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Toyota Launching $1 Billion U.S. Company to Develop Artificial Intelligence

Toyota Motor Corp. will spend $1 billion over five years to establish the Toyota Research Institute Inc., a facility dedicated initially to developing artificial intelligence systems for the carmaker’s vehicles and factories.

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Toyota Motor Corp. will spend $1 billion over five years to establish the Toyota Research Institute Inc., a facility dedicated initially to developing artificial intelligence systems for the carmaker’s vehicles and factories.

TRI will open its headquarters in January in Palo Alto, Calif., near Stanford University. The company also will operate an East Coast office near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. The company expects to employ about 200 people.

Toyota has separately committed to invest $50 million over five years to create artificial intelligence research centers at both universities.

The new institute’s CEO is Gill Pratt, Toyota’s executive technology advisor. Pratt headed the U.S. military’s DARPA program, including its robotic vehicle challenge, between 2010 and 2015.

He says TRI’s initial goals are to reduce the likelihood of car crashes, make driving accessible regardless of ability and develop technologies for “indoor environments” to aid seniors.

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