Twitter sees revenues rise sharply and takes over ‘deep learning’ start-up

Twitter has released its business results for the second quarter of this year, showing a significant increase in active users and revenue. The social network also acquired the deep learning start-up Madbits.

In total, Twitter now has 271 million active users, 12 percent more than the 241 million users three months ago and an increase of 24 percent from a year earlier. The increase seems to be mainly due to the activity around the World Cup, but CEO Dick Costolo states that the social network does not depend on major events to be able to grow.

In addition to user activity, the company’s revenues also increased. Twitter saw its revenue grow to $312 million in the second quarter, about 233 million euros, an increase of 29 percent from 180 million euros in the previous quarter. The company now earns $1.60 per thousand views on timelines, which is the equivalent of €1.19. This is an increase of eight percent compared to the previous quarter and an increase of one hundred percent in one year.

The social network also announced that it is acquiring the startup Madbits. This company develops technology to determine the context of photos on the internet. The developers use deep learning for this. Neural networks are used that are modeled after brains. The company is said to have already successfully tested the technology and is ready to put it into practice. No further details regarding the acquisition have been disclosed.