IBM’s ‘Watson’ wins battle of man vs. machine

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A computer named Watson has trounced a pair of mortals to win the “Jeopardy!” challenge between man and machine.

Watson, the IBM megabrain, finished off his flesh-and-blood opponents, veteran “Jeopardy!” champs Ken Jennings and Ken Rutter, in the second of a two-game tournament that began Monday.

Watson’s winning score Wednesday was $41,413 ($77,147 for both games), while Jennings notched $19,200 for the day ($24,000 overall) and Rutter reached only $11,200 ($21,600 overall).

For crushing his rivals, Watson gets a total prize of $1 million, which IBM plans to donate to charity. Jennings and Rutter win $300,000 and $200,000, respectively.

The bouts were taped at the IBM research center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., last month.

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