The problem with waiting for quantum computing to bring in the next wave of AI is that it's likely to arrive a lot slower than people would like. The next best options include increasing the speed of existing computers somehow -- but there's now an important added imperative: power-efficient systems that mean we don't burn up the planet while we get about conjuring the AI singularity into existence. Meanwhile, the speed of AI computation doubles every three or four months, meaning that standard semiconductor technologies are struggling to keep up. Several companies are now working on "photonics processing", which introduces light into the semiconductor realm which, for obvious "speed of light" reasons, literally speeds up the whole thing markedly. Salience Labs is an Oxford-based startup that thinks it has the answer, by combining an ultra-high-speed multi-chip processor that packages a photonics chip together with standard electronics.

A London machine learning tech company has secured multi-million pound investment to grow its international footprint and bolster its research and development capabilities. Shoreditch-based Seldon has raised £7.1m in a Series A funding round in order to develop new offices in both the UK, the US and Asia. Founded in 2014, Seldon specialises in cloud agnostic machine learning deployment, and works in partnership with brands such as Google, Red Hat, IBM and Amazon Web Services. The firm's suite of products aims to enhance machine learning deployment pipelines with explainability, governance and monitoring functions. Co-led by AlbionVC and Cambridge Innovation Capital, the round also saw participation from existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners and Global Brain, with follow-on investment from other existing shareholders.

As we continue to see a wide proliferation of artificial intelligence-based startups come to market, one of the persistent and big questions has been is whether an AI system will ever be able to make decisions as well as a human can. A startup out of Cambridge called Prowler.io is developing a new kind of decision-making platform based on probabilistic modelling, reinforcement learning and game theory that it believes may help the AI community answer that question with a "yes." Co-founded by two alums from another AI company, VocalIQ, which was acquired by Apple 13 months after launch -- Prowler.io today is announcing that it has raised £10 million ($13 million) to help it along the way. Led by new investor Cambridge Innovation Capital, the round also had participation from Atlantic Bridge Capital as well as previous investors Passion Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners and SG Innovate, who participated in Prowler's $2 million seed round last year. Artificial intelligence has become an increasingly crowded area.

Artificial intelligence startup PROWLER.io has raised £10m in Series A funding from Cambridge Innovation Capital and Atlantic Bridge Capital. The Cambridge startup has created a principled AI decision-making platform that makes it possible to perceive and affect the ways the likes of vehicles, drones, robots, characters in games and even people interact in complex environments. Its core technology is founded on a combination of probabilistic modeling, machine learning and game theory, which means its decisions are based on interpretable principles. Passion Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners and SGInnovate participated in the round alongside Atlantic Bridge Capital and lead investor Cambridge Innovation Capital. "This investment will allow us to expand our already world-leading team of academics with even greater research muscle and will enable us to take further steps to bring our technology to market," said PROWLER.io CEO Vishal Chatrath.

Audio Analytic has raised $5.5m to develop its AI-based sound recognition system for the connected home. The Series-A funding round has been led by Cambridge Innovation Capital led the round, with IQ Capital, Rockspring, Cambridge Angels and Martlet participating. It is hoped it will help company to scale and meet growing Smart Home OEM demand for its Artificial Audio Intelligence software, ai3. Founded in 2008, Audio Analytic has pioneered the development and commercialisation of intelligent sound recognition using advanced machine learning. Its innovative ai3 software enables devices to recognise significant sounds and take automated action.