Toyota to invest $1B to establish artificial intelligence company in US

Toyota Motor Corp. announced it will establish a new company, named Toyota Research Insitute Inc., to develop artificial intelligence and robotics. The Japanese automotive company is making its initial investment of $1 billion over the next five years.

The announcement comes following Toyota's initial statement two months ago about its investment in artificial intelligence research, according to Quartz.

Toyota said it would invest $50 million in a partnership with MIT and Stanford University. Now the automaker wants more than a relationship.

Toyota Research Institute will be located in Silicon Valley near Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. The company will have a second facility that will be located near the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusets.

The R&D enterprise will begin operations in January 2016.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the company will be headed by Gill Pratt, a former program manager at the U.S. military's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency.

He joined Toyota earlier this year as a technical advisor when the company set up its artificial intelligence research at Stanford and MIT.

Gill Pratt said that the research institute goals include improving car safety by continuously decreasing the possibility that a car will be involved in an accident, and developing technology to make driving a car is accessible to everyone regardless of ability.

The research institute also plans to improve production efficiency and accelerate scientific discovery in materials. The company will also apply Toyota technologies for outdoor mobility to the indoor environment, particularly to support older people.

Toyota Research Institute will also allow Toyota to explore new fields of business, beyond automobiles, by utilizing artificial intelligence.

According to CTV News, Toyota has been working on robotics for years. It has shown a robotic design called R2-D2 to help older people, sick people or people on wheelchairs in picking up and carrying objects.

It also has shown a human-shaped robot that can carry on conversations and play musical instruments. The company also uses robotic arms in auto manufacturing, including painting jobs and screwing in parts.

Toyota has also begun working on its own self-driving cars. It plans to have self-driving cars on the road by 2020.

Many companies in Silicon Valley have been exploring the self-driving vehicle and robotic technologies.

Google is already testing out its self-driving cars in California's streets. It also has a robotics division in Boston Dynamics. Other companies including Delphi Automotive, Tesla Motors as well as Apple and Uber are also working on self-driving cars.