Twitter Buys Machine Learning Startup For $150 Million To Enhance Video Delivery

Twitter announced today that it has acquired London-based startup Magic Pony Technology, which develops machine learning techniques for visual processing. Machine learning is a field in which computers are taught to think more like humans, and Techcrunch, which pegs the acquisition at $150 million, says Twitter could be using Magic Pony’s technologies to enhance the quality of pictures and videos across the platform.

“Magic Pony’s technology — based on research by the team to create algorithms that can understand the features of imagery — will be used to enhance our strength in live and video and opens up a whole lot of exciting creative possibilities for Twitter,” Jack Dorsey wrote in a company blog post announcing the deal.

Magic Pony’s team — which includes 11 PhDs, Dorsey notes — will be joining the Twitter Cortex

team, a group of engineers, data scientists, and machine learning researchers.

Eighteen-month-old Magic Pony, which has filed over 20 international patents, said in a statement that its technologies will henceforth be dedicated to improving “visual experiences that are delivered across [Twitter’s] apps,” which, in addition to its flagship platform, also includes Vine and Periscope. “We’re looking forward to vastly accelerating our rate of research [and] growing our team, which will serve as the European homebase for Twitter’s machine learning efforts.”

Twitter, which was recently surpassed by Snapchat in terms of daily active users, is also reportedly adding a new division within its product team that will work with VIP users and influencers.