In late 2015, IBM announced the acquisition of the Weather Company—which included the weather data, forecast information, website, app, and various intellectual property. The price tag was over an estimated $2 billion.1
What was the rationale for this? Was IBM getting into the weather business?
The deal was actually great for the company. Data is the fuel for AI, and weather data has broad applications. IBM folded the Weather Company assets into the Watson AI platform. The forecasting segment, called WSI, was likely the most important asset. The business included license revenue from over ...
