On July 20th, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) said on Monday Eastern Time that the company recently acquired TwentyBN, an artificial intelligence startup supported by Microsoft M12 (Microsoft’s venture capital fund), which is mainly dedicated to Yu develops virtual simulation AI that can observe and interact with humans.
In response to the acquisition, Qualcomm did not disclose the specific amount of the acquisition, and declined to comment on the TwentyBN product plan.
Roland Memisevic, founder and CEO of TwentyBN, will join Qualcomm’s artificial intelligence research and development base in Toronto along with other members of the team. Roland Memisevic is also the chief director of MILA, a well-known AI research organization in Montreal.
About TwentyBN
TwentyBN is a company dedicated to the research of computer vision and virtual simulation AI. These virtual simulation robots can interact with customers in real time. The initial target is for retailers. The company has also developed a mobile application called Fitness Ally. Computer vision technology or virtual simulation AI can observe, guide and motivate people to exercise through smartphones. However, it is not clear how attractive the product is in the market.
In addition to virtual simulation AI for commercial use, TwentyBN also released two large-scale video data sets and baseline codes for academic research to the public, and licensed these technologies and data to research laboratories and companies.
Qualcomm’s investment in artificial intelligence
For many years, Qualcomm has been investing in artificial intelligence algorithms and has embedded energy-efficient artificial intelligence processing engines in the smartphone chips of its Android devices.
These algorithms help to generate clearer photos, improve device security, help manage the connection between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, and implement functions such as voice-to-text translation in voice mail.
Alex Katouzian, senior vice president of Qualcomm’s Computing and Infrastructure Business Unit, said: “Today, artificial intelligence is everywhere in people’s lives, but no one really understands it. Even people every day They are all using these functions without realizing that artificial intelligence technology is behind them.”
Qualcomm believes that the emerging 5G network will make the connections between devices faster and more reliable, and enable data centers to have powerful computing capabilities, thereby bringing countless new functions of artificial intelligence.
Qualcomm regards artificial intelligence as “the core component of the company’s mobile platform.” Last month, the company released its Snapdragon 888 Plus smartphone processor, which claims to increase AI capabilities by 20%.