• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechInternet of Things

Here’s Why Twitter Just Bought This Artificial Intelligence Startup

Barb Darrow
By
Barb Darrow
Barb Darrow
Down Arrow Button Icon
Barb Darrow
By
Barb Darrow
Barb Darrow
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 20, 2016, 10:07 AM ET
Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey at 2016 Code Conference
Still courtesy Vox Media

Twitter is buying Magic Pony Technology, a British company specializing in machine learning, a hot category of artificial intelligence.

The social media company’s co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey announced the news in a company blog post on Monday. Terms were not disclosed.

Going forward, London-based Magic Pony will serve as the base for Twitter’s (TWTR) European machine learning efforts, Dorsey wrote.

Machine learning is a term for technology that allows computers to take in a lot of data, process it, and teach themselves new skills using that input. Basically, it’s a “learn by doing” process that helps computers do more with less human intervention.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Machine learning can, for example, enable computers to recognize objects or people based on images, so it helps machines “see” and learn from seeing. Facebook (FB), for example, is using machine learning to recognize people from digital photographs. Magic Pony’s specialty is in this visual processing realm, according to Dorsey.

Machine learning also helps computers learn by “hearing” as evidenced by Amazon’s (AMZN) Alexa, Apple’s (AAPL) Siri, Microsoft (MSFT) Cortana digital assistants.

For more, read: Amazon Lands AI Brainiac from Carnegie-Mellon

Magic Pony’s 11 PhDs and other employees will join the Twitter Cortex engineering team, which, according to the company, wants to “build the most advanced AI platform in the world, at Twitter scale, to apply the most complex AI algorithms to our most challenging datasets, seamlessly.”

The popular social networking site hopes to parlay machine learning to help its users find the content they need and connect with each other—and theoretically figure out how to make money.

For more on machine learning, watch:

That’s a tall order that virtually every major tech company—including Amazon, Apple, IBM (IBM), Google (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT)—are also pursuing.

About the Author
Barb Darrow
By Barb Darrow
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

C-SuiteFortune 500 Power Moves
Fortune 500 Power Moves: Which executives gained and lost power this week
By Fortune EditorsFebruary 6, 2026
31 minutes ago
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
SuccessBillionaires
Tech billionaires are watching their wealth free-fall amid an AI-driven slump—Larry Ellison and Jeff Bezos have lost more than $66 billion this year
By Emma BurleighFebruary 6, 2026
52 minutes ago
Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, speaking.
AIAnthropic
Anthropic’s Claude triggered a trillion-dollar selloff. A new upgrade could make things worse.
By Beatrice NolanFebruary 6, 2026
1 hour ago
Image of Moltbook app logo on a smart phone with another image of the Moltbook logo in the background.
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Moltbook is the talk of Silicon Valley. But the furor is eerily reminiscent of a 2017 Facebook research experiment
By Allie GarfinkleFebruary 6, 2026
5 hours ago
NewslettersFortune Tech
Gemini takes a bite out of ChatGPT share
By Alexei OreskovicFebruary 6, 2026
6 hours ago
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange monitor the early moves of the market soon after the trading day began in New York 05 August, 1999.
InvestingMarkets
Software selloff giving you déjà vu? We’ve been here before, says Deutsche Bank, when the dotcom bubble burst
By Eleanor PringleFebruary 6, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
C-Suite
OpenAI’s Sam Altman says his highly disciplined daily routine has ‘fallen to crap’—and now unwinds on weekends at a ranch with no cell phone service
By Jacqueline MunisFebruary 5, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
After decades in the music industry, Pharrell Williams admits he never stops working: ‘If you do what you love everyday, you’ll get paid for free'
By Emma BurleighFebruary 3, 2026
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Investing
Ray Dalio warns the world is ‘on the brink’ of a capital war of weaponizing money—and gold is the best way for people to protect themselves
By Sasha RogelbergFebruary 4, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Trump is giving the U.S. economy a $65 billion tax-refund shot in the arm, mostly for higher-income people, BofA says
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 5, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Peter Thiel warns the Antichrist and apocalypse are linked to the ‘end of modernity’ currently happening—and cites Greta Thunberg as a driving example
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 4, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Investing
Tech stocks go into free fall as it dawns on traders that AI has the ability to cut revenues across the board
By Jim EdwardsFebruary 4, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.