AI start-ups being sold to Twitter, Microsoft and Apple for up to 10m per employee

The race to acquire artificial intelligence talent has inverted the "laws" of M&A, with pre-revenue AI firms such as UK-based Magic Pony being sold to Twitter for about 10m per employee. Magister Advisors, the global M&A advisory firm to the technology industry, notes that AI firms without revenues are more valuable than those with, as buyers look for pristine competitive advantage, and that Britain is amongst top tier for AI innovation. Twitter just paid 150m for 14-person Magic Pony, a UK-based AI visual search company barely anyone had heard of before the deal. At 10m per employee it marks a high water mark in AI for what is essentially a team acquisition. Magister has tracked 26 AI driven deals since 2014 in the US, Europe and Israel, 11 of which involved companies with less than 50 employees which were acquired largely, or entirely, for the team and capability.