to develop customized treatment protocols for people who cannot walk anymore, whether because of a stroke, spinal or brain injuries.