Toyota just extended its investment to Silicon Valley. (Photo : Reuters)
Japanese automaker Toyota has announced plans to build the Toyota Research Institute in California in the hope of developing artificial intelligence relevant to safe driving.
Toyota revealed that it would be pouring $1 billion for the five-year construction of the company's research center near Stanford University, according to The Wall Street Journal.
While the investment amounted to a billion dollars and is one of the largest projects embarked upon by an automaker in Silicon Valley, Toyota has an estimated $46 billion to spare for future endeavors.
The research infrastructure will be managed by former United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency project manager Gill Pratt. The software expert joined Toyota back in September, as Pratt disclosed an artificial intelligence project for Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology worth $50 million.
The Toyota Research Institute will focus on reducing the harm caused by human error and technical faults, according to Business Insider.
However, while the Japanese car manufacturer promotes the thrill of driving, there are already signs of Toyota's leap into smart cars, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Toyota has already conducted trials for Highway Teammate, a sophisticated, autonomous driving system utilizing technology which the company wants to provide to the market by 2020.
Although Google is already researching about self-driving cars, Toyota could have the upper hand when the company studies about how cars can readily adapt to various climate and road conditions.
The Toyota Research Institute CEO also said that the carmaker will have a trillion kilometers of driving data each year. With a large amount of information, Toyota could possibly create delivery, transportation and traffic systems that would benefit society.
In addition, the real-world data across various climate conditions could potentially hasten the invention of future environmental technology.
Moreover, Pratt believes that Toyota will eventually transition into a highly competitive software developer developing technologies for various industries.
The CEO said that Toyota Research Institute will likely delve into the utility of robotics in factory production, healthcare and homes in the future.
