Google has purchased AI company DeepMind for a reported sum of more than $500m (£302m).

The deal was confirmed to Re/code, but details about DeepMind are fairly scarce. On its website, the London-based startup describes itself as “a cutting edge artificial intelligence company” which creates “powerful general-purpose learning algorithms”.

The first commercial applications of DeepMinds technology have been in simulations, eCommerce and games. Thats a fairly broad spread, and its not yet clear which area Google is most interested in – or an entirely separate application, like search.

One clue may come in the other company to have shown an interest in DeepMind: Facebook, which was reportedly in serious acquisition talks with the company late last year. Its unclear why these talks fell through, or why DeepMind opted for Google instead.

According to The Information, Google is setting up an ethics board as part of the deal, in order to make sure it doesnt abuse DeepMinds technology.