Language Computer Corporation

Language Computer Corporation (LCC) is a natural language processing research and software company headquartered in Richardson, Texas. Founded in 1995, the company developed technologies intended to help computers interpret, organize, retrieve, and summarize human-language information. Its reported product and research areas included question answering, information extraction, and automatic summarization. LCC's business activity has been closely associated with the United States government software market. The company secured substantial federal contracts during the 2006–2008 period; the cited total for those years was $8,353,476. This contracting history indicates a focus on applied language technologies for government information-management and analysis needs, although the available reference material does not identify the individual agencies, programs, contract types, or technical deliverables involved. In addition to selling or developing technology for its core business, LCC used its research and software as the basis for several spin-off ventures. Lymba Corporation was established to commercialize PowerAnswer, a question-answering product originally developed at LCC. In 2010, LCC chief executive Andrew Hickl co-founded Swingly, an automatic question-answering start-up, and Extractiv, an information-extraction service created in partnership with Houston-based 80legs. These ventures extended LCC's underlying capabilities into more specialized commercial services and demonstrate an approach that combined government-oriented research with entrepreneurial commercialization. The company has remained relatively low-profile compared with consumer-facing artificial-intelligence brands. Publicly available reference material emphasizes its research, government contracting, product development, and technology spin-offs rather than a broad consumer product portfolio. Current ownership, operating status, leadership beyond the identified 2010 chief executive reference, website, and present product availability are not established in the supplied sources.

Language Computer Corporation was founded in 1995 as a natural language processing research company. Its work addressed computational methods for handling human language, including systems that could answer questions, extract structured information from text, and produce automatic summaries. The available historical account does not specify the company's founders or provide a detailed chronology of its early research, but it identifies LCC's later activity as a combination of research, product development, and government-oriented software contracting. During the 2000s, LCC concentrated primarily on the United States government software market. The company obtained federal contracts, with reported contract totals of $8,353,476 for the 2006–2008 period. The supplied source does not identify the contracting agencies or describe the individual projects, so the figure should be understood as a reported aggregate rather than a breakdown of LCC's government business. This period nevertheless marks an important phase in the company's development, showing how its language-processing research was applied in institutional and public-sector settings. LCC also pursued commercialization through technology spin-offs. Lymba Corporation marketed PowerAnswer, a question-answering product that had originally been developed within LCC. This transfer from internal research to a separate commercial company provided a route for LCC's question-answering technology to reach customers outside its direct corporate structure. In 2010, LCC chief executive Andrew Hickl co-founded two additional start-ups using technology associated with the company. Swingly was described as an automatic question-answering start-up. Extractiv was an information-extraction service founded in partnership with 80legs, a Houston-based company. These ventures broadened the application of LCC's capabilities beyond its established government software focus and connected its research with emerging web and data-processing services. The supplied reference material provides no reliable information about later ownership, acquisitions, additional executives, current products, financial performance after the 2006–2008 contract period, or whether the company remains operational. Accordingly, the present corporate status and current market footprint require further verification.

1. 2010Technology spin-offs expand

   CEO Andrew Hickl co-founded Swingly and Extractiv, applying LCC-related technology to automatic question answering and information extraction.

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2. 2008Reported government contracts reach $8,353,476 for 2006–2008

   The cited reference reports aggregate United States government contracts totaling $8,353,476 across the 2006–2008 period.

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3. 2006Government contracting period begins

   LCC entered a documented period of significant United States government contracting that extended through 2008.

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4. 1995Company founded

   Language Computer Corporation was established as a natural language processing research company.

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A specialized natural language processing company focused on applied language technologies, particularly question answering, information extraction, automatic summarization, and government-oriented software.

• PowerAnswerQuestion-answering software

  PowerAnswer was a question-answering product originally developed at Language Computer Corporation. It was subsequently marketed by the LCC spin-off Lymba Corporation, providing a commercial route for technology intended to retrieve or generate answers from language-based information.

• Question-answering systemsNatural language processing

  Question answering was one of LCC's principal research and product areas. The company's work in this field supported PowerAnswer and later influenced the creation of Swingly, an automatic question-answering start-up co-founded by Andrew Hickl in 2010.

• Information-extraction systemsNatural language processing

  LCC developed information-extraction technology designed to identify and structure relevant information from text. This capability was also associated with Extractiv, a service founded in partnership with 80legs in 2010.

• Automatic summarization systemsNatural language processing

  Automatic summarization was among the natural language processing capabilities attributed to LCC. The systems were intended to condense source material into shorter summaries, although the supplied sources do not identify a separately named commercial product.

• 2010Extend LCC technology through start-up spin-offsStrategy

  LCC had focused primarily on government software, while its language-processing research also had potential applications in commercial information services.

  What changed. CEO Andrew Hickl co-founded Swingly, an automatic question-answering start-up, and Extractiv, an information-extraction service created with 80legs.

  Aftermath. The move created separate ventures for applying LCC-related technology to question answering and information extraction. The supplied sources do not report their subsequent financial or operating outcomes.

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1. Language Computer Corporation