Twitter beefs up machine learning chops, buys Magic Pony

Twitter has bought London-based machine learning outfit Magic Pony Technology, as it moves to bolster its video and image-sharing output. The micro-blogging site has reportedly dropped 150 million ( 102 million) on Magic Pony, which offers tech that apparently improves low-quality pictures and videos on the fly by recognising patterns and textures. Twitter's latest buyout represents its third machine-learning acquisition in two years: it scooped up Madbits in 2014, and Whetlab a year later. "Machine learning is increasingly at the core of everything we build at Twitter," said the firm's chief Jack Dorsey. "Magic Pony's machine learning technology will help us build strength into our deep learning teams with world-class talent, so Twitter can continue to be the best place to see what's happening and why it matters, first, he added.