The Zuckerberg’s family 45 billion dollars philanthropy organization is making its first acquisition. It seems that Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s organization wants to make it easier for scientists to search, tie together and read more than 26 million science research papers.
So, these days, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will buy Meta, which is known as an AI-powered research search engine startup.
You can reserve an account now for when it goes live, after the approvals come through.
The best thing is that they want to make this tool free to all in a few months after enhancing the product. This new tool will definitely help scientists find the latest papers related to their own projects.
What is so special about this new startup tool called Meta?
Well, the best thing is that its AI recognizes authors and citations between papers, so it can surface the most important research instead of just what has the best SEO. Moreover, Meta has the ability to provide free full-text access to approximately 19.000 journals and literature sources.
“Going forward, our intent is not to profit from Meta’s data and capabilities; instead we aim to ensure they get to those who need them most, across sectors and as quickly as possible, for the benefit of the world,” has declared Sam Molyneux, Meta co-founder and CEO.
Unfortunately, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative did not disclose the price or other terms of the acquisition of the Toronto-based startup tech and team.
To be added that Meta was founded in 2010 and funded with approximately $8 million by investors, including HIGHLINEvc and Rho Canada Ventures. At first, Meta charged users for subscriptions of custom solutions.
But, with this new acquisition, it seems that Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will allow the whole Meta product to be used for free. But, people should know that the acquisition will take some time to complete.
Here is a declaration of Cori Bargmann, president of Science, and Brian Pinkerton, president of Technology, for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, explaining how the science platform could be used:
The potential for this kind of platform is virtually limitless: a researcher could use Meta to help identify emerging techniques for understanding coronary artery disease; a graduate student could see that two different diseases activate the same immune defense pathway; and clinicians could find scientists working on the most promising Zika treatments sooner.
In the long run, it could be extended to other areas of knowledge: for example, it could help educators stay up to date on developmental science to better understand how children learn.
Another interesting thing is that when the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative declared that it will acquire Meta, a large number of complaints have emerged.
Why?
Because, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was accused of diverging from the traditional structure of a charity. But, the ability to acquire for-profit companies like this one is exactly why Mark and Priscilla chose to form the philanthropic vehicle in the first place.
Helping scientists will produce a virtuous cycle, as they develop new tools that in turn unlock additional opportunities for faster advancement,” has declared Molyneux. “The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s recognition of this “meta” effect is why Meta can be a key piece of the puzzle”.
Author : John Colston
Source : http://www.maddapple.com/2017/01/chan-zuckerberg-initiative-meta-3609.html
