Global Big Data Conference

OctoML Inc., a fresh-faced machine learning startup recently spun off from the University of Washington, today announced that it has raised $3.9 million in funding to tackle the complexity of deploying artificial intelligence software. Setting up an AI model on a hardware system is much different than the typical application install. To maximize an algorithm's performance and power-efficiency, engineers must painstakingly optimize their code for the specific chip powering the host system. OctoML is looking to make the task less resource-intensive. The startup's 10-person team, led by Chief Executive Officer and University of Washington professor Luis Ceze (pictured, second from left), has developed an open-source toolkit called Apache TVM that can automate the model deployment process.