We already know the answer to the latter question (yes, if they haven't done so already), but the latest news from the technology world is that Google has purchased DeepMind, an artificial intelligence start-up company, for a staggering $400 million.

According to TechCrunch, Google swiped the company out from under Facebook's nose; the social media site was looking to purchase the company sometime late last year. Interestingly enough, DeepMind's website doesn't offer any real insight into what it does, or what it offers -- the whole site consists of a landing page and the description, "a cutting edge artificial intelligence company that combines the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms."

TechCrunch is also saying that this move is the latest by Google to build up its roster of artificial intelligence companies and experts in order to become dominant in the field. "If all three of DeepMind's founders work for Google, they will join inventor, entrepreneur, author, and futurist Ray Kurzweil, who was hired in 2012 as a director of engineering focused on machine learning and language processing. Kurzweil has said that he wants to build a search engine so advanced that it could act like a "cybernetic friend," reports the site.

According to Digital Trends, the acquisition of the AI company is more about acquiring the talent, rather than the technology. Critics who are concerned about the potential ethics violations can take some comfort in knowing that Google plans to install an "advisory board" to make sure that DeepMind's technology isn't abused, or used in an unethical way. (Because it's not like they've ever done anything unethical with our personal information before... so why would anyone think that now?)

Nevertheless, the Founders Fund and Horizons Ventures are both major investors in the start-up company, so it definitely looks like the company will become a household name sometime in the very near future.