Japanese automaker Toyota is set to build a research center to focus on artificial intelligence and robotics at Michigan State, according to Fortune on Thursday.
Gill Pratt, head of the Toyota Research Institute, recently said at the GPU Technology Conference, the institute will set up a new research center near the University of Michigan to conduct research on artificial intelligence, robotics and materials science.
Last year, the Japanese car giant announced that it would invest around $1 billion in the research center on the artificial intelligence for the next five years.
Fortune reported that the center would mainly develop the technologies to be used for self-driving cars but the technologies will also be used for the home.
The Toyota Research Institute currently has two centers - both are located near the U.S. top universities, Stanford University and Cambridge. The new center is slated to open in June and hire around 50 staffs.
One interesting thing about the autonomous cars developed by the institute is that although the company is developing the self-driving cars for the aging populations and the disabled, the technologies can also be applied for normal drivers, who can shift from self-driving into assisted driving, according to the news media outlet.
Pratt said the set-up of the new center in Michigan is to access experts in artificial intelligence and robotics.
“People don’t want to move,” he said, adding, “It’s really that simple; you have to set up shop where the talent is and these are the three places we felt are the best.”
Toyota is also currently sponsoring the Mobility Transformation Center located in the University of Michigan, which conducts research on connected cars and automated cars by 2021.
