Toyota Will Establish New Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Company

At a press conference today, Toyota Motor Corporation announced it will establish a new company, Toyota Research Institute Inc. (TRI), as an R&D enterprise with an initial focus on artificial intelligence and robotics. The headquarters will be located in Silicon Valley near Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, U.S.A. A second facility will be located near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. The new company will begin operations in January 2016.

Toyota believes artificial intelligence has significant potential to support future industrial technologies and the creation of an entirely new industry. To underscore this belief, it is making an initial investment of $1 billion over the next five years, to establish and staff the two initial locations and conduct operations. The investment is in addition to the $50 million investment over the next five years with MIT and Stanford to establish joint fundamental artificial intelligence research centers at each university.

TRI will help bridge the gap between fundamental research and product development. Its primary mission is to accelerate R&D in a range of fields to help resolve society’s future challenges by using artificial intelligence and big data. Thereby, contributing to a sustainable future where everyone can experience a safer, freer, and unconstrained life.

Directed by Dr. Gill Pratt, Toyota’s Executive Technical Advisor and the Chief Executive Officer of the new enterprise, TRI will hire leading researchers and engineers to support its wide range of activities.

Dr. Pratt said, "Our initial goals are to: 1) improve safety by continuously decreasing the likelihood that a car will be involved in an accident; 2) make driving accessible to everyone, regardless of ability; and 3) apply Toyota technology used for outdoor mobility to indoor environments, particularly for the support of seniors. We also plan to apply our work more broadly, for example to improve production efficiency and accelerate scientific discovery in materials."

Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, said, "As technology continues to progress, so does our ability to improve products. At Toyota, we do not pursue innovation simply because we can; we pursue it because we should. It is our responsibility to make life better for our customers, and society as a whole. I want to work with Gill, not just because he is a great researcher, but because I believe that his goals and motivations are the same as ours."

TRI Outline

Name Toyota Research Institute, Inc.

Headquarters Palo Alto, California, United States of America

Date of Establishment January 2016

Business Advanced research and product planning with an initial focus on artificial intelligence and robotics

Initial Investment $1 billion / 5 yr.

Number of employees Approximately 200 (plan)

Reference: Dr. Gill Pratt’s career

Born in the U.S.A. in 1961.

Obtained a Doctorate degree from the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at MIT, and taught at MIT and Olin College as Associate Professor and Professor, respectively.

Established three startups between 1983 and 2005, and helped found Olin College.

As a DARPA Program Manager, led projects in Neuromorphic Systems and Robotics, including the DARPA Robotics Challenge, from 2010 to 2015.

Significantly influenced robotics research by leading the DARPA Robotics Challenge, where humans and robots collaborated for disaster response.

Reference: Awards Dr. Gill Pratt has won

DARPA Program Manager of the Year 2014

DARPA Results That Matter 2013

NSF (National Science Foundation) Career 1998

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