Microsoft Enhances Neural Network Model to Improve the Bing Searches

In a recent announcement, Microsoft has stated that it has detailed a large neural network model in order to improve the relevance of Bing searches. The company has said that the model, called a "sparse" neural network, will be complementing the currently existing large Transformer-based networks like OpenAI's GPT-3. Transformer-based models have been gaining a lot of attention in the machine learning world. These models excel at understanding semantic relationships, and thereby they have been used to enhance Bing search.

Microsoft's new Make Every feature Binary (MEB) model is used to improve the Bing Searches. The sparse model has 135 billion parameters and space for over 200 billion binary features. Microsoft has stated that this new MEB can map single facts to features, which allows the model to gain a more nuanced understanding of individual facts.

The company also added that the MEB, trained on more than 500 billion queries for over three years of Bing searches, runs in production for 100 percent of Bing searches in all regions and languages. It's now the largest universal language model the company is serving to date. The model occupies 720GB when loaded into memory and sustain 35 million feature lookups during peak traffic time.

 

 

Skybox Security to Continue Expansion in EMEA and Asia Pacific Japan

San Jose, CA-based Skybox Security has announced accelerated global expansion across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, APAC, and Japan. This news comes as a follow up to the recent surge in high-profile cyberattacks that put the spotlight on the importance of data-driven, risk-based approach to Vulnerability Management

“Business and government leaders globally are leaning into the importance of proactively addressing cyber risk to prevent ransomware and supply chain attacks. Vulnerability Management is now taking center stage even at the top levels of government, as highlighted by the recent Biden Executive Order,” said Gidi Cohen, CEO and founder, Skybox Security. “The criticality of preventative cybersecurity has become more than a fear of being held for ransom. Cybersecurity is now impacting the daily lives and safety of global citizens – even putting our water, food, and energy supplies at risk.”

Skybox Security has experienced a big rise on demand and good growth in the EMEA, where it has seen its deals increase by 33% and average annual contract value increase 64% over the first half of 2021. The company has said that it will be making big investments to expand its presence in EMEA and Asia Pacific and Japan.

Skybox Security is highly regarded in the security community as over 500 of the largest and most security-conscious enterprises in the world rely on Skybox for the insights and assurance required to stay ahead of dynamically changing attack surfaces.

 

Yellow.ai Raises $78.15M in Series C Financing

After having grown a fantastic 470% in revenues since its last funding round, Yellow.ai has announced that it has raised $78.15 million in its Series C round of financing. The round was led by Westbridge Capital joined by Sapphire Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Since its last funding round in April 2020, Yellow.ai has added hundreds of new clients across the world. The company has also grown and expanded across the USA, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, UAE, and India.

“There are miles to go before we rest, but I’d like to pause and thank all our esteemed customers, partners who believe in our vision and product. And to all the team members, across the globe, who have built a platform and GTM to help us reach here. We’re still scratching the surface of what’s possible and we couldn’t be more excited to be joined by our investors in helping us reach the next milestone, and the next,” said Raghu Ravinutala, CEO of Yellow.ai, in a statement.

Yellow.ai is a Total CX Automation Platform that was established to connect with customers and resolve their queries, automatically, across 35+ channels on text and voice. With CX becoming increasingly relevant with times, Yellow.ai’s services have become extremely important. The funding will give the company further motivation to carry on with its good work.

 

Black & Veatch is joining hands with Big Blue to work on AI-driven solutions

Black & Veatch, an engineering and construction company from Kansas, has recently made an announcement that it is partnering with the Big Blue IBM to market APM solutions. This also includes remote monitoring techs that make use of real-time data analytics with AI to help consumers maintain their assets and equipment. By using the marketed solutions, customers can keep their assets at peak performance and reliability. The main motto of the recent collaboration is to combine IBM’s Maximo App Suite with Black & Veatch’s AMS services. These solutions are expected to help organizations support more demanding operations for energy, utilities, and industrial assets.

 Black & Veatch is well-known for its four diagnostics and monitoring centers used for real-time analysis and detection of upcoming issues by running many scenarios and models to accurately predict the changes in asset performance. IBM application’s Monitor, Predict, Assist, Visual, and Health inspection capabilities will combine with Black & Veatch’s diagnostics and monitoring capabilities to bring them on to a field where the gathered insights can be applied. Dave Brill, Black & Veatch’s VP of Asset Management Services, has stated that digital twins are an integral part of the industrial segment’s digital future. This is mainly because they can provide a brief understanding of complex assets.

 

Google Unveils its New Tensor Chipset to Power Pixel 6 phones

 

In a recent press meet, Google has announced that it has made its own SoC to power the AI and machine learning (ML) process for its upcoming Pixel 6 series phone. The all-new Google Tensor chipset will be used in both Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones. The tech giant has been working for over five years to build the Tensor chipset and the company's CEO, Sundar Pichai. This new chipset will increase Google's computing abilities.

Google has made this chip to process the necessary AI features for videos and photos efficiently. It will enable the company to bring innovative AI and ML technologies to its end users. Besides, Google is aiming to provide a more personalized experience with its Pixel phone series so that every Pixel device feels unique. Be it the AI-enabled solutions, features, suggestions, color themes, photography, or voice commands.

With the new Tensor chipset backed by robust and innovative AI and ML capabilities, Google aims to provide a truly personalized smartphone. The new chipset not just contains computing resources. It will also include the latest technologies based on AI-based algorithms to unlock the specific experiences for all the Pixel users.

 

Reliance retail is speculated to take over Subway India operations

Reliance Industry’s retail arm Reliance Retail is soon speculated to takeover Subway Inc India. The new deal is expected to be closed for a whopping $200+ million, and the official announcements on the same are expected soon. Subway, a very popular name in the F&B segment, is now undergoing a restructuring process under John Chidsey, CEO. The new moves are the result of the company’s effort to reduce headcount and cut costs due to reduced sales. In recent times, various reports had suggested that Subway is looking out for ways to streamline its operations in India, and it wants to collaborate with local agents to renovate the current individual networks and regional master franchisees.

As of now, master franchisees were acting as development agents who will run the stores in the cluster while not owning them. Reliance Retail is a worthy candidate for this new offering as it has operations in retail chains spanning across categories like fashion, lifestyle, consumer electronics, luxury, and grocery. Some of the brands in Reliance Retail’s portfolio are  Reliance Fresh, Reliance Trend, Reliance SMART, Reliance jewels. Hamleys, and Project Eve. RIL also acquired a 20 percent controlling stake in popular search engine Just Dial to connect local merchants.

 

Here's What You Need To Know When Buying A Vehicle For Your Growing Business

Despite global economic setbacks, businesses have been redoubling their investments to foster better growth once the economy rebounds. The current upward trend of business vehicle purchases is a major example of this. Commercial vehicle sales broke 24 million units in 2020, according to Knoema. Whether this trend was driven by panic buying or by inventory surplus driving down prices remains to be seen, but in the face of a growing vehicle shortage, it may be wise for businesses to purchase their own vehicles now while prices have not climbed back up yet. If you’ve been wondering how best to facilitate that for your business, read on.

 

Leasing for more flexibility

 

Leasing is one of the most common ways growing businesses finance their vehicle purchases. It requires the least amount of monetary commitment. Lease costs are often only less than 10 percent the full price. This averages out at around $460 per month, with lease periods often lasting 3 years. It’ll take a few lease periods to fully own the vehicle, but you can opt out at any time if you decide that you can no longer afford it. This flexibility is perhaps one of the best advantages for businesses who are still in the process of growth, when it’s still up in the air whether things will keep going well in the future.

 

Buying new to dodge maintenance costs

 

Purchasing a new vehicle is the most expensive method, but it’s also the most hassle-free. If your business has a lot of disposable funds that are just going to get dissociated into trivial upgrades that you probably don’t need anyway, it might be better to just pool them together to buy a new car. Brand new vehicles require practically zero maintenance and come with the latest quality of life features. In contrast, depending on the age of the vehicle you buy, you may need to set aside over $400 for the yearly maintenance of a secondhand car, and that’s not accounting for the myriad complications that might result from age. Buying new lets you circumvent that. The only problem is the price tag. But even if you decide to buy new, there are still ways to cut down on costs. If you’re savvy enough to hunt for good prices and deals in your area, you can get a brand-new, fully reliable vehicle with money to spare. You just need to take account of all the dealerships near you to compare car makes and models, and get discounts that are available at the moment.

 

Buying secondhand to save money

 

Secondhand purchases carry the one-off benefits of buying a new car, but without the hefty price tag. Alternatively, if you take out a car loan, you can immediately own a car for lower monthly payments than you would get if you leased a car. This method of accessing a business vehicle is ideal if you have some money to spend, but not enough for a brand new car. Used cars boil down to a cost-benefit assessment of maintenance and lower purchasing price. If you can justify your overhead for an older car, this may be the more advantageous way for you to obtain a business vehicle. As with purchasing new, learning how to shop around and having a good eye for cars can net you a reasonably reliable vehicle for a fraction of the price of a new one. 

 

It may not be the best time for everyone to buy a business vehicle, but for those who can afford to do so, this might be their only window in a long while. If getting your own company vehicle is vital to your continued growth, then you’re best advised to figure out a way to get your hands on one while supplies last.