Netease Technology News July 12, according to CNBC reported that Google’s parent company Alphabet has officially decided to set up a new venture subsidiary Gradient Ventures under Google, specifically to invest in early artificial intelligence (AI) startups. This is the latest sign that Alphabet is increasingly interested in AI. This technology, which is very important to the future, has attracted the attention of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. Axios reported the new plan in May but the details have not been disclosed.
Photo: Anna Patterson, founder and managing director of Google's venture capital firm Gradient Ventures
Anna Patterson, founder and managing director of Gradient Ventures, said that this year the company will invest 10 to 15 transactions, each of which is usually priced between 1 million and 8 million US dollars. She said: "If we really want to help AI evolve quickly, we need to be more involved in this community, which is why we decided to do so to promote innovation in the AI ​​field."
Patterson has worked at Google for 10 years and has worked on Android, search, advertising, and AI. However, Gradient Ventures is not only another source of Silicon Valley funding for startups, it is also a typical corporate venture capital group. Alphabet has set up GV (formerly Google Ventures, a startup that supports all stages) and CapitalG (formerly Google Capital, a company that mainly invests in late-stage businesses).
Companies with Gradient Ventures investment support will have the opportunity to receive Google's advanced AI training. Patterson said that they can also collaborate with Google engineers and get the help they need within the required time. Patterson said: "If you participate in the AI ​​conference now, when the startups talk, they will stand there and they will say some heroic stories about how they got talent. I realized that we can help in this area. â€
Specific details have not yet been fully announced, but the initial idea is to allow Google engineers to rotate for six months. Or if the project takes longer, the rotation time of these engineers can be extended appropriately. Of course, these Google engineers can also spread the time, while paying attention to the progress made by multiple AI startups.
Patterson was the co-founder of search startup Cuil and served as president for three years. She said that Google's engineers "hope to have an efficient breakthrough." Startups that have started to participate in this project include Aurima, Cape, Cogniac, and Dyndrite. Last month, Algorithmia announced its acceptance of Google’s AI Startup Group despite its undisclosed name.
Another benefit that can be enjoyed by companies investing in Gradient Ventures investment-backed companies is that they have access to a large amount of training data that Google accumulated while training its own AI system. This is a very important help for the remote control drone online service startup, Cape. Louis Gresham, co-founder and operations director of the company, said that this additional data will help improve Cape's safety and asset inspections.
Google is the sole investor of Gradient Ventures. PitchBook released data showing that GV invested 63 deals last year, while CapitalG invested 6. Ankit Jain and Shabih Rizvi are other partners of Gradient Ventures. While some start-ups will certainly welcome additional help from Google’s casual engineers, others may worry about damaging their valuable intellectual property.
In this regard, Patterson stressed that there will be an agreement that explicitly prohibits Google employees from bringing the intellectual property back to Google. She also said that experienced entrepreneurs welcomed Google's help. (small)
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