Approaching a real-time map of the economy

Financial Times (subscription)

A thought-provoking piece from Robin Wigglesworth about the impact of alternative data on the world. Read More

Blackstone enters data fray with Thomson Reuters deal

The Globe and Mail

Thomson Reuters partners with Blackstone Group in a $17-billion joint venture to accelerate growth in its core financial data business. Read More

Andrew Ng officially launches his $175M AI fund

TechCrunch

The machine-learning prodigy who co-founded Coursera and spearheaded Google Brain’s deep-learning project has no trouble raising money for his new AI fund. Read More

Asset management’s fight for alternative data analysts heats up

Financial Times (subscription)

Investment managers have more than quadrupled their employment of alternative data analysts, creating a talent war for the ages. Read More

More legal considerations for alternative data

MarketBrains

Integrity Research publishes “legal risks with alternative data” and MarketBrains says SEC has successfully prosecuted a case involving alternative data (albeit one that involved a clear breach of fiduciary duty). Read More

Sotheby’s buys ML start-up Thread Genius

Bloomberg Quint

AI’s most unlikely frontier: figuring out what makes good art. Sotheby’s gets in the game. Read More

Alt data signals the end of traffic surveys

GCN

Traffic problems solved in Napa County by analyzing congestion with location, smartphone and app data. Read More

New techniques for remote imaging of landscapes

Mongabay

Open-source datasets, analysis tools and powerful computers now allow scientists to combine different sources of satellite-based data for vegetation health. Read More