20 Companies Leading the AI Revolution

Google parent company, Alphabet, acquired DeepMind in 2014, and in addition to using the AI platform to become a Go master (Alpha’s DeepMind AlphaGo application in 2016 beat a human master at the ancient Japanese game of Go), the company has also applied AI and machine learning to reducing its own energy consumption by 40%. The company’s Waymo autonomous vehicle subsidiary is perhaps the best known of Alphabet’s AI and machine learning projects. Some of DeepMind’s capabilities have also been incorporated in Google Search, the company’s cash-generation machine.

The vast majority of Canon’s patents are related to imaging, not surprising for a company best known for its cameras. In 2016, the company acquired Toshiba’s medical imaging business, and last year it introduced an AI-based platform that can produce out of low-dose, low-quality CT scans high-quality images. For patients this means less radiation per scan; for physicians, it means faster diagnoses.

Given its roots in consumer products, Panasonic has been looking for a way to integrate all those devices under a single control system. Late last year, the company released its HomeX smart home controller that not only communicates with people, but also lets devices communicate with one another. The company’s machine learning, AI, and IoT-capable devices “will develop services and products that update over time based on what we find as they are used,” according to Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga.

Hitachi has partnered with Mitsubishi to build fully autonomous digital power plants that will some day be operated by AI. Currently in the proof-of-concept state, the plants need no human intervention except for maintenance. The plant would take orders to produce more or less electricity from an automated grid system, schedule maintenance, and predict three years in advance how the equipment will perform and what capital spending will be needed.

While NEC will be checking credentials at the Tokyo Olympics, Fujitsu might be judging the gymnastics competition using lidar-based (laser) technology (also used in many self-driving cars). The technology uses the images to determine the body position of the contestants and passes the information to the judges to help determine an athlete’s final score.