News
“Open the pod bay doors, Siri”: The evolution of the intelligent assistant
Things didn’t run smoothly when the astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey toyed with artificial intelligence. When asking to be let back inside the spaceship, supercomputer HAL eerily responded, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Thankfully, the personal assistants we use today are a little friendlier. Here, Roxanne Abercrombie of business automation … [Read more…]
Japan’s Softbank invests $500m in Improbable to create “VR cities”
London-based virtual reality firm Improbable has raised $500m (£388m) in one of the biggest investments in an early stage European technology business. Japan’s Softbank is backing Improbable in a funding round that values the business at more than $1bn. The deal gives SoftBank a “non-controlling” stake in the company, valuing it over the $1bn magical … [Read more…]