10x faster than other AI cloud platforms and optimized to handle complex problems at scale, Nervana Cloud enables enterprises to leverage deep learning to solve their most difficult data problems

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nervana Systems today announced the launch of Nervana Cloud, a hosted hardware and software platform for deep learning that transforms how knowledge is extracted from data. Nervana Cloud enables organizations of all sizes to quickly build and deploy deep learning solutions without investing in infrastructure or in a large machine learning / data science team. The company was founded in 2014 to make scalable artificial intelligence (AI) widely accessible and to enable disruptive new applications across a range of industry verticals.

Deep learning is today's most exciting branch of AI, having driven the recent rapid advances in speech recognition, image classification, and natural language understanding. Though deep learning theory has existed for decades, the complexity, cost, and time required to implement conventional deep learning systems has hampered widespread adoption. Nervana Cloud enables healthcare, agriculture, finance, online services, automotive, and energy organizations to effectively use deep learning to solve their biggest data challenges. With Nervana Cloud, data teams can now develop solutions to solve previously unsolvable problems such as increasing the accuracy of medical diagnoses, helping feed a growing global population through increased food production, reducing credit card fraud, improving financial returns, building intelligent cars, and conducting more efficient energy exploration.

"Deep learning is revolutionizing human life in ways we never imagined. But until now, the cost and complexity of deep learning tools has meant that its potential has been relegated to just a few large organizations," said Naveen Rao, co-founder and CEO, Nervana. "With the right set of tools, small data teams can do the work of much larger organizations. Nervana enables customers of all sizes to derive meaningful insights from their data. We are bringing intelligent and efficient computation to the masses."

Nervana Cloud: The World's Fastest Deep Learning Cloud Platform
Nervana Cloud, based on neon, Nervana's open source deep learning framework, is a full-stack solution optimized to easily handle complex machine learning problems at scale. Neon is the fastest deep learning framework available today, and Nervana Cloud is more than 10x faster than any other cloud platform. Nervana Cloud removes the complexities associated with developing deep learning solutions, allowing data scientists to quickly build, train, and deploy deep learning-based AI solutions using internal data. Nervana Cloud is available either via public cloud or an on-­premise hybrid cloud solution.

"Recent advances in deep learning technology will help us solve many of the world's most complex challenges," said Steve Jurvetson, Partner at DFJ. "By developing deep learning solutions that are faster, easier, and less expensive to use, Nervana is democratizing deep learning and fueling advances in medical diagnostics, image and speech recognition, genomics, agriculture, finance, and eventually across all industries."

Nervana helps Blue River Technology improve crop yields and advance agricultural robotics
Blue River Technology is a leader in the emerging field of precision agriculture. The company uses cutting-edge computer vision and robotics to accurately measure and characterize crops, allowing farmers to make decisions plant-by-plant to increase overall yields and promote more sustainable farming practices. Blue River works on a wide range of applications like precision thinning that uses a real-time robotic platform to kill unwanted plants. When Blue River approached Nervana to help with characterizing corn plants, they had an in-house system based on 3-D imaging that performed well but was thrown off by certain features such as weeds. The challenge for Nervana was to bring the power of deep learning methods, such as convolutional neural networks, to improve the performance of the overall system.

"Blue River operates robots across hundreds of different fields. Nervana's deep learning system allowed us to increase reliability and improve plant detection in real world conditions," said Lee Redden, Co-founder and CTO of Blue River Technology.

Paradigm achieves more efficient oil exploration with Nervana Cloud
Paradigm, a leading provider of software-enabled solutions for the oil and gas industry, uses Nervana Cloud to more accurately detect subsurface faults within 3-D seismic images. Faults, folds, and other underground features can trap oil in pools at a concentration high enough to be viable for extraction. Knowing the location of subsurface faults helps oil explorers better target their drilling activities, reducing cost and increasing return on investment.

"We approached Nervana Systems to explore ways artificial intelligence could help improve operational efficiency in oil exploration. Nervana successfully built a deep learning-based solution on their cloud to detect numerous subsurface faults within three-dimensional seismic imagery without the need for manual intervention," said Indy Chakrabarti, Senior Vice President of Product Management and Strategy at Paradigm. "Nervana Cloud enables geoscientists to spend less time on repetitive tasks and become more productive."

About Nervana Systems
Based in Palo Alto and San Diego, CA, Nervana Systems has developed a full-stack deep learning solution that enables organizations of all sizes to quickly build and deploy state-of-the-art deep learning-based AI solutions. Founded by experts in machine learning, neuroscience, and computer engineering, Nervana has assembled experienced data scientists, engineers, and business professionals from the best institutions, research labs, and high-growth technology companies in the world including Brown, Caltech, Duke, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Qualcomm, and Goldman Sachs. The company is backed by leading VC firms including DFJ, DCVC, Allen & Co, AME Cloud Ventures, Playground Global, CME Group, Fuel Capital, Lux Capital, and Omidyar Network.