Google Acquires Artificial Intelligence-based Serendipity engine for location-based services Cleversense

The technology behind the Clever Sense Platform curates the real world by harvesting and sifting through the vast amount of information available on the Web. The platform is designed to connect the online world with the offline world by delivering recommendations to the users in context, taking into account time, place, and intent.Google has acquired Cleversense and Cleversense team will be joining Google’s local services division. At the heart of the Clever Sense Platform is the Serendipity Engine: a personalized, context-aware discovery engine.The Serendipity Engine adds a layer of real-time machine learning algorithms and intelligent agent architecture to the the Clever Sense Interest Graph. It goes beyond traditional recommendation engines by incorporating the user's anonymous interest profiles and context (time, location, intent, and social context) into the curation of its recommendations.

The Serendipity Engine learns about the user's interests and preferences based on the user's interactions with various sources, including Clever Sense apps, Facebook, and Twitter. The user's interest data are stored anonymously and separate from any personally identifiable information, in order to ensure complete protection of privacy.

"Today, we are excited to join Google and start a new chapter in curating the world around us! Together with the Google team, we will accelerate our efforts toward this shared vision. Google helps local businesses connect with potential customers, and its worldwide presence can bring the value of Clever Sense to a much larger audience." said the Co-founder and CEO Babak Pahlavan in a release.

Alfred is a free mobile app by Cleversense for Android and iOS that puts serendipitous recommendations in the palm of a consumer's hand. Dubbed "Pandora for the real world," Alfred is a personal robot that can learn users' tastes when they teach it about their favorite places in the real world.