In this article we introduce a neural net designed for nonlinear statistical prediction. The net is based on a stochastic model featuring a multilayer feedforward architecture with random connections between units and noisy response functions. A Bayesian inferential procedure for this model, based on the Kalman filter, is derived. The resulting learning algorithm generalizes the so-called onedimensional Newton method, an updating algorithm currently popular in the neural net literature. A numerical study concerning the prediction of a noisy chaotic time series is presented, and the greater predictive accuracy of the new algorithm with respect to the Newton algorithm is exhibited.