DeepMind, the London-headquartered artificial intelligence (AI) lab owned by Alphabet Inc., lost $649 million last year and had a $1.5 billion debt waived by Alphabet.
The documents filed with the U.K.’s Companies House registry showed that DeepMind had a loss of £477 million ($649 million) in 2019, up from £470 million in 2018. The AI lab has been struggling to turn a profit since it was acquired by Alphabet in 2014.
The company has been working on various projects, such as developing AI-powered medical diagnosis tools and working on self-driving cars. Despite the losses, DeepMind has managed to attract top talent and has made significant advances in the field of AI.
However, the company has been struggling to make a profit and Alphabet recently waived a $1.5 billion debt that DeepMind had taken on. The debt was taken on to finance the acquisition of DeepMind by Alphabet in 2014.
The waiver of the debt has raised questions about the future of DeepMind and its ability to become profitable. It is unclear how the company will make money in the future, as its projects are still in the early stages and it is yet to find a way to monetize its technology.
DeepMind has also been criticized for its lack of transparency, with some accusing the company of being too secretive about its operations.
Despite the losses, DeepMind is still considered to be one of the leading AI labs in the world and its work has been praised by many experts. It remains to be seen if the company can find a way to become profitable and make a lasting impact in the field of AI.