Twitter acquires machine-learning startup Whetlab
In an effort to accelerate its "machine learning," Twitter announced Wednesday that it acquired Whetlab, a Cambridge-based start-up with a focus on artificial intelligence.
Details on the acquisition were not immediately available, but Whetlab said on its website that Twitter will now have access to the start-up's technology and small team as part of the deal.
Whetlab is a start-up that develops artificial intelligence technologies, which can be used for things such as object recognition, speech processing and computational biology, according to the company's website. With its innovative technology, Whetlab said, it aims to make "machine learning better and faster for companies, automatically."
"Rather than having to hire doctorate-wielding machine learning experts to architect and tune your system, our patent-pending technology helps your engineers — your team that already understands your data and your needs — get the latest and greatest deep learning techniques going in days rather than months of years," Whetlab said on its website.
As a result of the deal with Twitter, Whetlab said that it will be shutting down its closed beta on July 15.
According to TechCrunch, Whetlab's machine-learning technology could be used for a variety of things at Twitter. For example, the social networking app could use it to identify what users are posting about for better understanding of trends, ad targeting, as well as better content recommendations for a more personalized experience.
As the San Francisco-based company competes against other intuitive social media apps, Twitter has been struggling lately — leaving investors and analysts wary of the future of the stock.
The deal with Whetlab comes nearly a week after embattled Twitter CEO Dick Costolo announced he was stepping down, leaving company co-founder Jack Dorsey as interim CEO. The company has yet to announce who will permanently step into the position.
Prior to Costolo's departure, he was criticized for his leadership tactics, as well as some unfavorable changes to the company's strategy.
Twitter has made a few changes since Costolo's resignation.
The company announced last week that it will remove the 140 character limit from direct messages in July. Twitter also announced Tuesday that it will now auto-play gifs and videos on a user's feed, similar to how it works on Facebook.
It is not clear how exactly Twitter plans to use the acquisition of Whetlab to its advantage, but the startup said on its website that "Twitter is the platform for open communication on the internet and we believe that Whetlab's technology can have a great impact on accelerating Twitter's internal machine learning efforts."