Microsoft affirms commitment to AI with acquisition of deep learning startup Maluuba

Microsoft today further proved its commitment to artificial intelligence through the acquisition of Maluuba. Maluuba -- a Montreal-based startup that impressed during TechCrunch's 2012 San Francisco Startup Battlefield competition -- uses natural language processing and machine learning to achieve a singular goal: achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI is the unicorn, at least so far, in the artificial intelligence and machine learning segments but if (once) achieved it'll lead to machines that can perform tasks at least as well as humans. Last year, Facebook's VP of Design thought the TNW Conference main stage was the best she'd ever been on. Currently the company taps the power of reinforcement learning (and deep learning) to train computer-based systems to perform general tasks like answering questions and making decisions.