Could he be the next Steve Jobs? At 16, Toby Brown has come up with an invention that could change the way we use technology. Now he is heading to California to follow his dreams.
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GCSE student gets $1m for AI start-up
Could he be the next Steve Jobs? At 16, Toby Brown has come up with an invention that could change the way we use technology. Now he is heading to California to follow his dreams.
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Toby Brown's bedroom is like any other teenager's... or maybe not. It is very tidy, and it is full of items linked to the founder of technology company AppleA type of fruit - or the world's largest technology company, based in California. , Steve JobsAn American business and investor known for co-founding Apple. He died in 2011 aged 56. .
Toby will not be sleeping in the room for much longer. He is about to move to California to work on his latest project, Beem. InvestorsA person who puts money into something in order to one day receive more money and make a profit. have given him $1m (£800,000) to turn the project into a successful business.
Beem is a new operating system powered by artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence, or "AI," is the ability for a computer to think and learn. With AI, computers can perform tasks that are typically done by people, including processing language, problem-solving, and learning..
Beem, Toby says, will handle all the annoying tasks that everyone has to do on their computers. "So say I get an email from you and you're asking for a file," he explains. "It will read that email, it'll understand and it'll bring that file to me."
Toby has always enjoyed taking things apart and seeing if he can make them better.
He learnt to codeWrite instructions for computer programs. and built his own website when he was seven. At 12 he launched a tool called Aretave "to allow anyone to build their own website, without any code".
At 13 he joined Hack Club, a group of teenagers who work together to make things with code. With other members he built the SineRider bot, which tweets a new mathematical graph puzzle every day.
Toby started Beem last year. It could make him very rich. But, he says, "I'm just happy I found the thing that I'm interested in - the thing that I want to create".
Could he be the next Steve Jobs?
Yes! Like Steve Jobs he has a simple idea that could change the world and the passionSomething you love doing. to make it happen. Now he has money for his project nothing will stop him.
No! Steve Jobs had a one-off invention that changed the world. Nobody can follow him so soon afterwards.
Apple - A type of fruit - or the world's largest technology company, based in California.
Steve Jobs - An American business and investor known for co-founding Apple. He died in 2011 aged 56.
Investors - A person who puts money into something in order to one day receive more money and make a profit.
Artificial Intelligence - Artificial intelligence, or "AI," is the ability for a computer to think and learn. With AI, computers can perform tasks that are typically done by people, including processing language, problem-solving, and learning.
Code - Write instructions for computer programs.
Passion - Something you love doing.
GCSE student gets $1m for AI start-up
Bright young thing: Toby will be staying with a family friend in San Francisco — after he has fended off questions from his school friends about whether or not he is a millionaire. Glossary
Apple - A type of fruit — or the world's largest technology company, based in California.
Steve Jobs - An American business and investor known for co-founding Apple. He died in 2011 aged 56.
Investors - A person who puts money into something in order to one day receive more money and make a profit.
Artificial Intelligence - Artificial intelligence, or “AI,” is the ability for a computer to think and learn. With AI, computers can perform tasks that are typically done by people, including processing language, problem-solving, and learning.
Code - Write instructions for computer programs.
Passion - Something you love doing.