Paris-based expert systems and artificial intelligence specialist Cognitech SA has been bought by Framentec SA, a subsidiary of the French nuclear power station reactor builder Framatome SA that also specialises in Unix-based expert systems development. The acquisition, reported to be valued at around eight million francs – about $1.3m – follows poor financial results from Cognitech last year. The company’s venture capital backers, which included the Banque Nationale de Paris SA – Le BNP – decided that it was time for some radical restructuring. The future for Cognitech, its products and research and development operations now looks bleak. The two companies compete in the same fault-detection expert systems marketplace with similar products, suggesting that there is little chance of Cognitech being retained as a separate company. Indeed the move has been greeted with scepticism and hostility by Cognitech employees, some of whom have resigned over the takeover, because they believe Framantec intends to strip out Cognitech’s technical research into medical and other diagnostic systems for short term gains, at their expense.
