AlchemyAPI was a software company in the field of

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

. Its technology employed deep learning for various applications in natural language processing, such as semantic text analysis and sentiment analysis, as well as computer vision. AlchemyAPI offered both traditionally-licensed software products as well API access under a

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model. After acquisition by IBM in 2015, the products were integrated into the Watson line of products and the brand name eventually disappeared.

Technology and business model

As the name suggests, the business model of charging for access to an API was central to the company's identity and uncommon for its time: A ''

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'' article highlighted that even though the technology was similar to IBM's Watson, the pay-per-use model made it more accessible, especially to non-enterprise customers. At one point, AlchemyAPI served over 3 billion API calls per month.

History

AlchemyAPI was founded in 2005, and launched their API in 2009. In September 2011, ProgrammableWeb added AlchemyAPI to its API Billionaires Club, alongside giants such as

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and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

. In February 2013, it was announced that AlchemyAPI had raised US$2 million to improve the capabilities of its deep learning technology. In September 2013, it was reported that AlchemyAPI had created a Google Glass app that could identify what a person was looking at, and that AlchemyAPI would soon be rolling out deep learning-based image recognition as a service. As of February 2014 (prior to the IBM acquisition), it claimed to have clients in 36 countries and process over 3 billion documents a month. In May 2014, it was reported that AlchemyAPI had released a computer vision API known as AlchemyVision, capable of recognizing objects in photographs and providing image similarity search capabilities. In March 2015, it was announced that AlchemyAPI had been acquired by IBM and the company's breakthroughs in deep learning would accelerate IBM's development of next generation cognitive computing applications. IBM reported plans to integrate AlchemyAPI's deep learning technology into the core Watson platform

Media coverage

A February 2013 article in

VentureBeat ''VentureBeat'' is an American technology website headquartered in San Francisco, California. It publishes news, analysis, long-form features, interviews, and videos. History The ''VentureBeat'' company was founded in 2006 by Matt Marshall, ...

about big data named AlchemyAPI as one of the primary forces responsible for bringing natural language processing capabilities to the masses. In November 2013,

GigaOm Gigaom is a technology focused analyst firm and media company. The company evolved from a blog which offered news, analysis, and opinions on startup companies, emerging technologies, and other technology related topics. It was started by Om Malik ...

listed AlchemyAPI as one of the top startups working in deep learning, along with Cortica and Ersatz.

References

External links

* {{official website Defunct technology companies of the United States Applied machine learning Former IBM subsidiaries IBM acquisitions Companies based in Denver American companies established in 2005 American companies disestablished in 2020