Twitter acquires startup Fabula AI to maintain healthy conversations and to beat spam

Twitter has acquired Fabula AI (Fabula), a London-based start-up that has a team of machine learning researchers who employ graph deep learning to detect network manipulation. Graph deep learning is a method for applying powerful ML techniques to network-structured data. The result is the ability to analyze very large and complex datasets describing relations and interactions and to extract signals in ways that traditional ML techniques are not capable of doing.

When Fabula joins the Twitter team, their initial focus will be to improve the health of the conversation, with expanding applications to stop spam and abuse and other strategic priorities in the future.

Since Twitter uses Machine learning extensively and as the technology powers Twitter for its purpose of serving the public conversation, this acquisition is a significant value-add. From onboarding people on the platform to connect them with relevant conversations, Twitter leverages machine learning (ML) across a multitude of our product surface areas.

“To continually advance the state of machine learning, inside and outside Twitter, we are building out a research group at Twitter, led by Sandeep Pandey, to focus on a few key strategic areas such as natural language processing, reinforcement learning, ML ethics, recommendation systems, and graph deep learning,” read Twitter’s blog.

The blog further said, “This strategic investment in graph deep learning research, technology and talent will be a key driver as we work to help people feel safe on Twitter and help them see relevant information. Specifically, by studying and understanding the Twitter graph, comprised of the millions of Tweets, Retweets and Likes shared on Twitter every day, we will be able to improve the health of the conversation, as well as products including the timeline, recommendations, the explore tab and the onboarding experience.”