Pretty sure that "Bayesian inference" is precursor to predictive analytics, machine learning, and AI. So basically, they were selling a search service which cou

Pretty sure that "Bayesian inference" is precursor to predictive analytics, machine learning, and AI. So basically, they were selling a search service which could anticipate the user's requests or produce contextual results (whether it actually worked well or not, I have no idea). But recognizing how highly the market values AI companies and products today, you can understand why HP might pay a premium back then.