Google's self-driving car project buys British AI firm Latent Logic
1Reported today on The Guardian Technology
For the full article visit: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/dec/12/googles-self-driving-car-project-buys-british-ai-firm-latent-logic
Google's self-driving car project buys British AI firm Latent Logic
Purchase of Oxford University spinoff gives Waymo its first presence in the UK
Waymo, Google's self-driving car division, has acquired the Oxford artificial intelligence company Latent Logic for an undisclosed amount, giving Waymo its first presence in the UK.
Latent Logic, a spinout company from the University of Oxford, specialises in "imitation learning", teaching machines how to act by showing them examples of humans doing the same actions. It was founded in 2017 by the academics Shimon Whiteson and João Messias.
Waymo hopes the company's expertise can be put to use teaching AI drivers how to deal with complex behaviour such as a car cutting off another at a roundabout, a pedestrian emerging from a parked car, or a cyclist skidding in rain.
"The team's expertise in reinforcement learning and imitation learning can help further accelerate Waymo's progress in areas from simulation to behaviour prediction and planning," the company said in a statement.
The Alphabet subsidiary is also intending to use its new base in Oxford to build a second pool of AI talent outside its headquarters in Mountain View, California. The UK is a world leader in AI research, including autonomous vehicles, and many talented researchers will not or cannot relocate to the US – no matter how deep the recruiter's pockets.
Drago Anguelov, Waymo's principal scientist and head of research, said: "We see an exciting opportunity in Europe, not only in continuing to build our partnerships with major automakers but also in benefitting from the world-class technology and engineering capabilities in Oxford and beyond."
Whiteson, who will continue to work as a professor of computer science at Ox