The Information

What’s Really Behind Google’s DeepMind Bet

By Amir Efrati · Jan 27, 2014 2:18pm PST

Google’s acquisition of DeepMind Technologies for more than half a billion dollars might seem like a gross overpayment. The startup doesn’t have any commercial products and its main assets were its people, including several dozen experts in machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence that tries to teach computers to think the way... Google’s acquisition of DeepMind Technologies for more than half a billion dollars might seem...

Nest Labs CEO Tony Fadell Credit: LeWeb

Nest’s Google Tie-Up Signals Hardware is Still Hard

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 14, 2014 12:29pm PST

Nest Labs’s decision to sell to Google rather than build its business alone should be a cautionary tale for the technology industry’s flood of hardware hopefuls. Of course, the $3.2 billion acquisition price is a generous amount for the three-year-old startup, which makes thermostats and smoke detectors that can be controlled... Nest Labs’s decision to sell to Google rather than build its business alone should be a...

Nest Labs CEO Tony Fadell Credit: LeWeb

Will Nest and Google Play Nice?

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 13, 2014 3:02pm PST

Google’s $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest Labs ends one curious chapter for the smart thermostat maker. But it starts what’s likely to be a more wild ride. Since December, rumors have been flying around Silicon Valley that Nest was up for sale. Apple was frequently bandied about as an acquirer, likely because Nest co-founders... Google’s $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest Labs ends one curious chapter for the smart...