Former DeepMind employees are trying to train AI to spot and invest in company stocks and cryptocurrencies

Three of the developers responsible for DeepStack, the first AI system to beat humans at heads-up, no-limit poker, have left their posts at DeepMind to form a new startup dedicated to dominating the stock market. The startup, called Equilibre Technologies, will use algorithms to select stocks and cryptocurrencies.

Martin Schmid, Rudolf Kadlec, and Matej Moravcik left Alphabet-owned DeepMind in January to set up EquiLibre Technologies, relocating from Edmonton in Canada to Prague in the Czech Republic in the process.

The developers intend to use a technique known as reinforcement learning to train an AI system to buy and sell shares and make a profit. Reinforcement learning involves training an AI to achieve a particular goal (be that winning a game of chess or spotting a tumor on a mammogram) by rewarding it each time. In the long run, EquiLibre Technologies hopes to either use the AI it develops to underpin a new hedge fund or sell it to a large institutional bank or another investor.

While they're certainly not the first to attempt to demystify the stock market with artificial intelligence, they're taking a slightly different approach than their competitors.

The typical stock-picking AI tries to "guess" what's going to happen next in the market based on historical trends.

But the Equilibre team's known for creating incredibly complex algorithms to succeed at solving problems without a lot of information. They combine game theory with artificial intuition to gain a theoretical advantage over other computer-based or human trading methodologies.

Several venture capitalists have already backed EquiLibre Technologies. Schmid said it has raised the largest-ever seed round in the Czech Republic, but refused to disclose the exact figure. Schmid and his co-founders are among a growing number of ex-DeepMind entrepreneurs who are raising money from venture capitalists.