I work at ValueFirst Digital Media Private Ltd. I am a Product Marketer in the Surbo Team. Surbo is Chatbot Generator Platform owned by Value First. ...
Full BioI work at ValueFirst Digital Media Private Ltd. I am a Product Marketer in the Surbo Team. Surbo is Chatbot Generator Platform owned by Value First.
Success story of Haptik
1055 days ago
Who is afraid of automation?
1055 days ago
What's happening in AI, Blockchain & IoT
1056 days ago
3 million at risk from the rise of robots
1056 days ago
5 ways Machine Learning can save your company from a security breach
1056 days ago
Google Course for IT beginners, certificate in 8 months: Enrollment starts on Coursera today, check details
37407 views
7 of the best chatbot building plaftorms out there
28842 views
'Star Wars' and the Future of Artificial Intelligence
26997 views
Could your job be taken over by Artificial Intelligence?
26922 views
Artificial Intelligence Timeline: Infographic
25095 views
3 Artificial Intelligence Stocks to Watch This Year
It
seems like nearly every technology company is pursuing some form of artificial
intelligence these days. But while there are many companies hoping to benefit
as this burgeoning market expands, NVIDIA Corporation, Amazon.com, and Alphabet
are already leading the way.
Here's how
these companies are transforming artificial intelligence (AI) right now and why
investors should consider these companies for their portfolios.
This one is no
surprise
Alphabet likes to have its hands in nearly every new technology
trend, and AI is no exception. Specifically, the company is focusing on three
key areas: AI services in the cloud, driverless cars through its Waymo
subsidiary, and implementing AI into its flagship services. The company is
doing much more in AI, but let's just start with these.
In the cloud space, Alphabet's Google Cloud platform integrates AI
services that companies and developers can tap into to make their own AI
products. For example, Google offers its machine learning software, called
TensorFlow, for free to developers that help them to build apps that have
machine-learning capabilities (it's the same tech that's used to easily find
images in the Google Photos app). The company hopes that combining TensorFlow
with its cloud-computing services will make for a winning combination as it
tries to take a larger share of the $411 billion market (by 2020).
Alphabet is also using its AI know-how to build driverless car
software through its Waymo subsidiary. Waymo announced at the end of last year
that it's now testing its driverless minivans (void of any human driver) with
the public in Arizona. The company has already logged 4 million miles with its
vehicles, and Waymo is setting itself up for further ride-hailing driverless
car services in the future.
The tech giant is also busy building its second-generation AI
chip, called the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) which will be used for its cloud
services and is improving the company's own services, like Search and Gmail.
Alphabet can use AI to better understand what its users are looking at,
watching, and reading, and then use that information to display more targeted
ads. Considering that the company makes about 86% of its top line from selling
ads from Google services, it's no wonder Alphabet is using AI to make its ad
business even better.
A chipmaker with AI on
the brain
Like Alphabet, NVIDIA is building its own AI chips and is working
on its own driverless car technology as well. But the difference is that NVIDIA
sells both its chips and its autonomous vehicle tech to other companies -- and
it's already paying off.
The company's AI graphics processing units (GPUs) are already used
by Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon to make their AI cloud computing services a
reality. More and more companies are adding GPUs to their data centers to make
them better at things like image recognition, and that's led to NVIDIA's data
center revenue climbing by 109% in the most recent quarter.
In addition to data center opportunities, the company is also on
the third version of its semi-autonomous driving computer, called Drive PX
Pegasus. The computer fits into the trunk of semi-autonomous vehicles and uses
NVIDIA's GPUs to process images from a vehicle's cameras, so the car can
understand what it's looking at while driving. More than two dozen companies are
already using Drive PX Pegasus to create autonomous taxis with Level 5 automation
(no human driver needed).
NVIDIA's GPUs are also quickly becoming a powerful tool for other
tech companies to utilize in building strong AI services. That's led the
company to estimate that its total addressable market for AI (for data centers,
driverless cars, AI for cities, etc.) is about $40 billion between now and
2025.
The e-commerce company
that's betting on AI
Amazon makes the majority of its revenue from its e-commerce
platform, but CEO Jeff Bezos explained the brains behind its online retail
platform in an investor letter last year:
Machine learning drives our algorithms for demand forecasting,
product search ranking, product and deals recommendations, merchandising
placements, fraud detection, translations, and much more. Though less visible,
much of the impact of machine learning will be of this type -- quietly but
meaningfully improving core operations.
Bezos said investors should watch the machine-learning space
closely (which is part of the broader AI market) because of its impact on many
of Amazon's businesses. But the company isn't just using AI to make its online
retail recommendations better; it's also using it to expand its Amazon Web
Services (AWS) in cloud computing as well.
The company already holds 40% of the public cloud-computing market
and offers AI services like image recognition and language translation.
Amazon sees AI as another tool it can use to make its AWS services
stronger, and late last year, it teamed up with Microsoft to offer new AI tools
to combat Google's expansion into cloud computing. Amazon is focused on AI
cloud computing because the company brings the vast majority of its operating
profit from its AWS cloud services. The more it stays ahead of Google and
others in the cloud market, the more it stands to add to its bottom line.
Investors should also take note that Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant is also a play on basic artificial intelligence in smart homes. Amazon already holds about 70% of the smart speaker market, and 2018 is poised to be a big year for smart speaker adoption. RBC Capital estimates that Amazon could add $10 billion to its top line by 2020 through its smart speakers, and the company's AI for Alexa is helping make that a reality.
Don't forget this
It's
best to keep in mind that artificial intelligence is still a small part of
these companies' revenues, but that doesn't make their AI pursuits irrelevant.
Artificial intelligence is making the products and services that Amazon,
NVIDIA, and Alphabet offer much better, and that, in turn, should help fuel
their growth. AI will likely transform nearly every aspect of these companies
in the coming years, and investors would be wise to take notice now.