IBM and MIT team up for a new joint AI lab

IBM and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have partnered to open a Watson-branded artificial intelligence research lab, the duo announced. Under the agreement, IBM will contribute $240 million over the next decade to the lab, which will operate in addition to and in partnership with IBM’s existing research organizations.

The joint AI Lab will be focused on four research pillars: developing AI algorithms, using physics to create new hardware for AI computation, applying AI to specific industries, and evaluating how AI will affect society.

The new team will work at the MIT campus as well as IBM's Watson Health and Security facilities nearby. Both IBM and MIT hope to publish the research studies from the AI lab and contribute extensively to open source AI projects.

The intellectual property produced at the lab will be jointly owned by MIT and IBM. IBM will have an option to use what’s developed there in its commercial products. They will also encourage the creation of startups to commercialize the research created in the lab.

AI is currently the buzzword in the technology industry. Google's DeepMind has been working on a wide variety of foundational research. OpenAI, a non-profit group backed by Elon Musk, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Jessica Livingston, and others is also working in a similar direction.