Uber Creates AI Lab, Buying Startup Geometric Intelligence

Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to buy startup Geometric Intelligence Inc. to help the ride-hailing company create a new artificial-intelligence research lab. The startup had 15 employees and was developing new machine-learning techniques inspired by cognitive science that rely on less data. Chief Executive Officer Gary Marcus, an author and professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, will head the new research effort, called Uber AI Labs. The lab will report to Jeff Holden, Uber's chief product officer. It will try to improve the algorithms Uber uses to match drivers with passengers, and seek new techniques for building self-driving cars. An Uber spokesman declined to say how much the company spent to acquire the startup.