Google buys AI startup DeepMind for $400 million

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Google has been on a buying spree. It has been venturing into areas, where it has never gone before, and it has also been doubling down in areas it has excelled.

The latest purchase by the Mountain View, California based company is DeepMind - A UK based startup that specialises in artificial intelligence, an area Google is particularly fond of. The company was purchased for $400 million.

According to ReCode, Google CEO Larry Page was personally involved in the acquisition and its founders Demis Hassabis, Shane Legg, and Mustafa Suleyman are very well known in AI circles.

In fact, the company itself competes with the likes of Google for hiring talent that it relevant to AI. The team will the ranks of Jeff Dean who is a well known AI expert at Google.

It's a well known fact that Google is working towards a future that sees a big role for AI. Its search engine it the embodiment of AI and Amit Singhal, who is in charge for the day-to-day workings of the Google Search strives to make it like the AI computer in the popular TV show Star Trek.

Former Android head Andy Rubin, is now heading a team that is building robots and AI know how could definitely come in handy in this space.

Recently, Google also acquired Nest, a company founded by former Apple executive Tony Fadell, which builds smart thermostats and smoke detectors. If somehow, Google manages to integrate AI with Nest's connected home appliances then we can see a future where AI plays a big role in human life, just as the way Google's search engine and Android OS have redefined human computing needs.