Sony Corporation has joined forces with U.S.-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Cogitai, which develops next-gen technology.
On May 18, Sony Corporation revealed that it was investing in Cogitai to carry out research and development (R & D) for the "next wave" of AI.
"Sony and Cogitai have complementary views on the future direction of AI. By working with Cogitai we can combine the expertise of some of the best brains in the field of AI with our world class engineers and technologies, such as sensing technologies, to develop products that may truly change the world," noted Sony Corporation's Toshimoto Mitomo.
Sony's primary purpose of investing in the startup is to work toward a collaborative effort of creating and developing new AI technologies, which deploy reinforcement learning with predictive tech. This technology can be deployed as the foundation for the next-gen AI product and apps.
Founded in Sept. 2015, Cogitai is the brainchild of three AI researchers — Mark Ring, Peter Stone and Satinder Singh Baveja. The startup aims to advance AI tech to endow machines with the ability to learn continuously via real-time interactions so that they become more skilled and competent with time.
"Our continual-learning technology will allow computer systems to build knowledge and skills simply through interacting with the world around them," notes Dr. Mark Ring, CEO of Cogitai.
Cogitai is elated at having investment from Sony Corporation, which will aid the startup in enabling the next-gen AI. Ring also revealed that the fact other companies are also tapping different areas with AI, it will not be a hurdle or challenge for Cogitai. Why? Because the company is confident that the next-gen AI tech intends to create in tandem with Sony are veered toward the future of the industry itself.
Neither Sony Corporation nor Cogitai have spilled the beans on the investments' size. Therefore, the amount of money Sony Corporation has pumped into this partnership is a mystery. However, Cogitai has disclosed that it is now set to start aggressively hiring "extraordinary applicants" who will work in tandem with the experts on the future projects.
Photo: Ian Muttoo | Flickr
