Toyota Announces $50 Million Artificial Intelligence Research Initiative

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already been weaved into our daily lives, although it’s often in imperceptible ways. For example, algorithms that provide shopping tips based on past purchases, or language translators as another illustration. However, it’s expected the next wave of AI-enabled devices that interact with humans will be far more obvious, such as autonomous cars and intelligent robots, and will become a driving force in reshaping society and the way that we live in the future.

In an exciting move toward that future, Stanford has announced the formation of the SAIL-Toyota Center for AI Research, a new research center funded by $25 million from Toyota, intended to further the development of artificial intelligence technologies. The collaboration is part of a combined effort by Toyota, Stanford and MIT, where Toyota is also funding a parallel research center to advance the state of autonomous vehicle systems.

“The Stanford School of Engineering has a strong track record of leading innovation in artificial intelligence,” said Persis Drell, dean of the Stanford School of Engineering. “This support will enable us to expand our research in human-centered AI and innovate solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”

Toyota will invest approximately $50 million over the next five years to develop research facilities in Palo Alto, CA, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Japanese manufacturer has also hired Gill Pratt, a program manager and head of the Robotics Challenge at governmental research organization DARPA.

“We will initially focus on the acceleration of intelligent vehicle technology, with the immediate goal of helping eliminate traffic casualties and the ultimate goal of helping improve quality of life through enhanced mobility and robotics,” Toyota Research and Development boss Kiyotaka Ise said in a statement.

Although driving may appear to be a simple task at times, that’s largely due to the fact that the human brain is remarkably good at collecting visual information and figuring out what’s important in order to make snap behavioral decisions, all while remaining within the framework of traffic laws. The driver’s brain performs this task nonstop, but the moment their attention wanders to a text message or to chatting with other passengers, the risk of an accident skyrockets. Due to the incredible complexity of a driver’s brain activity, the massive challenge of mimicking this behavior in an ever-changing driving environment has made autonomous driving one of the benchmark tasks for AI.

“This bold collaboration will address extremely complex mobility challenges using ground breaking artificial intelligence research,” explained Ise. “Key program areas will be addressed by the two university campuses and Toyota, with combined research targeted at improving the ability of intelligent vehicle technologies to recognize objects around the vehicle in diverse environments, provide elevated judgment of surrounding conditions, and safely collaborate with vehicle occupants, other vehicles, and pedestrians.”

It’s definitely an exciting announcement, and the collaboration between Toyota, Stanford and MIT has the potential to lead to the next massive development in self-driving car technology. Perhaps we’ll all be “driving” autonomous cars on our roads sooner than we thought!