Asia-based accelerator program Zeroth is getting a major infusion of capital after digital media company Animoca Brands agreed to invest over $3 million into its businesses. Animoca is listed on the ASX with a market cap of around $40 million. It is best known for its range of mobile games which include the Doraemon and Garfield brands but it has been pushing to broaden its focus into artificial intelligence, blockchain and more. The relationship is not new. Animoca previously invested US$1 million (A$1.39 million) in Hong Kong-based Zeroth last December, and now it is following up to take a majority stake in Zeroth's operational business and also joining its fund as an LP. According to an announcement, Animoca is paying up to US$1.08 million (A$1.5 million) for a 67 percent share of Venture Classic Limited -- Zeroth's operational business -- in addition to a $2 million commitment to Zeroth's fund, which it will join as an LP.

Horizons Ventures, the VC firm founded by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-Shing, has made a rare early-stage investment after it backed AI startup Fano Labs. Horizons has invested in the likes of Facebook, Razer, Slack, Improbable, Spotify and more, and now it is putting undisclosed money into Fano Labs, which recently graduated AI accelerator program Zeroth. This deal also marks the firm's first investment in a Hong Kong-based company. Founded by academics, Fano Labs uses speech recognition and natural language processing to help out at call centers. No, the robots are taking those jobs (yet) but they are helping call centers themselves to run more efficiently.

In the west, AI and machine learning startups and tech giants of all stripes have been doing the M&A dance. Google, Apple and the like have been busy snapping up AI/ML startups and according to CB Insights, 30 companies in the space have been acquired since 2011 (five in this year alone). Activity in Asia has been decidedly quieter, with AI research and development mostly happening at the institutional and corporate level. In the region, it seems that Japan, South Korea and China are front runners in terms of AI activity. While Japan's Toyota is putting in $1 billion to ramp up AI research, mainly into autonomous vehicles, the South Korean government is also reportedly injecting $860 million into an AI research institute.

Imagine a day in the future when autonomous vehicles ply our roads. On the surface, these vehicles may bare a resemblance to cars of today, but underneath they will be bristling with high-resolution sensors and will rely on state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms to maneuver through the world. Sounds straightforward enough, but there is a problem. Barring an enormous breakthrough in communication systems, if we were to try to operate our autonomous cars through the current cloud computing infrastructure, the system would fail. The sheer volume and velocity of data generated would overload our networks and what's more, the latency and faultiness of remote computing would be dangerous.

Zeroth is an accelerator program that is out to fix the lack of talent, and investment options, for artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia, and it has just opened applications for its second program which takes place in Hong Kong in late July. "There's almost nothing that won't be touched by AI," high-profile investor -- and former Google China head -- Kaifu Lee said at our most recent China event. And yet, Asia's biggest firms still lag their U.S. peers on AI. Things are moving in the right direction but seemingly for a select few. Didi Chuxing recently set up a U.S.-based lab, but it appears some way behind Google and Uber.

Zeroth is an accelerator program that is out to fix the lack of talent, and investment options, for artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia, and it has just opened applications for its second program which takes place in Tokyo, Japan, in late July. "There's almost nothing that won't be touched by AI," high-profile investor -- and former Google China head -- Kaifu Lee said at our most recent China event. And yet, Asia's biggest firms still lag their U.S. peers on AI. Things are moving in the right direction but seemingly for a select few. Didi Chuxing recently set up a U.S.-based lab, but it appears some way behind Google and Uber.

Object AI automates the often laborious process of photo editing, allowing for quick and beautiful product photos. They stress that data should be a top focus for a machine learning company. "As an AI/ML company, you really need to believe in your company as a'data company'." Rather than using primarily or all publicly available datasets, building up a solid proprietary database is what sets them apart from competition. Designjar delivers high-quality, customized marketing graphics at low cost. "One of the most important things that we've gained is further validation that small businesses in the region needs what we are offering.

Just 5 months ago we started Zeroth . And this Sunday, September 25 will be the application deadline for my first cohort. I'm experienced with accelerator programs. Before Zeroth, I was at Techstars, first in New York and then starting the first international Techstars program in London alongside Jon Bradford and Jess Williamson. Through that experience, I worked with over 50 startups, managed over 120 mentors, and hired over 40 Associates and Hackstars.

There is a massive amount of hype that surrounds AI. How much is fact, how much is fiction? This event is to decipher the status of AI technology currently by providing a group of AI experts to present and chat on the subject. The event will begin with two introduction presentations, one by Azeem Azhar on "Why the Boom Now?" and the second by Christoph Auer-Welsbach on IBM Watson and City.ai. Following, a panel discussion moderated by Tak Lo will ensue on "The Status of AI in Asia Today" with Sinuhe Arroyo, Jason Chiu, and Jeffrey Broer.

A new startup factory focused on building artificial intelligence companies is launching in Hong Kong this November. Zeroth, as the accelerator is known, will offer 10 startups 20,000 each ( 15,000) in exchange for a 6% equity stake. Startups will also receive mentoring and office space. The accelerator is being launched by Tak Lo, who was previously a director at accelerator TechStars London. Speaking to Business Insider on Tuesday, Lo said that he plans to make Zeroth a success with the help of his AI connections in Europe.