Amazon and Microsoft unveil 'Gluon' neural network technology, teaming up on machine learning

Microsoft and Amazon, which surprised the tech world with a partnership between their Cortana and Alexa virtual assistants, are back at it again. Amazon Web Services and Microsoft's AI and Research Group this morning announced a new open-source deep learning interface called Gluon, jointly developed by the companies to let developers "prototype, build, train and deploy sophisticated machine learning models for the cloud, devices at the edge and mobile apps," according to an announcement just released by the companies. Deep learning involves training a computer to recognize patterns or unlock insights based on a set of rules for parsing a massive pool of data. As you might expect, this is an extremely complicated and time-consuming process that requires a fair amount of skill. Cloud companies offer ways to speed up the process, but a fair amount of skill is required to get meaningful results.