Artificial Intelligence
Labelbox Raises $110 Million Series D Led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Labelbox, the leading training data platform for enterprise machine learning applications, today announced the closing of a $110 million Series D funding led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. Snowpoint Ventures and Databricks Ventures also participated along with previous investors B Capital Group, Andreessen Horowitz and Catherine Wood, CEO and founder of ARK Invest. To date, Labelbox has raised $189 million in venture funding.
“Labelbox has become a complete AI training data platform for enterprises,” said Manu Sharma, co-founder and CEO. “Our customers use Labelbox as their data engine, leveraging active learning and facilitating human supervision to relentlessly improve AI model performance.”
Labelbox’s software platform is designed to facilitate the entire training data iteration loop that improves ML model performance. It integrates a collection of tools to annotate data and train AI models, conduct error analysis to identify data on which the model performs poorly, refine annotations found to be incorrect or ambiguous, supplement data through augmentation or additional data collection and then test the model and repeat the error analysis in a continuous loop that improves model performance.
“It’s not just about annotation,” said Brian Rieger, Labelbox co-founder and President. “We cover this entire iteration loop on a single platform, continually optimizing the data with a focus on getting more and more efficient over time.”
To build real-world applications, machine learning teams need robust infrastructure that can easily import raw data into labeling workflows, allow enterprises to manage widely distributed annotation teams, transparently monitor quality, adjust for bias, and export high-quality training data to machine learning models. To deploy accurate models and drive optimal business outcomes, training data must be constantly improved. Additionally, Labelbox offers Boost – a service that features a world-class workforce and dedicated labeling expertise to ensure customers find success quickly on the platform and then continually become more efficient and effective.
“The investment in Labelbox – the first as Databricks Ventures – felt like a natural fit given the strong existing partnership between our two companies,” said Andrew Ferguson, Head of Databricks Ventures. “We started Databricks Ventures to support companies extending the lakehouse ecosystem and Labelbox’s collaborative training data platform allows companies to quickly produce structured data from unstructured data, and train AI on unstructured data on the Databricks Lakehouse. With this investment, we are looking forward to supporting Labelbox and our rapidly growing number of joint customers with streamlined, powerful capabilities.”
Labelbox automates the process with a web-based platform that pre-labels data and allows enterprises to collaborate easily across databases, BPOs and labeling services regardless of time zone or geography. Labelbox customers report accelerating iteration cycles by up to 800 percent using the platform and cutting in half the time it takes to push new models into production.
“Data is the new oil and labelling is one of the most essential parts of the refinery,” said Robert Kaplan, Investment Director at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “We believe that Labelbox has the most advanced end-to-end training data platform focused on collaboration, automation and data quality that simplifies the time-intensive process of data labelling, allowing technical resources to focus on performance and getting AI to production faster. We are delighted to partner with Manu Sharma and the team to support their mission to democratize access to AI development.”
“Artificial intelligence training costs are falling dramatically every year and machine learning is transforming the economy,” said Doug Philippone of Snowpoint Ventures. “We believe the value of Labelbox is going to scale in line with the market as they have built a learning environment for AI that will help companies get far better at AI far faster.”
The $110 million raised by Labelbox builds on its breakout success in providing Global 2000 customers with a full-cycle, iterative approach to machine learning, eliminating the bottleneck in getting AI into core products and services. Enterprises are now able to unlock the value in their proprietary data, allowing them in turn to differentiate their products and create new revenue with AI. Labelbox is currently being used by industries as diverse as agriculture, insurance, healthcare, media, and military intelligence with customers that include ArcelorMittal, Chegg, Genentech and Warner Brothers.
About Labelbox
Founded in 2018 and based in San Francisco, Labelbox is the world’s leading training data platform for machine learning applications. Rather than requiring companies to build their own expensive and incomplete homegrown tools, Labelbox created the world’s first collaborative training data platform that acts as a command center for data scientists to collaborate with dispersed annotation teams. Better ways to manage data leads to higher quality training data, more accurate machine-learning models, and faster iterations to drive business growth. Labelbox has raised capital from leading venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, B Capital Group, Databricks Ventures, Gradient (Google’s AI venture firm), Kleiner Perkins, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and more. Follow us on Twitter at @labelbox.
Editorial contact:
Lonn Johnston for Labelbox
[email protected]
+1 650.219.7764
Artificial Intelligence
Jean-Michel Jarre is world’s first passenger to take off in KleinVision’s flying AirCar
PIESTANY, Slovakia, April 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Godfather of electronic music and innovator Jean-Michel Jarre becomes world’s first passenger to take off in KleinVision’s flying AirCar in preparation for Starmus Opening Concert also Featuring Sir Brian May of Queen.
KleinVision’s AirCar took to the skies with electronic music pioneer, Jean-Michel Jarre as its first passenger this month, signaling a new era of transportation innovation. AirCar, which received the Certificate of Airworthiness in January 2022, has already logged an impressive 130 flight hours and over 520 takeoffs.
“It is like being in a Jules Verne book, but for real! One second you speak to the driver, and next, you are up there in the air – an amazing experience!” said Jean-Michel Jarre after completing two flights in the AirCar at Piestany international airport.
The artist’s excitement was palpable as he marveled at the futuristic experience, perfectly reflecting the theme of his upcoming Starmus opening concert, ‘The Bridge from the Future’, powered by ESET, global digital security leader.
“AirCar addition to Starmus is a fantastic complement to our festival experience,” said Garik Israelian, PhD, astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands and co-founder of Starmus, alongside Sir Brian May. “It mirrors the exhilarating journey we embark on, starting with Jean-Michel and Brian’s monumental concert that propels us to new heights, soaring alongside artists and inspiring thinkers like Jane Goodall, and coming back to Earth with the wisdom of astronaut Chris Hadfield once the festival concludes.”
“AirCar will not only be part of the Starmus opening concert, it will also be showcased at Starmus Camp, which, together with the Stephen Hawking Medal Ceremony and nine Nobelists giving lectures, will turn Bratislava into the world capital of science.”
Film director Todd Douglas Miller, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker of Apollo 11, captured the historic moment as he filmed the AirCar soaring at 2500 feet. “It looks impossible. It looks like it’s doing something it should not be doing!” Miller remarked, highlighting the groundbreaking nature of AirCar.
Professor Stefan Klein, inventor and pilot, expressed his pride as Jean-Michel became the inaugural passenger on the groundbreaking aircraft. “From dreams to reality, we have taken flight together with Jean-Michel, opening a new era of transportation with a touch of magic,” said Klein, moments before completing another successful intercity flight from Piestany to Nitra.
Anton Zajac, co-founder of KleinVision and ESET, lauded the advancement the AirCar represents in blurring the lines between roads and skies. “We are bridging the gap between the road and the sky, giving cars the freedom they symbolized 50 years ago,” Zajac remarked.
The flights took place in Piestany, Slovakia, and marked a momentous step towards a future where terrestrial and aerial travel seamlessly converge.
To see the short footage of the flight, click here.
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2395057/Klein_Vision.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/jean-michel-jarre-is-worlds-first-passenger-to-take-off-in-kleinvisions-flying-aircar-302124769.html
Artificial Intelligence
SUPCON Unveils Groundbreaking Products in June, Including the World’s First UCS
HANGZHOU, China, April 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — In June, SUPCON (688777) is poised to launch two groundbreaking products in Singapore: the world’s first UCS (Universal Control System) and TPT (Time-Series Pre-trained Transformer), the first time-series model in the process industry.
UCS, a revolutionary innovation from SUPCON, is set to revolutionize the 50-year-old DCS architecture, promising to eliminate traditional control cabinets.
TPT, as the pioneering time-series model in the process industry, will replace numerous traditional industrial apps and overcome unsolved industrial challenges.
SUPCON, founded in 1999, is a prominent global provider of intelligent manufacturing solutions for process industries. The company is committed to the development and application of AI technology through the integration of advanced products and extensive industry know-how. With a global customer exceeding 30,000, SUPCON’s products address all needs across over 50 countries and regions, encompassing sectors like oil & gas, refinery & petrochemical, chemical, etc. Aiming at high-quality and sustainable development, SUPCON is on the way to facilitate the automation and intelligentization of the global process industry.
In 2023, SUPCON’s core products, the Distributed Control System (DCS) and the Safety Instrumented System (SIS), both claimed the top market share position in China, achieving respective figures of 37.8% and 33.7%. Notably, the DCS has maintained the No.1 position for a consecutive 13th year.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/supcon-unveils-groundbreaking-products-in-june-including-the-worlds-first-ucs-302125406.html
Artificial Intelligence
Automation Anywhere Appoints Tim McDonough as Chief Marketing Officer to Drive Global Awareness and Growth for the Leader in AI-Powered Automation
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Automation Anywhere, a leader in AI-powered automation solutions, announced that AI marketing leader Tim McDonough joined the company as chief marketing officer (CMO). McDonough, who brings more than two decades of experience in driving growth across startups and Fortune 100 companies, will shape and lead Automation Anywhere’s global brand and growth strategies and go-to-market functions.
McDonough joins Automation Anywhere from Intel, where he recently served as vice president and CMO of AI and data centers. McDonough oversaw the transformation of the $14 billion-plus business unit, while guiding the company’s strategy and positioning in the AI market.
“Tim joins us at an incredible time in our journey as we experience a new phase of growth ignited by the transformative benefits of our generative AI process automation models that are transforming our customers’ businesses,” said Mihir Shukla, CEO, Automation Anywhere. “Tim’s impressive experience will be instrumental in our efforts to empower organizations to achieve amazing results by automating more than forty percent of workflows and tasks, and saving millions, even billions, of dollars.”
Prior to Intel, McDonough held executive roles at leading technology companies, including Unity Technologies, Qualcomm, and Microsoft. McDonough’s track record of enterprise and C-suite marketing spans developed and emerging technologies, including AI tools, applications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, and developer ecosystems.
“I’m looking forward to helping lead Automation Anywhere through its next phase growth as it helps companies transform their business,” said McDonough. “Seeing how customers are innovating with Automation Anywhere’s platform demonstrated to me the incredible market opportunity we have. When you combine automation with generative AI, customers can now go beyond task or departmental impact and automate at an enterprise level, empowering companies and employees to do their very best work.”
McDonough’s appointment comes at a time of remarkable opportunity for the company, marked by Automation Anywhere’s recent record-breaking fourth-quarter performance, continued profitability, and strong outlook in its current fiscal year. Last quarter, Automation Anywhere reported 50 percent growth in large enterprise deals from the previous quarter, highlighting the company’s momentum and strong market position.
About Automation Anywhere
Automation Anywhere is the leader in AI-powered process automation that puts AI to work across organizations. The company’s Automation Success Platform is powered with generative AI and offers process discovery, RPA, end-to-end process orchestration, document processing, and analytics, with a security and governance-first approach. Automation Anywhere empowers organizations worldwide to unleash productivity gains, drive innovation, improve customer service, and accelerate business growth. The company is guided by its vision to fuel the future of work by unleashing human potential through AI automation. Learn more at http://www.automationanywhere.com/.
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/automation-anywhere-appoints-tim-mcdonough-as-chief-marketing-officer-to-drive-global-awareness-and-growth-for-the-leader-in-ai-powered-automation-302125158.html
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