IBM Acquires AlchemyAPI For Machine Learning

By Kamal Nayan - 04 Mar '15 13:06PM

IBM has acquired the deep learning startup AlchemyAPI for machine learning to make Watson smarter.

The AlchemyAPI is a Denver-based deep learning startup, delivering a wide variety of text analysis and image recognition capabilities via API.

IBM plans to integrate AlchemyAPI technology into the core Watson cognitive computing platform. IBM Watson is an artificially intelligent computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language.

Eventually, the AlchemyAPI service will shut down as the capabilities are folded into the IBM Bluemix platform, said IBM Watson Group vice president and CMO Stephen Gold, according to GigaOm.

"This extends the portfolio" of Watson's services, said Stephen Gold, vice president at IBM Watson Group. Denver-based AlchemyAPI "has a tremendous following. The 40,000-plus network of developers that have built on top of the platform -- that will really help accelerate our own ecosystem."

IBM, based in Armonk, New York, currently has 160 partners developing applications on Watson's platform, with more than 3,800 pending, the company said last week in a statement.

IBM did not disclose the terms of the AlchemyAPI acquisition.

IBM has been witnessing fall in revenue for the last three consecutive years and hence the company has been relying in newer businesses. Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty projected last week that sales from new initiatives would reach $40 billion in 2018 -- just less than half of total revenue last year -- though she declined to say how much would come from Watson, according to Bloomberg.