Open-Source Acumos Project Aims to Make AI Apps More Accessible

Sean Michael

Updated · Nov 07, 2017

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the hottest areas in technology today, but enterprise application developers often struggle to figure out how to integrate the technology. A new open-source effort that is set to debut in early 2018 could change that situation, making AI easier to use and integrate.

The Acumos Project will be an open-source effort hosted by the Linux Foundation. The initial founding members of the nascent effort include AT&T and Tech Mahindra.

“Artificial intelligence is a critical tool for growing our business. However, the current state of today’s AI environment is fractured, which creates a significant barrier to adoption,” Mazin Gilbert, vice president of advanced technology at AT&T Labs, stated. “Acumos will expedite innovation and deployment of AI applications, and make them available to everyone.”

No code, reference architecture or design documents are currently publicly available for the Acumos Project. That said, basic tooling will likely come from a base of existing projects already being used by AT&T and Tech Mahindra.

“Our goal with open sourcing the Acumos platform is to make building and deploying AI applications as easy as creating a website,” Gilbert stated. “We’re collaborating with Tech Mahindra to establish an industry standard for AI in the networking space.”

The Acumos project will benefit from the AT&T Indigo platform, which is designed for 5G connectivity and takes a software defined networking (SDN) approach for services delivery.

“In the past few years, we have successfully brought automation to help customers run better, change faster and grow greater,” Raman Abrol, senior vice president and business unit head of Americas for Comms, Media & Entertainment at Tech Mahindra, stated. “With Acumos, we seek to build on that experience and, together with the open source community, accelerate AI/ML-related benefits to realize benefits for our customers and partners.”

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at EnterpriseAppsToday and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

Sean Michael
Sean Michael

Sean Michael is a writer who focuses on innovation and how science and technology intersect with industry, technology Wordpress, VMware Salesforce, And Application tech. TechCrunch Europas shortlisted her for the best tech journalist award. She enjoys finding stories that open people's eyes. She graduated from the University of California.

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