Facebook is looking to buy Bloomsbury AI, a London-based startup, according to TechCrunch.
The tech giant could pay as much as $30m (£23m) in cash and stock for the company, which specialises in natural language processing.
Set up approximately three years ago, Bloomsbury AI, an alumnus of Entrepreneur First, has developed proprietary AI technology called ‘Cape”.
Cape is able to read the copy in documents and answer questions about the content.
The TechCrunch report says Facebook is planning to use the startup’s technology to combat fake news.
To date, Bloomsbury AI has been backed by Fly Ventures, Seedcamp, IQ Capital, the London Co-Investment fund (backed by UK taxpayer money) and UCL Technology Fund.
The company has also received funding from William Tunstanll-Pedoe, an Angel investor, who helped Amazon develop Alexa.
UKTN reached out to Bloomsbury AI for comment.