In December 2020, we published a list of 10 predictions about the world of artificial intelligence in the year 2021. With 2021 now coming to a close, let's revisit these predictions to see how things actually played out. There is much to learn from these retrospectives about the state and trajectory of AI today. As of the beginning of this year, no autonomous vehicle company had ever gone public. TuSimple, Embark and Aurora have all debuted on public markets this year.

Prediction #6: The U.S. federal government will adopt a more proactive policy approach to AI in 2021 ... [ ] under President Biden. Below are 10 bold predictions about what will unfold in the world of artificial intelligence in 2021, from academic research to startups to capital markets to regulation. To keep ourselves honest, we will revisit these predictions in December 2021 to grade how we did. Autonomous vehicle developers like Waymo and Cruise have massive ongoing cash needs. Public market investors are thirsty for IPOs.

Prediction #6: The U.S. federal government will adopt a more proactive policy approach to AI in 2021 ... [ ] under President Biden. Below are 10 bold predictions about what will unfold in the world of artificial intelligence in 2021, from academic research to startups to capital markets to regulation. To keep ourselves honest, we will revisit these predictions in December 2021 to grade how we did. Autonomous vehicle developers like Waymo and Cruise have massive ongoing cash needs. Public market investors are thirsty for IPOs.

Blue Prism yesterday announced the acquisition of Thoughtonomy, a SaaS-based integrated automation platform with Blue Prism RPA baked into its core. After six years and much flirting with potential suitors, Terry Walby's Thoughtonomy successfully exits into the welcoming arms of Blue Prism. This was always the logical end-game for Terry's business, which he bootstrapped from day 1 and tirelessly pushed at the automation world. HFS was particularly inspired with the firms work at the UK's National Health Services (NHS) (which you can read here). Essentially Thoughtonomy is RPA cognitive capabilities cloud.

The research arm of the investment bank Citi released a report this morning with seven potential merger and acquisition targets for Apple. Tops on the list is Neflix, at an assessed 40% likelihood, Citi says. Elon Musk's Tesla, on the other hand, is only 5% likely. The full list of acquisition targets includes three media firms, three game developers, and, of course, one car manufacturer. Disney and Hulu are the media firms joining Netflix, while Activision, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two are the gaming companies.

People pass by a T-Mobile store in the Brooklyn borough of New York June 4, 2015. NEW YORK T-Mobile US Inc is the likeliest acquisition target as media companies seek a wireless partner following AT&T Inc's proposed 85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner Inc, analysts said. AT&T announced the deal late on Saturday, stoking urgency in the telecoms and media sectors, where carriers facing a saturated wireless market are looking for content to attract mobile users and producers of shows and movies are seeking digital distribution. T-Mobile took most of the wireless industry's subscriber and revenue growth in the third quarter. Its strong balance sheet and fast-growing wireless business makes it an attractive target for a pay-TV or media company, analysts said.