50 Smartest Companies 2015
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Why
While advancing autopilot technology in its Model S and X cars, the company is taking electric vehicles mainstream with its $35,000 Model 3 car, which already has 400,000 pre-orders.Company Details50 percent
According to CEO Elon Musk, drivers have a 50 percent lower chance of having an accident when driving with Tesla Autopilot. - 2
- 3
Why
After a drop in sales last fall, unveiled a new machine, NovaSeq, that will be capable of sequencing 48 entire human genomes in two and a half days—and could one day push the cost of genome sequencing down to $100.Company Details$850,000:
price of the cheaper of its two NovaSeq models - 4
Why
Quickly expanding the artificial intelligence in its Alibaba Cloud platform, including industry-specific products, and launching a global electronic trade platform to build its business with small and medium-size companies around the world.Company Details57 percent:
Alibaba’s share of Chinese online commerce - 5
Why
Company Details3.6 percent
Proportion of U.S. couples that use its tests before trying to conceive - 6
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Why
Turning its insanely popular chat platform WeChat into a virtual operating system featuring mini programs.Company Details50 percent:
proportion of WeChat’s 770 million daily users who are on the service at least 90 minutes a day - 8
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Why
Creating an AI-powered store of the future with Amazon Go while expanding intelligent voice assistant Alexa into phones, cars, and more.Company Details12,000:
number of programs that software developers have published for Alexa - 14
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Why
Minting money selling its popular mobile phones and laptops while adding impressive names to its AI research team and promising to do more manufacturing in the U.S.Company Details$257 billion:
cash on its balance sheet, more than the entire market value of General Electric - 17
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Why
Its large-scale desalination process is winning big contracts in China and Australia.Company Details30 percent
By October IDE will be producing 30 percent of Santa Barbara’s water. - 19
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Why
Its innovative batteries for the power grid make this startup unusually successful in a tough industry.Company DetailsBackers
Include Bill Gates, Shell. - 21
Why
Despite the high-profile loss this year of its well-regarded head of AI, Andrew Ng, the company is doing important work in the field, including leading China’s National Engineering Lab of Deep Learning Technology and Application.Company Details1,300:
number of employees dedicated to working on AI - 22
Why
Changing the economics of space travel with its successful landing and recycling of rockets to be recycled for multiple tripsCompany Details10 percent:
price discount being considered for customers who agree to fly their payloads on reused rockets - 23
Why
Company Details$15 million
Size of recent investment by appliance maker Dyson (General Motors is also a backer) - 24
Why
Company Details$12 billion
Freescale’s value in a proposed acquisition by a Dutch semiconductor maker - 25
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Why
Uses of its life-saving immunotherapy, Opdivo, has expanded to lung cancer, advanced renal-cell carcinoma, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.Company DetailsFive years
One-third of patients with advanced melanoma survived for five years in a study of Opdivo. - 27
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Why
Continues to tweak its chips, originally developed for gaming, to help develop breakthrough technologies like deep learning and autonomous driving.Company Details$3 billion:
spending on R&D to create its new data-center chip - 29
Why
Despite controversies over fake news, live streaming video, and discriminatory advertising, and poor sales of its Oculus VR headset, it continues to work on interesting applications of AI and VR, and its Instagram business is singing.Company Details20:
number of natural-language data sets built into the company’s AI research tool, ParlAI. - 30
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Why
Last summer a hospital in London used Cellectis’s gene-editing technology to heal a child with otherwise untreatable leukemia.Company Details$300 million
Though not profitable, the company has over $300 million in cash, enough to last through 2018. - 34
Why
Leading gene-therapy company focuses on engineered T cells that recognize and kill cancer and other conditions. Its treatment for sickle-cell disease appears promising.Company Details66 percent:
increase in stock price over the past year - 35
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Why
The workplace communications app burrows more deeply into workplaces. Now you can use your Slack login for all the software your company uses.Company DetailsThree million
Number of daily active Slack users. - 37
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Why
Its virtual-world simulation platform is used to create VR software and test driverless cars.Company DetailsFunding
Andreessen Horowitz is a major backer. - 39
Why
A number of Australian radiologists are now using the company’s deep-learning software to analyze x-rays.Company Details50 percent
Claims its algorithm read chest CT images 50 percent more accurately than experts in its own test. - 40
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Why
The Oxitec division of this biotech holding company genetically engineers mosquitoes that could reduce the spread of Zika.Company Details$174 million
Acquisitions increased sales from $8 million to $174 million in five years. - 45
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Why
Exploring new technologies like blockchain and cloud AI while continuing work on important long-term challenges like quantum computing.Company Details400:
number of customers the company has worked with on blockchain applications - 47
Why
Building out its advertising business by partnering with Viacom to sell ads and with Nielsen for marketing campaign data.Company Details10 billion
Number of videos that are seen on the app every day. - 48
Why
Its fast-growing cloud business has reduced the software giant’s reliance on PC sales. Its expanding team of quantum computing experts hopes to develop commercially viable products to compete with efforts by Google and IBM.Company Details$15 billion:
projected annual revenue for its commercial cloud business - 49
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