Sentient Technologies was an American

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

technology company based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Sentient was founded in 2007 and received over $143 million in funding at different points after its inception. As of 2016, Sentient was the world's most well-funded AI company. It focused on e-commerce, online content and trading. The company was dissolved in 2019.

History

Sentient originally operated in

stealth mode In business, stealth mode is a company's temporary state of secretiveness, either in total stealth mode when everything about the company is kept secret, or in-company stealth mode which is usually undertaken to avoid alerting competitors to a pen ...

as Genetic Finance Holding Ltd. The company was founded in 2007 by Antoine Blondeau, Babak Hodjat and

Adam Cheyer Adam Cheyer (born c. 1966) is a co-founder of Siri Inc. and formerly a director of engineering in the iPhone group at Apple. Early life and education Cheyer attended Sharon High School, in Sharon, Massachusetts. After graduating in 1984, Cheyer ...

who created the natural language technology that led to

Siri Siri ( , backronym: Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is a digital assistant purchased, developed, and popularized by Apple Inc., which is included in the iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, Apple TV, audioOS, and visionOS operating sys ...

, Apple's voice recognition software. Sentient raised a $2 million

Series A round A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in excha ...

of funding, and $38 million in a Series B round led by Horizons Ventures. Sentient emerged from stealth mode in November 2014 with $103.5 million in Series C funding. Sentient worked with

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to analyze blood pressure to predict the likelihood of

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

in ICU patients. The technology was researched in association with Saint Michael's Hospital at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. The platform was also used to successfully automate financial services for Sentient's subsidiary, Sentient Investment Management. In 2015, Sentient launched an AI powered visual intelligence and

personalization Personalization (broadly known as customization) consists of tailoring a service or product to accommodate specific individuals. It is sometimes tied to groups or segments of individuals. Personalization involves collecting data on individuals, ...

platform leveraging deep learning and online learning. Shoes.com, a Vancouver-based online shoe retailer, was Sentient's first retail customer for this service. Since its launch, Sentient had other retailer customers. Sentient Ascend was launched in September 2016 as a

SaaS Software as a service (SaaS ) is a cloud computing service model where the provider offers use of application software to a client and manages all needed physical and software resources. SaaS is usually accessed via a web application. Unlike oth ...

AI based

conversion rate optimization Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of increasing the percentage of users or website visitors to take a desired action (such as buying a product or leaving contact details). History Online conversion rate optimization (or website ...

platform, largely based on the same AI methods used in its

financial technology Financial technology (abbreviated as fintech) refers to the application of innovative technologies to products and services in the financial industry. This broad term encompasses a wide array of technological advancements in financial services, ...

IP. In 2019, Sentient Technologies was dissolved, selling off Sentient Ascend to Evolv and much of its AI intellectual property to

Cognizant Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational information technology consulting and outsourcing company originally founded in India. It is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States. Co ...

Technology

Sentient's platform combined evolutionary computation, which mimics biological evolution, and

deep learning Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that focuses on utilizing multilayered neural networks to perform tasks such as classification, regression, and representation learning. The field takes inspiration from biological neuroscience a ...

, which is based on the structure of nervous systems. Sentient's algorithms worked across as many as two million CPU cores and 5000 GPU cards across 4,000 physical sites around the world, making it one of the largest known systems dedicated to AI.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/cognizant-tech-explores-the-evolution-of-ai/, title=IT leader Cognizant evolves AI beyond 'hill climbing', author= Tiernan Ray , date=February 28, 2019, publisher=CBS Interactive {{cite web, url=https://martechseries.com/mts-insights/interviews/martech-interview-michael-scharff-chief-executive-officer-evolv/, title=Evolv Technologies raises $10m and acquires Sentient Ascend, date=June 14, 2019, author= Sudipto Ghosh , publisher=Martechseries {{cite web, url=https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/11/24/artificial-intelligence-company-sentient-emerges-from-stealth/, title=Artificial Intelligence Company Sentient Emerges From Stealth, author=Deborah Gage, date=November 24, 2014, publisher=The Wall Street Journal {{cite web, url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/537831/ai-supercomputer-built-by-tapping-data-warehouses-for-their-idle-computing-power/, title=AI Supercomputer Built by Tapping Data Warhouses for Their Idle Computing Power, author=Tom Simonite, date=June 1, 2015, publisher=MIT Technology Review {{cite web, url=https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/artificial-intelligence-draws-new-connections-for-personalization/?_r=2&mtrref=undefined&gwh=CBC99EAB08A05910CDAB778F242E188A&gwt=pay, title=Artificial Intelligence Draws New Connections for Personalization, author=Quentin Hardy, date=November 16, 2015, work=The New York Times {{cite web, url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11939915/Worlds-most-funded-AI-company-Sentient-Technologies-launches-online-shopping-product.html, title=World's most funded AI company, Sentient Technologies, launches online shopping product, author=Madhumita Murgia, date=October 19, 2015, publisher=Telegraph {{cite web, url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/sentient-technologies-ai-nurses-bankers, title=Sentient Technologies is using AI to tackle deadly diseases, author=Gian Volpicelli, date=March 30, 2016, publisher=Wired {{cite web, url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-24/ai-startup-sentient-raises-103-5-million-in-funding, title=AI Startup Sentient Raises $103.5 Million in Funding, author=Jack Clark, date=November 24, 2014, publisher=Bloomberg {{cite web, url=https://www.ft.com/content/74c789c8-11c3-11e6-839f-2922947098f0, title=AI pioneer Sentient to open equity fund to outside investors, author=Robin Wigglesworth, date=May 5, 2016, publisher=Financial Times {{cite web, url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2014/11/sentient-technologies-artificial-intelligence-vc.html, title=Artificial intelligence startup Sentient Technologies raises $103.5M, date=November 25, 2014, publisher=San Francisco Business Times {{cite web, url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-06/silicon-valley-hedge-fund-takes-on-wall-street-with-ai-trader, title=Silicon Valley Hedge Fund Takes On Wall Street With AI Trader, author=Adam Satariano, date=February 6, 2017, publisher=Bloomberg {{cite web, url=http://www.channelnews.com.au/technology-the-key-to-fighting-amazon-say-experts-as-us-retailers-shut-up-shop/, title=Technology The Key to Fighting Amazon Says Experts As US Retailers Shut Up Shop, author=David Richards, date=January 23, 2017, publisher=Channel News {{cite web, url=https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nrf/STORES1216/#/48, title=Making Changes, author=Craig Guillot, date=December 2016, publisher=NRF {{cite web, url=http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/spotlight-sentient-aware/, title=Spotlight: Sentient Aware, author=David Murphy, date=November 24, 2016, publisher=Mobile Marketing {{cite web, url=https://econsultancy.com/blog/68466-could-ai-kill-off-the-conversion-optimisation-consultant/, title=Could AI kill off the conversion optimisation consultant?, author=Ben Davis, date=November 2, 2016, publisher=Econsultancy {{cite web, url=http://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2016/sep/19/sentient-launches-ai-based-conversion-rate-optimisation-solution/, title=Sentient launches AI based conversion rate optimisation tool, author=Rachael Power, date=September 19, 2016, publisher=Marketing Tech {{cite web, url=http://www.ibtimes.com/deepmind-watson-why-you-should-learn-stop-worrying-love-ai-2339231, title=From DeepMind To Watson: Why You Should Learn To Stop Worrying And Love AI, author=David Gilbert, date=March 18, 2016, work=International Business Times {{cite web, url=http://www.ibtimes.com/artificial-intelligence-here-help-you-pick-right-shoes-2144114, title=Artificial Intelligence Is Here To Help You Pick The Right Shoes, author=David Gilbert, date=October 16, 2015, work=International Business Times {{cite web, url=http://www.gereports.com/ai-fighter-pilots-e-commerce-sentients-antoine-blondeau-explains/, title=What Do AI And Fighter Pilots Have To Do With E-Commerce? Sentient's Antoine Blondeay Explains, date=December 5, 2016, publisher=GE Reports Technology companies established in 2007 Companies based in San Francisco 2007 establishments in California Artificial intelligence laboratories Technology companies disestablished in 2019 2019 disestablishments in California