This machine-learning software has transformed Google, and the rest of the world may be next

Early in 2015, artificial-intelligence researchers at Google created an obscure piece of software called TensorFlow. Two years later the tool, which is used in building machine- learning software, underpins many future ambitions of Google and its parent company, Alphabet. TensorFlow makes it much easier for the company's engineers to translate new approaches to artificial intelligence into practical code, improving services such as search and the accuracy of speech recognition. But just months after TensorFlow was released to Google's army of coders, the company also began offering it to the world for free. That decision could be seen as altruistic or possibly plain dumb, but nearly two years on, the benefits to Google of its great AI giveaway are increasingly evident.