Facebook Acquires Artificial Intelligence Startup Ozlo

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    Social network giant Facebook (NASDAQ:$FB) has officially acquired Ozlo, a small, artificial intelligence startup that has developed a virtual assistant app for iOS and Android.

    On Monday, July 31, Facebook announced that it purchased Ozlo, but did not disclose the terms of the deal. However, the Menlo Park, California-based company’s strategy is crystal clear: Bring artificial intelligence to its Messenger app.

    To put Facebook’s latest acquisition into perspective, CNBC has provided more information about the artificial intelligence startup and how it could benefit Facebook:

    “Ozlo launched last year, making its assistant available outside of other apps with assistants, including Alphabet’s Google Allo, Facebook’s Messenger, and Microsoft’s Skype. Ozlo can give you recipes, point to nearby restaurants and show movie showtimes, among other things. But the app hasn’t become extremely popular – on Android the app has 500-1,000 installs.”

    Furthermore, CNBC also stated: “Messenger’s many end users can already talk with many chatbots in the app, and Facebook wants to get even more businesses using the technology to talk with customers. Facebook has also tested a dedicated first-party M assistant for a small group of users, and more recently it has made a few components of M available to everyone on Messenger.”

    Most of the Ozlo team – 29 or so employees – will join Facebook, and they will be working primarily in Facebook’s Messenger group. “By joining a team that shares our values and our vision, we will be able to continue to work on building experiences powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. There’s a lot more for us to explore ahead and we’re excited to bring our technology to the Messenger community,” said Ozlo.

    In pre-market trading on Tuesday, August 1, Facebook shares increased 0.38%. So far this year, Facebook has increased 47.72%. As of right now, Facebook has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of A (Strong Buy).

    Featured Image: depositphotos/MichalLudwiczak

    Author Caroline Harris
    About the author: Caroline Harris is a third-year student at Capilano University in North Vancouver, Canada. Having already completed an Associates Degree in Psychology, Caroline is now finishing her Bachelor's degree in Communications. In preparation for working in the advertisement sector, Caroline is writing financial content and analysis. On a daily basis, Caroline works on articles regarding the following topics: finance, cryptocurrency, technology, and politics.