IBM makes a 10-year commit to fund AI research with MIT
IBM and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will build on a decade of collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) with the establishment of the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. IBM will invest $240m over 10 years, as the lab develops AI algorithms, hardware and software, and seeks "innovations to tackle increasingly difficult real-world problems to improve our work and lives," according to John Kelly III, IBM senior vice president, Cognitive Solutions and Research. The lab has already called for joint research proposals for a series of AI-related projects.
IBM and the Mass. Institute of Technology plan to expand their ongoing partnership to create the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab to perform research on artificial intelligence. IBM is making a 10-year, $240 million investment to establish the Cambridge, Mass. center.

The lab will harness the work of 100 scientists, professors and students to develop AI hardware, software and algorithms; increase AI’s role in industries; and consider economic and ethical considerations associated with AI.

“The field of artificial intelligence has experienced incredible growth and progress over the past decade. Yet today’s AI systems, as remarkable as they are, will require new innovations to tackle increasingly difficult real-world problems to improve our work and lives,” said John Kelly III, IBM senior vice president, Cognitive Solutions and Research. “The extremely broad and deep technical capabilities and talent at MIT and IBM are unmatched, and will lead the field of AI for at least the next decade.”

Another goal of the partnership is to help MIT staff and students create companies to commercialize and sell AI technologies and innovations developed in the lab.

“I am delighted by this new collaboration,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif said. “True breakthroughs are often the result of fresh thinking inspired by new kinds of research teams. The combined MIT and IBM talent dedicated to this new effort will bring formidable power to a field with staggering potential to advance knowledge and help solve important challenges.”

The two parties have worked together for a decade on research in areas related to AI, including machine vision and unsupervised data processing. The combined effort will further both their work in the AI field. The lab is calling for joint research proposals in AI algorithms, physics of AI, application of AI to industries and advancing shared prosperity through AI.