IBM and MIT partner on artificial intelligence research

BOSTON— IBM is planning to spend $240 million over the next decade to create an artificial intelligence research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

MIT announced on Thursday the formation of the new MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. It will support joint research by IBM and MIT scientists.

Its mission will include advancing the hardware, software and algorithms used for artificial intelligence. It also will tackle some of the economic and ethical implications of intelligent machines and look at its commercial application for industries ranging from health care to cybersecurity. 


MIT President L. Rafael Reif said the new AI lab builds on a decades-long research relationship between IBM and MIT.

It will be based at the university and IBM’s nearby research center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. KGA

source: technology.inquirer.net

Artificial intelligence replaces workers in Japanese company

One of the fears revolving around the development of artificial intelligence rises from the possibility that it may eventually replace humans as a workforce. This fear has now become a reality for a number of employees working for a Japanese company.

To be exact, 34 employees were laid off by Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance and replaced by an artificial intelligence system that calculates payouts to policyholders, reports The Guardian.

The system is based on IBM’s Watson Explorer which the firm believes would increase productivity by 30 percent and help yield a return on its investment in less than two years.

Thanks to the Watson Explorer’s cognitive systems, the company will now be able to read thousands of medical certificates while factoring in length of hospital stay, medical history and surgical procedures to calculate payouts. Of course, all of these will still have to be approved by a member of the staff.

With Japan’s prowess in the realm of robotics, having an AI system takeover human work is, if anything, somewhat inevitable. The Nomura Research Institute filed a report that nearly all jobs in Japan could be done by robots by 2035. Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Apple stock surges after Warren Buffett’s hefty investment

Warren Buffet has been wary of making tech-related investments in the past because he reportedly doesn’t understand it, but apparently, the octogenarian investment guru has had a change of heart.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BH), the conglomerate run by Buffett, disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) that it purchased more than 9.8 million shares in Apple during the first quarter.

The move marks BH’s first investment with Apple, which has been steadily adding to its stake in IBM (International Business Machines) in recent years, as per reports from stock market website, MarketWatch.

Shortly after the purchase, the California tech giant’s stock experienced a 2 percent surge during premarket trades.

BH acquired its position at an average price of about $109 a share, the report said, while the value of the original investment,  $1.1 billion, has already dropped significantly due to the slow demand for iPhones in recent months.

The company also disclosed that it had sold over 99 percent of its holdings in Procter & Gamble, retaining just 315K shares in the multinational product manufacturer, to make room for the Apple investment.

BH also reportedly thinned its holdings of multi-national retail corporation, Walmart by 1.7%

Apple’s stock price, meanwhile, has since fallen to just above $90, meaning that Berkshire’s stake in Apple is now worth about $888 million.

BH is also reportedly eyeing  a takeover bid for the core assets of another struggling Internet company, Yahoo. Khristian Ibarrola

source: business.inquirer.net

IBM buys Internet marketing firm Silverpop

SAN FRANCISCO  - IBM on Thursday announced that it is buying Internet marketing firm Silverpop to enhance its portfolio of services for businesses out to target potential customers.

The technology veteran did not disclose financial terms of the deal to acquire Atlanta-based Silverpop, which specializes in pinpointing marketing messages based on real-time online activities from Web surfing to mobile device use or social networking.

"By engineering a solution that uniquely delivers personalization through automation, our team has solved one of the most complex challenges facing marketers today," Silverpop chief executive Bill Nussey said in a release.

Better targeted marketing translate into less annoying 'spam' messages, IBM reasoned. 


Silverpop and its easy-to-use tools will be added to IBM's suite of software offered as services in the Internet "cloud."

"Now, nearly any marketing, commerce or customer service professional from any business will have the ability to deliver the kinds of personalized customer experiences that make a measurable impact on the brand experience and the bottom line," IBM industry cloud services general manager Craig Hayman said in a release.

The take-over, if approved by regulators, was expected to be completed by mid-year.  — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

India asks IBM to pay US$866 million in outstanding tax

Indian tax authorities have asked IBM's Indian unit to pay 53.57 billion rupees (US$866.20 million) in outstanding income tax on fiscal 2009 revenue, media reported on Saturday.

In an emailed statement, an IBM India spokeswoman confirmed the company had received a tax notice, but declined to comment on the amount of tax liability or the nature of the notice.

India's Income Tax office issued the company a notice for under-reporting revenue for fiscal 2009 by the Indian unit, the Business Standard newspaper said, citing a tax official.

"IBM does not agree with the tax department's claims and will aggressively defend itself through the appropriate judicial process," the IBM India spokeswoman said.

IBM has been locked in a tax dispute with authorities related to its 2009 reporting year income, media have reported previously.

Officials at India's income tax office were not available for comment on Saturday.

In its latest 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), IBM said it had recorded US$394 million in prepaid income tax in India "at" September 30, 2013. IBM said a "significant portion" of that amount was paid in order to reserve its right to appeal previous tax assessments in India, which it said it expects to win in appeal.

The tax office notice was a draft assessment order which can be challenged by IBM before the appellate authorities, the Business Standard said

The case comes as India is pursuing tax claims against several multinationals, with Royal Dutch Shell, and Vodafone Plc among several firms involved in tax disputes in the country. – Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com