J.A.R.V.I.S : Artificial Intelligence Assistant Operating System for Hackers

A group of Indian Hackers has designed Artificial Intelligence Assistant Operating System called ‘J.A.R.V.I.S‘ , who recognizes them, answer questions, tweet for them and Collect information, scan targets for them.

Chiragh Dewan, a 18 year old student who is currently pursuing his BCA has taken the initiative to be the first Indian to complete this project J.A.R.V.I.S , which is inspired by Iron Man’s (movie) artificial intelligence assistant Jarvis.

With his team of 7 including Himanshu Vaishnav, Mayur Singh, Krishanu Kashyap, Vikas Kumar, Vinmay Nair and Sravan Kumar, they are about to finish the 3rd level of the project.

Their long term goal is to create an OS which could adapt itself according to the user’s needs. Like if a doctor is using the OS, it will adapt itself so as it is capable of helping him out in his field like searching for new techniques, medicines, help in their research, etc. Add for architects, other professions. 

As for users in the IT Security field, it would help the users in information gathering, scanning, etc. Making an app for mobile by which you would be able to communicate with you’re system remotely and give him tasks to do, ask questions, etc.

It all started with the release of Iron Man 3, after which Chiragh was determined to make Jarvis. Having no experience in Artificial Intelligence, he came home and started learning AI through online courses. The research work had started during which he came across a post by Himanshu stating that he too has been working on this project and would like people fro join him. After a detailed conversation and exchange of ideas, the project had started. During their course of development more people joined the project.

Project Task Completed: In the current version of Jarvis v1.0, it is capable of:

• Answering questions asked by the administrator
• Compile reports on any topic asked by the user.
• Control lights by voice.
• Basic interaction with the user.
• Handling Facebook, Email and Social profiles of users
• Using Twitter Account with voice control
• Basic OS kernel is ready.
• Can Scan targets for Hackers
• Gathering Basic information about the target

All the above functionalities are completely controlled by voice. It has only been four months since they have started this project and have achieved a lot in this short period of time.

The team will announce the OS publicly soon after completion of phase 3, but for now Chiragh proudly shows off his creation on the J.A.R.V.I.S project website.

CryptorBit Ransoware that scam for Ransom money with fake Decryption Keys

We are continuously keeping our eye on new variants of the widely spread Ransomware family like Cryptolocker, Prison Locker, Copycat and Locker which encrypts your files and ask for a random amount to decrypt it. 

If infected by such malware, to be very honest, there is no hope for recovering your documents without paying a ransom amount to the cyber criminals.

Online users are now facing another similar ransomware called ‘CryptorBit‘, first spotted on September 2013. It is not a variant of Cryptolocker but it does exactly the same thing i.e. Encrypt all the files on the Hard Disk.

CryptorBit is an infection that activates by clicking links in a spam message or malicious email, or websites while browsing the web, or by opening an attachment in an email from a malicious source.

Once your system gets infected by the CryptorBit, it will encrypt your files and hold them until a ransom of $50 – $500 or more is not paid. It will display a warning for you i.e. “YOUR PERSONAL FILES ARE ENCYPTED”, following a warning message i.e. “All files including video, photos and documents, etc. on your computer are encrypted“.

The affected file types include Word files, Excel files, Pictures, Music, Movies, Quickbooks files, PDFs and all other data files on your system.

The Warning note on the screen instructs the victim to download the Tor browser and access an onion-based hidden website for paying the ransom money. In addition, it may threaten you to pay the ransom within 24 hours. Otherwise, it will damage all of your personal and system files completely.

SCAM-WARE

CryptorBit Malware is totally a scam designed by cyber criminals, because even after paying the ransom amount it will not decrypt your files, sounds scary but it’s true. It forces users to pay for the fake private key to decrypt files.

CryptorBit not even fraud your money but also cause damage to your PC and Interfere with your privacy.

The most common windows folder location where the Cryptorbit virus lives – “%AppData%” and can be easily removed using Antivirus tools; but unlike traditional Ransomware, you can decrypt your files using system utility ‘System Restore‘.

The spam emails may appear to be sent from people you know, so it’s very important for users to be careful while reading such malicious emails and if it doesn’t look right, it’s probably not.

The best protection against these infections is a good backup. We strongly advise people to keep their important files on their servers, and not on their desktops or local folders. 

Ubuntu 13.04 No Longer Supported, Says Canonical

Those of you who are still using the Ubuntu 13.04 operating system, take note and upgrade to Ubuntu 13.10 now!

Canonical has officially ended the support period for Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail), hereby urging users to upgrade to a newer version as soon as possible: Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander). The 
Ubuntu 13.04 Linux operating system has now reached an end of life (EOL), therefore Canonical will no longer provide security or critical fixes and software updates for the same.

Officially announced on 25 April 2013, Ubuntu 13.04 was the first of its kind to introduce two new flavors: Ubuntu GNOME and Ubuntu Kylin operating systems. Meanwhile, the 13.10 client has changed very little from the previous version, although the GUI plumbing underneath is in transition. Reportedly, this may be the last version of Unity that uses X.org underpinnings. It must be noted that Saucy Salamander however, doesn’t offer much in the way of new features, except for the introduction of Ubuntu Touch for mobile platforms. Further, the support life for this OS is only nine months and the next version, 14.04, will be a five-year supported version.

Meanwhile, Ubuntu 14.04 will feature the latest Unity7 with Anti-Aliased Windows and Full GTK3+ Theming Support. Currently the default Ubuntu desktop is shipped with Unity7, and Canonical has now made it clear that Trusty Tahr will be shipped with Unity7 and not Unity8. It must be noted that the GTK-themes have been using metacity theming engine through the compiz native gtk-window-decorator in earlier versions. GTK3 support has better theming capabilities and gtk-css theming. Now the Canonical developers have redefined the entire theming system based on GtkStyleContext which is entirely based on CSS, in the latest upgrade of Unity7.

You can upgrade to Ubuntu 13.10 here: SaucyUpgrades

Cracking 16 Character Strong passwords in less than an hour

The Password serves to protect your financial transactions, your social networking sites, and a host of other nominally secure websites online. People often say, “don’t use dictionary words as passwords. They are horribly unsecure“, but what if hackers also managed to crack any 16 character password ?

Criminals or trespassers who want to crack into your digital figurative backyard will always find a way. A team of hackers has managed to crack more than 14,800 supposedly random passwords from a list of 16,449 converted into hashes using the MD5 cryptographic hash function.

The problem is the relatively weak method of encrypting passwords called hashing. Hashing takes each user’s plain text password and runs it through a one-way mathematical function. This creates a unique string of numbers and letters called the hash.

The article reports that, using a commodity computer with a single AMD Radeon 7970 graphics card, it took him 20 hours to crack 14,734 of the hashes, a 90-percent success rate using Brute force method. Brute-force attacks is when a computer tries every possible combination of characters.

 

In December it was unveiled by Jeremi Gosney, the founder and CEO of Stricture Consulting Group, that   a 25-computer cluster can cracks passwords by making 350 billion guesses per second. It can try every possible word in less than six hours to get plain text passwords from lists of hashed passwords.

Using passwords that contained only numbers, 12 digits long, hackers managed to bruteforce such 312 passwords in 3 minutes.  Anyway password doesn’t have to be a word at all. A whole phrase or sentence, a passphrase, offers more security. A correctly chosen passphrase is easy for you to remember but difficult for anyone else to guess.

Also the strongest password in the world isn’t secure if you use it for every one of your secure sites. If one site is compromised and hackers are able to crack your password and you’ve reused it they could then gain access to your details on other websites.

The general public has no control over which hashing process websites use and therefore are at the mercy of an algorithm which they may know nothing about. If you are concerned about security, long passwords are the best defense.

Samsung’s Alternative To Google Glass Coming In September

 Wearable technology is the order of the day. After Galaxy Gear, Samsung is planning to launch its version of Google Glass. According to a report from Korea Times, the Google Glass alternative, codenamed as Galaxy Glass, is poised to debut in the upcoming IFA trade fair, scheduled to happen in Berlin.

Samsung has reportedly registered a patent of this wearable technology in South Korea. The device is being designed to connect the smartphones of the consumers, where the alerts and other information can be seen on the translucent display of the glass. The Galaxy Glass will help users make phone calls, play music and do other stuff, much similar to that of Galaxy Gear smartwatch. 

Samsung Electronics is working with Samsung Display, its sister concern, for developing the display screen for Galaxy Glass. The report quoted a source from Samsung saying, “The new smart glass to be introduced by Samsung is a new concept of wearable device that can lead to an exciting culture of communication. The smart glass will present our aim to lead the new market with proven capability. Wearable devices can’t generate profits immediately. Steady releases of devices are showing our firm commitment as a leader in new markets.” If all goes well, Samsung Galaxy Glass will be available to the consumers in the month of September, 2014.

Why Google’s Nexus 7 Tablet Is Hotter Than Apple’s iPad

For once, an Apple product isn’t the hottest piece of hardware on the scene. This week, at least, that highly enviable status goes to Google‘s new Nexus 7 tablet. According to reports, several retailers are sold out of the 7-inch tablet, and even Google’s own online store only has the cheaper, $199 8-GB version. The $249 16-GB version is no longer available anywhere except on eBay for a steep premium.

Of course, you have to remember that selling out doesn’t mean much without knowing how many sold out. This is a classic Apple ploy, though to give Apple credit, it usually turns out later that it sold a ton of whatever sold out. No matter, selling out a product shortly after its release still works great as a marketing tool, as you can see from the coverage gushing about “incredible demand.”

But Google deserves credit for more than just marketing. Now that I’ve tried it for several weeks, with a model provided temporarily by Google at its I/O developer conference, I can tell you why the Nexus 7 is the latest hot gadget :

  * It looks and feels, to use the technical term, slick. The fact is, Apple’s products have a look and feel that few can match, and even the Nexus 7 doesn’t quite get there. But it’s pretty damn close. It feels substantial, while substantially lighter, of course, than the iPad. The swiping is very smooth as well.

* The 7-inch size is appealing and convenient. It’s easy to hold it in one hand, while swiping with the other. It also fits in a pants or shorts pocket (or purse, I’m guessing) surprisingly well for temporary transport. So I end up taking it more places than my larger tablet.

* The screen is no Retina like the latest iPad, but it still looks sharp and bright.

* It may not have all the apps, or some of the latest and greatest, that Apple has, but it’s got plenty. And some very nice ones, too, such as Flipboard and my current favorite, The Night Sky.

* Almost forgot–it’s cheap! For $199, it’s less than half the current $399 minimum for an iPad. That makes the Nexus 7 close to an impulse item, or at least a gift that won’t break the bank.

* Uber-reviewers Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, David Pogue of the New York Times, and even Apple fanboy/Google hater MG Siegler, himself, all like it. So does almost everyone else.

For all that, I can’t help mentioning the downsides. The default screens are a mess of apps, My Library (which features an Esquire cover of Bruce Willis that I really don’t want to see anymore), and recommended apps and magazines I couldn’t care less about (Country Weekly magazine? Really?). The app organization is also haphazard, making it hard to find some basic ones. Google Play, for instance, seems really key to Google’s ultimate success at mobile devices and apps, but it’s buried a menu layer deep. Update: It’s also on the bottom toolbar. The real problem is that the icon, a shopping bag with an arrow logo, doesn’t say app store to me or anyone else I’ve shown it to. And who besides us Google watchers know that “Google Play” is an app store anyway?
As many have noted, there’s not much content in its Google Play store. But that means almost nothing to me because I’m a Netflix and an Amazon Prime subscriber so I can get Amazon Instant Video (but only via an arcane browser tweak, so that remains an issue for now). There’s also a Kindle app for Amazon books. It doesn’t have a frontrear-facing camera. Since I’m not using a tablet to take photos (and, in what is a weird omission, there is no built-in camera app), and since Skype is one of the killer apps as far as I’m concerned, the single front-facing one works fine for me. It’s WiFi only, though again, I wouldn’t pay for another monthly data plan anyway. With only 8 or 16 GB of storage, you better be comfortable storing most of your stuff in the cloud (I am).

And there’s apparently a problem with the touchscreen (though I haven’t run across it yet) that’s especially a problem for playing games. My own complaint about the screen, and it’s minor, is that it’s just a tad too small, or at least the border around the screen is. It’s hard to pick up along the side, because too often I end up touching an icon and launching an app or stopping a video when I don’t want to. The recessed side buttons are a little hard to reach sometimes, too. These are quibbles, though.
Not least, it looks like Apple is readying its own smaller iPad for under $300. That could well steal the Nexus 7′s thunder–especially since it almost certainly will do two or three things better than the Nexus 7, because it’s Apple and because it will be newer.
But for the next few months, at least, Google has a bona fide hit on its hands. And for all the right reasons, not just manufactured scarcity.

Foursquare vulnerability that exposes 45 million users’ email addresses

A location based Social Networking platform with 45 million users,’Foursquare‘ was vulnerable to the primary email address disclosed.

Foursquare is a Smartphone application that gives you details of nearby cafes, bars, shops, parks using GPS location and also tells about your friends nearby.

According to a Penetration tester and hacker ‘Jamal Eddine‘,  an attacker can extract email addresses of all 45 million users just by using a few lines of scripting tool.

Basically the flaw exists in the Invitation system of the Foursquare app. While testing the app, he found that invitation received on the recipient’s end actually disclosing the sender’s email address, as shown above.

Invitation URL: 

https://foursquare.com/mehdi?action=acceptFriendship&expires=1378920415&src=wtbfe&uid=64761059&sig=mmlx96RwGrQ2fJAg4OWZhAWnDvc%3D

Where ‘uid’ parameter represents the sender’s profile ID. 

Hacker noticed that the parameter in the Invitation URL can be modified in order to spoof the sender profile i.e. Just by modifying the value of ‘uid’ parameter, one can see the email ID of the respective user.

If someone is a good programmer, then dumping the complete database won’t be a difficult task. 

https://foursquare.com/mehdi?action=acceptFriendship&expires=1378920415&src=wtbfe&uid=35
https://foursquare.com/mehdi?action=acceptFriendship&expires=1378920415&src=wtbfe&uid=60
https://foursquare.com/mehdi?action=acceptFriendship&expires=1378920415&src=wtbfe&uid=65
https://foursquare.com/mehdi?action=acceptFriendship&expires=1378920415&src=wtbfe&uid=4444
And so forth…

The same question still persist that what can be done if someone knows my name and my email id? Many of us use same mail account on all of the social networking sites i.e. Primary email address, and if your personal email address gets leaked from any of the website, someone can start sending you spam, malware or phishing attempts. 

I think you don’t want to be phished by any hacking group like Syrian Electronic hacker or this information can easily aid other cyber attacks.

In July, 2013, Similar vulnerability was reported on Facebook, discloses the primary email address of any Facebook user to hackers and spammers.

As a responsible bug hunter, he reported the flaw to Foursquare’s Security Team, and they have finally fixed the issue.

10 New Features Added in Android KitKat

Google GOOG -2.01% recently announced Android KitKat (version 4.4) with the Google Nexus 5 being the first smartphone that is powered by the mobile operating system. Android KitKat was designed to support backwards compatibility for over 1 billion older smartphones and tablets.  By requiring less memory, Android KitKat can run on entry-level devices that have as little as 512MB of RAM.

Google Android head Sundar Pichai said that the goal for 2014 is to “reach the next billion people.”  In emerging countries like Brazil, India, Russia, Indonesia, and Mexico, Android’s business is tripling every year.  In some of those countries, several manufacturers have been selling Android phones that are powered by the two-years-old Android Gingerbread (version 2.3) operating system. Android KitKat is intended to prevent older software from being sold in those emerging countries.

Android KitKat has a number of aesthetic enhancements and application improvements. Here is a list of 10 of the best KitKat features:

1.) “Ok Google”

You no longer need to touch your screen to perform searches, send texts, get directions or play music.  When you are on the home screen or have Google Now pulled up, you just have to say “Ok Google” followed by a command to perform one of those tasks.  You can say commands like “Ok Google, where is the closest McDonalds” or “Ok Google play Eminem.”

2.) Full-Screen Album And Movie Art Combined With Controls

When streaming music or projecting movies to Google Chromecast from your KitKat device, you will see full-screen album and movie art appear.  There are controls on the lock screen that lets you play, pause, or jump to a certain song or movie chapter.

3.) Immersive Display

In previous versions of Android, the status bar and navigation buttons remained on the screen while reading an e-book, watching a movie, or playing a game.  Since that was intrusive, Google added a feature in KitKat that hides the status bar and navigation buttons until you swipe the edge to bring them back.

4.) Contact Prioritization

Android KitKat prioritizes your contacts based on the people that you talk to the most. From the Contacts app, you can also search for places and businesses that are near you from the search box at the top.  The Android KitKat Contacts app also integrates with your Google Apps contacts.

5.) Enhanced Caller ID

People have a tendency to ignore calls from unrecognizable numbers. If you receive a call that is not saved in your Contacts, then Android KitKat will attempt to retrieve the Caller ID information from local listings within Google Maps. This feature could be very useful for people that have family and friends that call from their work numbers.

6.) Message Consolidation

Android KitKat has consolidated SMS , MMS, video calls and Google Hangouts chat messages all in one place. The Android KitKat Messages app also supports location-sharing and animated GIFs through Google Hangouts.

7.) Emojis

Google has added Emojis into Android KitKat’s Google Keyboard.  Emoji is the Japanese term for ideograms and smileys used in text messages and websites. You can enhance the context of your messages by placing smileys, cars, animals, and other interesting icons with this feature.

8.) Cloud Printing Support

Android KitKat has support for cloud printing.  You can print documents, presentations, websites and photos from your KitKat phone or tablet. For this feature to work, your printer must be connected to Google Cloud Print or HP ePrint.

9.) Quickoffice

Google Quickoffice will be preinstalled with Android KitKat. Quickoffice supports the editing of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations created with Microsoft MSFT -2.06% Office or Google Docs. When you log into Quickoffice, the application will grab the documents that have been saved in your Google Docs and Google Drive account.

10.) Step Detector And Step Counter

Android KitKat has a step detector and step counter so that fitness-related apps can track when the user is walking, running, and climbing stairs.  The step detector uses the accelerometer input to recognize when the user has taken a step.  The step counter tracks the total number of steps since the device’s last restart.  The Runtastic Pedometer app uses the step detector and step counter to track whether you are taking the 10,000 steps per day that is recommended for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

How do you get Android KitKat?  Aside from coming pre-loaded on the Google Nexus 5, KitKat will be available as an update for the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, HTC  One (Google Play Edition) and Samsung Galaxy S4 (Google Play Edition) in the next few weeks.

Are you looking forward to using Android KitKat?  Let us know in the comments below!

[Images Credit: Android.com]

10 Of The Best Business Apps To Download

Almost anyone that has a smartphone or tablet is continuously looking for ways to improve their professional life through apps. To get things done efficiently every day, you should be equipped with the right digital tools.  Apps that show you a financial dashboard or that can pull up your travel itinerary right away can prevent you from having to scramble for data from thousands of e-mail attachments in your inbox.  This is why I have curated a list of ten business apps that are highly recommended.
1. Office Mobile For Office 365 Subscribers
Just like the flagship desktop version of Microsoft Microsoft Office, Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers is a bit pricey. The price is very much worth it if you spend a lot of time using Microsoft Office on your desktop already.  Office Mobile For Office 365 simply makes the process of creating and editing documents more convenient by syncing in the cloud through multiple devices. The Office Mobile app works on iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
Office Mobile For Office 365 Subscribers can access, view and edit your Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint documents while on-the-go. The documents look like the originals since it supports charts, animations, graphics, and shapes. As you make edits and add comments to a document, the formatting and content will remain intact. Cloud sharing works through SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, or SharePoint.
The price of Office Mobile For Office 365 varies depending on the tier that you want. The price can range from up to $9.99 per month for 5 computers and 5 mobile devices all the way up to $22 per user per month for Office 365 Enterprise E4.
2. Square Register
Square enables users to manage a business from anywhere by accepting credit cards using a free card reader and free point of sale tools. Square takes a 2.75% cut for all major credit cards without merchant accounts or hidden fees. The funds from swiped payments are deposited into your bank account within 1-2 business days. On the iPad version of the Square Register app, the user interface looks like a traditional cash register.
Square launched in 2010 by Jack Dorsey and James McKelvey. Dorsey is a well-respected entrepreneur that is also known for creating Twitter. Square currently has 400 employees and is processing around $15 billion in payments per year.
3. Cisco WebEx MeetingsThe Cisco WebEx Meetings app for iOS, Android and BlackBerry lets you have meetings wherever you are. Through the WebEx app, you can join any web conference through 2-way video and a camera switcher.
What distinguishes WebEx from other video conferencing services is that files can be attached to a meeting space.  This means that you can pitch a presentation or discuss numbers from an Excel spreadsheets in real-time while video-chatting with your contacts.
Cisco sells tiered plans depending on the features that you want from the service.  The free version supports 3 people per meeting with standard-quality video and 250MB of storage.
4. CardMunch
Whenever I fill up my pockets with business cards from a conference or networking event, the first thing I do when I get home is take pictures of them with CardMunch.  This free app, owned by LinkedIn LinkedIn, turns your business cards into LinkedIn Connections simply by taking a photo.  CardMunch has seen well over 1.8 million business cards scanned so far.
5. TripIt – Travel Organizer
If you travel a lot, then TripIt is a must-have app. TripIt makes it easier to organize and share travel itineraries, especially for people that travel every week.  As you receive confirmation e-mails from the different services that you book with, you will need to forward them to plans@tripit.com.
TripIt can recognize reservations from over 3,000 booking sites including cruises, concerts, and restaurants. You can share trip plans through e-mail, Facebook and LinkedIn contacts.  By organizing your travel information, the TripIt app  can help you avoid missing a flight or forget the car rental service that you have a reservation with.
6. Dropbox
Want to automatically have your files synced as you edit them? Dropbox is one of the most popular cloud storage companies that exists today. Best of all, Dropbox offers 2GB of storage for free. You can earn up to 3GB of additional free space by automatically syncing photos and videos with Dropbox.
Every referral you make with a free account gets you 500MB up to 18GB. Dropbox sells Pro accounts with a lot more space for between $8.25 per month to $41.60 per month.  I use Dropbox every single day to sync my documents.
The Dropbox app is compatible with Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and the Kindle Fire.
7. Mint.com Personal Finance
Mint.com makes it easier to tracking all of your spending habits in a single dashboard.  The Mint.com app tells you where you have been spending and how you can save money.  Mint.com also creates a customized budget based on your actual spending.  You can use the Mint app and website to track your bank, credit, loans, mortgages and retirement budgets.

8. Evernote
Evernote is one of the most essential apps to keep you organized across all of your devices. Using Evernote allows users to store notes, photos, to-do lists, ideas and voice reminders. The notes are completely searchable.  Evernote works on the Android, iOS and Windows Phone.
The free version of Evernote caps users at 60MB per month of usage.  A usage meter is available so that you can see how much data has been consumed for the month.  The data usage can be pumped up by paying a monthly fee.
9. OpenTable OpenTable
OpenTable makes it possible to book a table at over 20,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. A lot of business deals take place over breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Being prepared with a reservation ahead of time can show how meticulous you are. This app is especially useful in bigger cities where it is difficult to get tables right away.
10. BillMinder – Bill Reminder and Organizer
Every business has some form of recurring expenses. Billminder helps you track these expenses through the use of reports and comprehensive graphs. The bills can be synced between devices and alerts can be set for them. Billminder can also make recommendations on where you can save money.
There are thousands of other useful business apps, but these are ten that are important to me.  What business apps do you use the most? Let me know in the comments.

Google To Acquire Artificial Intelligence Company DeepMind

Google is acquiring an artificial intelligence company called DeepMind Technologies.  The terms of the deal were undisclosed, but sources with Re/Code report that it was worth around $400 million. DeepMind describes themselves as having the ability to combine the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build general-purpose learning algorithms. DeepMind’s first commercial applications were used in simulations, e-commerce and games.

DeepMind was founded by Demis Hassabis, Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman three years ago. Supposedly, DeepMind was in talks with Facebook about an acquisition in December 2012, but that deal fell through. Google CEO Larry Page is believed to have led this deal himself. Google also agreed to establish an ethics board to make sure that artificial intelligence technology is not abused, according to sources with The Information.

This is Google’s fourth acquisition this month. It was announced on January 4th that Google acquired an Android development company called Bitspin. This was followed by the $3.2 billion acquisition of smart thermostat company, Nest Labs, on January 13th. Two days later, Google acquired a software security company called Impermium.

Google’s translation and speech technologies rely on artificial intelligence. Google launched the Quantum Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab this past May to “build better models of the world to make more accurate predictions.” As part of the initiative, Google partnered with NASA. The NASA Ames Research Center is hosting the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab and is housing a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems Wave Systems and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA).
Investors in DeepMind included Founders Fund and Horizons Ventures. DeepMind reportedly had around 75 employees as of December 2013.