AI Festival CogX Returns for Second Year, with SoftBank Investment Advisers as Headline Sponsor

LONDON, February 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

SoftBank Investment Advisers demonstrates commitment to supporting the ecosystem of the most innovative, disruptive AI and emerging technologies.  

CognitionX today announced that SoftBank Investment Advisers, which manages the SoftBank Vision Fund, will be the headline sponsor for CogX 2018, the Festival for All Things AI. The event, now in its second year, will take place from Monday 11 to Tuesday 12 June at the historic Tobacco Dock, during London Tech Week (http://www.CogX.co).

CogX 2018 will bring together 4,000 attendees and 300 speakers across 5 main stages, more than doubling the size of the acclaimed inaugural 2017 event.

The event will feature an expanded agenda discussing not only The Impact of AI on Industry, Government and Society, but also the pressing question for executives of How To Get From Lab to Live and at the same time deploy AI responsibly and ethically. Along with this, CogX will explore how AI Intersects With Emerging Technologies including Blockchain, IoT and 5G telecoms, VR and AR, as well as the future of transportation, health and education. The winners of the CogX 2018 Annual Awards will be revealed on Monday 11 June, recognising the best products and technology across all key industries and technological domains.

Rajeev Misra, CEO, SoftBank Investment Advisers said: "The SoftBank Vision Fund is investing in the foundational platforms making tomorrow's world possible. Technology has the potential to address the biggest challenges facing humanity today, but it requires the patient long-term capital to do so. Our aim is to work with high performing businesses that will benefit and democratize services to one and all by reducing costs across a range of sectors, from healthcare to construction to insurance.

"We're thrilled to partner with CognitionX for CogX 2018 and look forward to interacting with the leading innovators, disruptors and thought leaders in AI all gathered in one place."

CogX 2018 brings together some of the most innovative and exciting voices in AI, from major corporations to rising startups, government to academia. Confirmed speakers include: Hermann Hauser, Director at Amadeus Capital Partners; Baroness Joanna Shields OBE, former Vice President EMEA at Facebook and Managing Director of Google EMEA; Frank Chen, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz; Claire Craig, Director of Science Policy at The Royal Society; Lauren Sager Weinstein, Chief Data Officer, Transport for London; Andrew Day, Chief Data Officer at Sainsbury's; Dame Wendy Hall, Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, Antoine Blondeau, Founder and Chairman of Sentient Technologies, Julia Shaw, Memory Scientist and Co-Founder of Palace.ai; Kathryn Parsons, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Decoded; and Lucas di Grassi, Formula E World Champion and CEO of Roborace.

Charlie Muirhead, Founder and CEO, CognitionX said: "My co-founder Tabitha Goldstaub and I launched CogX last year with the goal of creating the most informative event in AI and to move the conversation forward. CogX 2018 is set to be our biggest, most ambitious event yet, and a true festival of AI. We're honoured to have SoftBank Investment Advisers on board as headline sponsors.

CogX is a crucial part of CognitionX's mission to be the most trusted source of personalised advice on All Things AI, and to help ensure a responsible transition to an AI-driven society. All successful organisations will need to take advantage of artificial intelligence, but it is a complex, fragmented and ever-changing domain. We help bring clarity through the combination of our research subscriptions, weekly talks, orientation workshops, the annual CogX conference and awards, and our proprietary Knowledge Engine."

Laura Citron, CEO London & Partners said: "London is a global leader in artificial intelligence. With a diverse international tech talent pool and some of the world's top universities, London is home to some of the best minds in the field of AI and development. 2017 was a record year for investment into London's AI companies, offering further proof of the global allure of the city's AI offering. CogX 2018 will bring together some of the best AI experts and businesses from London and the rest of the world. We are delighted that it will be part of the London Tech Week 2018 programme."

About CognitionX: 

CognitionX's mission is to be the most trusted source of personalised advice on All Things AI. We deliver on this through our research subscriptions, weekly talks, annual CogX conference, and proprietary Knowledge Engine. Founded in 2015 by Charlie Muirhead and Tabitha Goldstaub, the London-based company has grown into a 30-strong team. In 2017 CognitionX launched CogX and the CogX Annual Awards, a conference for AI's best and brightest, which attracted 1,500 attendees and 100 speakers over two days. This year CogX will be held at Tobacco Dock during London Tech Week, hosting over 4,000 attendees, 300 speakers, and 100+ hours of sessions. See http://www.CognitionX.com .

About SoftBank: 

SoftBank Investment Advisers is a global advisory firm that seeks to make investments in the technology sector. We focus on growing businesses run by disruptive innovators that are seeking to be the foundational platforms of the information revolution.

We launched the SoftBank Vision Fund to help accelerate these efforts. The Vision Fund will enable long-term, large-scale investments to fund growth in the technology sector, investing up to $100bn over the next five years.

Our team is comprised of passionate strategists, tech experts and portfolio specialists. As a company, we move with the speed and agility of a startup, but with the thoughtfulness and patience of a long term partner.