Nervana's 400M Buyout Reflects Key Tech Trend in Machine Learning Xconomy

On the day after Intel announced its acquisition of San Diego machine learning startup Nervana Systems, investor Steve Jurvetson told me he was feeling a sense of satisfaction about a call he made three years ago, and how it has been playing out. In a 2013 panel discussion at Silicon Valley's Churchill Club, the DFJ partner said "machine learning" was his pick as the most important tech trend to watch for the next three to five years. "Just about anything you've heard [about] at Google that sounds interesting and new is based on machine learning," Jurvetson said at the time. "Everywhere, technology is starting to percolate into an otherwise prosaic, non-tech industry--apply big data, apply machine learning--and revolutionize it." Just over a year later, Jurvetson led the Series A round of venture funding for Nervana Systems.