President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have asked Amazon.com Inc. and Nvidia Corp. to fund a up-to-date joint artificial intelligence research program as the two nations look to improve cooperation around the rapidly developing technology.
The $50 million project will be a joint venture between the University of Washington in Seattle and the University of Tsukuba near Tokyo, according to a senior U.S. official who told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s official visit to the White House. The two countries are also planning a separate joint artificial intelligence research program linking Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with Keio University in Tokyo.
The push for broader artificial intelligence research comes as the Biden administration considers a series of up-to-date regulations aimed at minimizing risks associated with artificial intelligence technology, which has become a major focus for tech companies. Delayed last month, the White House announced that federal agencies have until the end of the year to determine how they will evaluate, test and monitor the impact of the government’s apply of artificial intelligence technologies.
The university-led initiatives complement Microsoft Corp.’s announcement Tuesday. a $2.9 billion investment that will strengthen the company’s artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure in Japan. Kishida met with Microsoft CEO Brad Smith on Tuesday, and the company said in a statement that it plans to open a up-to-date lab in Japan focused on artificial intelligence and robotics.
On Tuesday, Kishida urged U.S. executives to boost investment in up-to-date technologies in Japan, Asia’s second-largest economy.
“Your investments will enable Japan’s economic growth, which will also capitalize on more investment from Japan to the United States,” Kishida said at a roundtable with business leaders in Washington.
Posted: Apr 10, 2024 15:32 EST
