The AI project, dubbed Acumos, is led by the Linux Foundation
AT&T and Indian firm Tech Mahindra are working in a project led by the Linux Foundation, which has the aim to make artificial intelligence (AI) widely available by providing a common framework and platform for the free exchange of machine learning solutions.
The project, dubbed Acumos, is expected to be launched early next year. The Linux Foundation said that other companies can take part in the initiative.
With the Acumos platform, the Linux foundation together with AT&T and Tech Mahindra, are working to create an industry standard for making AI applications and models reusable and easily accessible to any developer. The Acumos platform will be user-centric, with an initial focus on creating apps and microservices.
“An open and connected AI platform will promote collaboration as developers and companies look to define the future of AI,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. “Because the platform is open source, it will be accessible to anyone with an interest in AI and machine learning, and customizable to meet specific needs. We expect interest from organizations doing work with autonomous vehicles, drones, content curation and analytics, and much more.”
AT&T and Tech Mahindra are contributing the Acumos Project code to The Linux Foundation. The Linux Foundation will host the platform and its AI marketplace. Code will be available near the time of the project’s launch in early 2018.
“Artificial intelligence is a critical tool for growing our business. However, the current state of today’s AI environment is fractured, which creates a significant barrier to adoption,” said Mazin Gilbert, vice president of advanced technology at AT&T Labs. “Acumos will expedite innovation and deployment of AI applications, and make them available to everyone.”
“In the past few years we have successfully brought automation to help customers run better, change faster and grow greater. With Acumos, we seek to build on that experience and together with the open source community accelerate AI/ML-related benefits to realize benefits for our customers and partners,” said Raman Abrol, SVP & business unit head of Americas, communications, media & entertainment at Tech Mahindra.