Saffron Technology, Inc., was a technology company headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, that developed cognitive computing systems. Their systems use

incremental learning In computer science, incremental learning is a method of machine learning in which input data is continuously used to extend the existing model's knowledge i.e. to further train the model. It represents a dynamic technique of supervised learning ...

to understand and unify by entity (person, place or thing) the connections between an entity and other “things” in data, along with the context of their connections and their raw frequency counts. Saffron learns from all sources of data including

structured Structuring, also known as smurfing in banking jargon, is the practice of executing financial transactions such as making bank deposits in a specific pattern, calculated to avoid triggering financial institutions to file reports required by law ...

and unstructured data to support knowledge-based decision making. Its patented technology captures the connections between data points at the entity level and stores these connections in an associative memory. Similarity algorithms and

predictive analytics Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of Statistics, statistical techniques from data mining, Predictive modelling, predictive modeling, and machine learning that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or other ...

are then combined with the associative index to identify patterns in the data. Saffron’s Natural Intelligence platform was utilized across industries including

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, to help decision-makers manage risks, identify opportunities and anticipate future outcomes, thus reducing cost and increasing productivity. Its competitors included

IBM Watson IBM Watson is a computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language. It was developed as a part of IBM's DeepQA project by a research team, led by principal investigator David Ferrucci. Watson was named after IBM's fou ...

and Grok. As a Saffron customer and investor,

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

purchased the company in 2015. Intel announced Saffron's decision support product for manufacturing, including Intel's own internal use, but discontinued Saffron's external product and service offerings three years after its acquisition.

History

Saffron was founded in 1999 by Dr Manuel Aparicio, and Mr. James Fleming. In 2000, former National Security Advisor Admiral (Dr.)

John Poindexter John Marlan Poindexter (born August 12, 1936) is a retired United States naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor during the Reagan administration. He was convicte ...

joined the board with a focus of applying Associative Memory technology in the fields of National Security and Intelligence. In the first years, the company did most of its work with the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

, including in Iraq, analyzing and predicting where IED’s would be located so insurgent bombers could be proactively targeted. On March 3, 2014 Saffron Technology raised a round of Series B funding. In October 2015,

bought Saffron Technology for an undisclosed price. Intel offered the licensed software with engineering services contracted to develop client applications and support ongoing use. In August 2018, Intel discontinued the Saffron software offering and supporting engineering services. Intel never issued a press release.

National security

During the Iraqi insurgency Saffron was used by coalition forces in Iraq to help identify entities that were defined as people, places, and things involved in insurgent networks. Saffron was contracted by

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...

to work on Project Genoa.

Industry

Saffron's Natural Intelligence platform was utilized by Global 1000 companies across industries including

and

References

{{Reflist Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Computer memory companies Intel acquisitions