Toyota to Cooperate with MIT, Stanford Univ. on AI Research

New York, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)--Toyota Motor Corp. <7203> said Friday that it has agreed to cooperate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University on artificial intelligent research. The Japanese automaker will invest about 50 million dollars over the next five years to set up a joint research center at each university. The centers will conduct research on object recognition and situational judgment in various environments, aiming to apply the results of research to the development of self-driving vehicles and advanced industrial robots. "We believe this research will transform the future of mobility, improving safety, reducing traffic congestion, and raising quality of life for everyone," Toyota Senior Managing Officer Kiyotaka Ise said at a press conference in California. Google Inc. is developing driverless cars. But Toyota's direction is different, as Toyota focuses on autonomous cars with drivers, Ise said. He also said that Toyota will launch vehicles using self-driving technologies within two or three years. END