TRI will help bridge the gap between fundamental research and product development. It comes on top of the United States dollars 50 million investment over the next five years with MIT and Stanford to establish joint fundamental artificial intelligence research centres at each university. TRI will be based in Palo Alto and the second research center will be located in Cambrige, Mass, near MIT.
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Toyota is planning to boost research into artificial intelligence, robotics and big data through $1bn investment. This branch will focus on artificial intelligence that is able to build next-generation robotics that could solve mobility issues. But Toyota’s president Akio Toyoda and TRI’s new CEO, Pratt, said that the new institute’s scope would extend well beyond self-driving cars and into other areas that will have a positive impact on society as a whole. Pratt said the TRI’s initial goals will be to improve auto safety, make driving accessible to everyone, regardless of ability and apply Toyota technology used for outdoor mobility to indoor environments, particularly for the support of seniors.
It said that it believes that artificial intelligence has the potential to support future technologies and create an entirely new industry. Dr. Pratt added that TRI would also work on improving production efficiency and accelerating materials research. The increasing presence of computerized controls in vehicles has also helped to blur the lines between traditional hardware/car companies and software companies. He’ll oversee a staff of 200, consisting mostly of researchers and scientists, once the facility is fully operational.
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IDC analyst David Schubmehl told us the latest robotics effort by Toyota is “an interesting announcement”, but one that has to be viewed in the context of major investments in AI and deep learning being made by tech firms such as Google.
