Multimillion investment for AI startup company

AN AI startup in Newcastle has secured £4.6m in investment just two years after being founded.

- GRAEME WHITFIELD

Newcastle University spinout Literal Labs is an Al algorithm company that uses logic-based techniques to generate custom Al models. It was cofounded by academics Prof Alex Yakovlev and Prof Rishad Shafik, based on their work in machine learning and computer systems design.

The company is led by Noel Hurley, formerly a vice president at semiconductor company Arm. It aims to improve the building of AI models with a technique it says is more efficient than conventional networks.

On its website, the company says that “AI has the potential to change the world for the better” but says the technology should be “explainable, it has to be fast, and it has to be economically and energy efficient.”