Why investors are throwing heaps of money at machine learning – VentureBeat - Business - Jeff Catlin, Lexalytics

If you're a whip-smart investor with big bucks to spend, chances are you've got your fingers in the AI pie. It's a market where $50 million is chump change, so if you really want to play with the high rollers you'll need more room on the check. Sentient's up to $144 million in an AI platform play, while Vicarious Systems has thrown $67 million at AI algorithms. So it's pretty fair to say that if you're a bot, you're going to enjoy a top-notch private education. What's made machine learning and AI the hot stuff du jour?