Samsung buys UK AI startup to give its products the personal touch
- Reference: 1721280608
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/07/18/samsung_acquires_oxford_semantic/
- Source link:
Oxford Semantic Technologies (OST) specializes in the knowledge graphs – a database tech that stores and organizes data as an interconnected web of related ideas and entities, much like humans do, enabling rapid retrieval of information and recommendations. Its flagship product is called RDFox – billed as the world's fastest knowledge graph and semantic reasoning engine.
"As such, it is considered one of the key technologies for realizing more sophisticated and personalized AI solutions," Samsung enthused.
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The Korean giant [2]noted Oxford Semantic's product "optimizes data processing and enables advanced reasoning" on devices and in the cloud, helping smartphones and other gadgets to become "increasingly familiar with users' preferences and usage."
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That ability fits nicely with Samsung's stated plans to bring better AI to its Bixby virtual assistant, which it last week [5]revealed will soon be upgraded with its own AI models as part of a broader strategy.
Samsung asserted that Oxford Semantic's products will be applicable across its range – and specifically named mobiles, televisions and home appliances.
[6]South Korean Samsung union strikes again in bid to chip away at production
[7]Good news: Samsung predicts prodigious profit pop
[8]Samsung Korea warns many apps won't run on its Qualcomm-powered Copilot+ PCs
[9]Samsung workers treated for exposure to radiation in South Korea
Samsung has collaborated with the startup since 2018 – only a year after it was established as a spin-out from the University of Oxford, where its founding team had toiled on its tech since 2011. The Korean giant had also invested in the Oxford outfit.
According to Oxford Semantic CEO Peter Crocker, Samsung has been involved in the development of RDFox, which it describes on [10]LinkedIn as underpinned by "patented modern computing techniques" that enable it to "deliver responses to complex queries on the fly."
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This deal is the second acquisition of a British tech outfit by a major Asia-based entity in the last week, after Japan's SoftBank [12]acquired struggling AI chip house Graphcore for an unspecified sum. ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZpjnudXuv-7PwKF5vTJf-gAAAQg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-announces-acquisition-of-oxford-semantic-technologies-uk-based-knowledge-graph-startup
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZpjnudXuv-7PwKF5vTJf-gAAAQg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZpjnudXuv-7PwKF5vTJf-gAAAQg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/11/samsung-to-launch-upgraded-bixby-this-year-with-its-own-ai.html
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/10/samsung_union_indefinite_strike/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/05/samsung_q2_2024_guidance/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/20/samsung_korea_copilot_plus_pc_compatability/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/30/samsung_giheung_radiation_exposure/
[10] https://www.linkedin.com/company/oxford-semantic-technologies/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZpjnudXuv-7PwKF5vTJf-gAAAQg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/12/softbank_acquires_graphcore/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
specifically named mobiles, televisions and home appliances
Oh, goodie.
Another list of products I don't want.
Is my life really so much poorer without major corporations being aware of my 'proclivities'? I don't think so... I recently bought a paraglider. Guess how many adverts I saw for it? Correct: none.
Re: specifically named mobiles, televisions and home appliances
My experience is that I start being presented with advertisements for a [paraglider] after I've just gone out and bought a [paraglider].
"pick up on your proclivities""
Good. It'll just uninstall itself then
Your plastic pal who's fun to be with.
Is there an AI company calling itself the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation yet?
"help your fridge and smartphone pick up on your proclivities"
I feel I might perhaps like to keep my procivities to myself. ;) Certainly not have them shared with the malignant spawn of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
Sounds like Oxford Semantic Technologies is using something along the lines of John Sowa's conceptual graphs/schema ( Conceptual Structures was mid-80s so not particularly new tech ;)
Semantic graphs presumably annotate syntactic graphs with meaning (semantics). As far as I can see explicit "meaning" is notably missing from LLMs - seems to me they are mostly a syntactic representation.
Linguistics gets rather deep very quickly once you start thinking about the relationships between structure (syntax) and meaning (semantics.)
Even applying mathematical meaning to simple (procedural) programming language statements (denotational semantics) is pretty heavy going.
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Living in a world in which every appliance and device panders to and anticipates the owner's every wish or desire cannot be healthy. Like letting a djinni out of its bottle and ultimately pure hell I should think.
A general problem with these adaptive systems is that we people are also adaptive systems. We're pretty good at adapting to something if it stays still for long enough . If you have an adaptive system (person) trying to adapt to an adaptive system (electronic device), and vice versa, literal chaos can ensue.
And knowing this, I wouldn't even start trusting my (hypothetical) smart fridge enough to leave all the ordering of milk to it... until it has a solid track record of ordering milk... which it's not going to get because I don't trust it to order milk.
"the world's fastest knowledge graph"
I note that nowhere is it mentioned anything about accuracy of results. No, the important thing is that it is the fastest because, of course, if you're not the fastest, you're lagging behind.