News
Venture capital firms investment into the UK's AI sector reached a record high $1.3bn (£998m) in 2018, almost as much as the rest of Europe combined. In comparison, French AI startups raised $400m and Germany AI startups raised $300m.
The news comes as business secretary Greg Clark and digital secretary Jeremy Wright have announced a nationwide programme of industry-funded AI postgraduate courses, as well as £110m from the government.The move aims to drive up skills in the AI sector, with course places funded by businesses including Google’s Deepmind, BAE Systems and Cisco.
The government will also fund a series of AI research fellowships at the Alan Turing Institute - Alan Turing is considered the father of AI - and new PhDs will be created at dedicated AI centres for doctoral training across the country.
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Lego is planning on debuting its first line of building blocks that work with a mobile app to show AR imagery. The "Lego Hidden Side" app will let kids see virtual ghosts in a series of eight haunted building sets that will be available from August.
Toy creators have faced challenges from the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets over the past decade, but Lego's AR-enhanced building blocks may give children a way to combine their screen usage with physical play.
The AR feature will be used to help boost brand awareness and drive engagement and sales.
The use of AR as a mobile gaming feature was first popularised by the app Pokémon Go, which launched in July 2016. The app was downloaded more than 750 million times in its first year. Niantic, the company that co-developed the game, is working on releasing a Harry Potter: Wizards Unite app based on the hit children's books by J.K. Rowling later this year.
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Amazon Go, the cashier-free store, is set to expand outside the US with a new location of central London.
There are currently 10 stores located across the US with the first one opening in Seattle in 2018. Other stores are located in San Francisco and Chicago.
Amazon has expressed its desire to open over 3000 stores by 2021 although it has been gently expanding thus far.
Tesco and Sainsburys have already tested cashierless stores in London following the announcement of the first Amazon Go, so this should help make the adoption of Amazon Go more seamless.
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Anna Money, a Cardiff-based financial admin startup, has managed to raise £8.5m in funding.
The app has over 3,500 users and helps small businesses and smart services with admin, invoices and payroll services, with tax reminders an upcoming feature.
The company intends to use the funds to grow its customer experience team and to continue to expand its product offering.
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A new report has suggested that smart speakers, such as Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, could be used by the NHS to analyse patients conversations and spot if they are potentially suicidal.
Other technological strategies could include the use of VR to help reduce pain and distress for wounded patients, and treat anxiety, phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder. Trials are in already in process in Oxford where patients can use VR goggles to help them overcome a phobia of heights.
The report also calls for the use of robots in surgery to be expanded, while they could also automate repetitive tasks such as dispensing of pharmaceuticals.
According to the report if GPs implemented phones or Skype for diagnoses and treatment of patients this could free up to 5.7 million hours of their time across England annually.
Issues raised included the risk of patients being manipulated by technology as well as misuse of the data gathered. As such processes would need to be in place to regularly regulate and review the technology implemented.
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Mojo Mortgages, an online mortgage broker, has successfully secured £7m in Series A funding. Backers included NVM Private Equity, Maven Capital Partners as well as other investors.
The Manchester-based startup provides customers with algorithm-powered mortgage recommendations from over 90 lenders and offers free advice on their best option in under 15 minutes, before handling the entire application on their behalf.
Mojo, which had already raised £800k in an earlier seed round, will use the funds to continue its growth and innovation efforts.
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Starling Bank, a leading digital banking platform, has raised £60 million in a Series C funding round led by Merian Global Investors.
The challenger bank has also raised a further £15 million from its existing investor, bringing the total to £75 million.
The funding will be used to support Starling’s pioneering financial products in retail and SME banking as well as banking services in the UK. It will also enable the digital bank to accelerate its global expansion, focusing primarily on Europe.
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Facebook, the social media behemoth, has bought visual shopping startup GrokStyle.
The social network purchased at least four companies last year, such as startups that developed messaging and AI technologies.
Facebook said GrokStyle will contribute to the company’s AI capabilities, which have been a key focus for the social media giant for the past few years.
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QVC, the shopping channel, has announced that is launching a new and updating its logo.
Q Anytime is an app available on the iPhone. It is intended to complement the company's flagship app with a feed of shoppable videos, which are presented on demand in 5 to 8-minute segments. Customers can tap on a video to buy a product or get more details. Customers can also customise their feed by category or build a playlist by liking specific videos.
Their new logo conveys QVC's evolving character, as it features a square representing the many screens through which customers connect with QVC, as well as a re-imagined Q in a sleek, mobile-friendly format.
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Spotify, the online music streaming platform, has announced that it has bought two podcast networks - Gimlet and Anchor - in undisclosed deals.
The company has also stated that it plans to spend a further $400-$500 million on multiple acquisitions in 2019 to enable it to expand within the podcast sector.
The firm believes that by increasing its podcast offering it is not only drawing in more customers who want to listen to podcasts, but who also go on to listen to music on the platform, thereby boosting the amount of time people spend on Spotify.
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