Leading Canadian bank TD Bank Group has acquired Layer 6 Inc., an artificial intelligence startup based in Toronto. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The Canadian firm, branded as Layer 6 AI, has focused on the financial services sector since being founded in 2016 by Tomi Poutanen and Jordan Jacobs, who also collaborated to found the research-focused Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. TD Bank has previously worked together with the institute on AI-related technologies as well.
Michael Rhodes, group head of innovation, technology, and shared services at TD Bank Group, speaking in a statement, was light on details about the move other than noting that Layer 6 is a capable AI firm that will bring more innovation talent to the financial firm.
TD Bank added that this acquisition represents another sign of tech-based progress, following previous moves to add the KAI Banking chatbot to its mobile app, introduce a Twitter chatbot, and collaborate with Amazon on banking capabilities linked to its Alexa home assistant.
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to power a new generation of data-driven applications from personalized and real-time advice to predictive analytics that will shape the future of banking for millions of individuals,” said Rhodes.
(Photo credit: Mike Mozart)
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