Toyota Research Institute Announces All-star Leadership Team for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research
January 05 2016 - 4:26PM
Business Wire
Technical and advisory teams will guide and
drive proprietary and academic research portfolio
Almost thirty new projects launched through
collaborative research partnership with MIT and Stanford
New offices open in Palo Alto, CA and
Cambridge, MA
The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) today announced the hiring
of its technical leadership team, bringing together an all-star
group of scientists and engineers to help drive research into
artificial intelligence and robots. TRI CEO Gill Pratt introduced
the technical team and initial TRI research programs in a press
conference at the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show. In
addition to the technical team, TRI work will be guided by an
Advisory Board of corporate, scientific and public policy leaders
from around the world.
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Dr. Gill Pratt, Toyota Executive
Technical Advisor and CEO of Toyota Research Institute, speaks at
CES 2016 on January 5, 2016. (Photo: Business Wire)
First announced in November 2015, TRI is a research and
development enterprise designed to bridge the gap between
fundamental research and product development. Funded by an initial
five-year, $1 billion investment, it has been launched with
mandates to enhance the safety of automobiles, with the ultimate
goal of creating a car that is incapable of causing a crash;
increase access to cars to those who otherwise cannot drive,
including the handicapped and the elderly; help translate outdoor
mobility technology into products for indoor mobility; and
accelerate scientific discovery by applying techniques from
artificial intelligence and machine learning.
“While the most important technology for enhancing human
mobility has traditionally been hardware, today software and data
are increasingly essential,” said Gill Pratt, Toyota Executive
Technical Advisor and CEO of TRI. “Our leadership team brings
decades of experience in pushing the boundaries of human knowledge
in computer science and robotics, but we are only getting started.
The scale of Toyota’s commitment reflects our belief in the
importance of developing safe and reliable automated mobility
systems. Simply put, we believe we can significantly improve the
quality of life for all people, regardless of age, with mobility
products in all aspects of life.”
The initial technical team includes:
- Eric Krotkov, Former DARPA Program
Manager – Chief Operating Officer
- Larry Jackel, Former Bell Labs
Department Head and DARPA Program Manager – Machine Learning
- James Kuffner, CMU Professor and former
head of Google Robotics – Cloud Computing
- John Leonard, Samuel C. Collins
Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering, MIT – Autonomous
Driving
- Hiroshi Okajima, Project General
Manager, R&D Management Division, Toyota Motor Corporation –
Executive Liaison Officer
- Brian Storey, Professor of Mechanical
Engineering, Olin College of Engineering – Accelerating Scientific
Discovery
- Russ Tedrake, Associate Professor in
the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
– Simulation and Control
Professors Tedrake, Leonard and Storey will work part time with
TRI and continue in their university roles.
The Advisory Board will be made up of a range of outside experts
including:
- John Roos, former CEO of Wilson Sonsini
and former US Ambassador to Japan. Currently, General Partner at
Geodesic Capital, a late stage venture capital firm and Senior
Advisor at Centerview Partners, a preeminent mergers and
acquisitions advisory firm – Chairman
- Rodney Brooks, former director of the
MIT Computer Science and AI Lab, founder of iRobot and Founder,
Chairman and CTO of Rethink Robotics – Deputy Chairman
- Marc Benioff, CEO of
Salesforce.com
- Richard Danzig, Former U.S. Navy
Secretary
- Bran Ferren, former President of R
& D at Walt Disney Imagineering and Chief Creative Officer
of Applied Minds
- Noboru Kikuchi (planned), Emeritus
University of Michigan Professor, head of Toyota Central Research
and Development Lab and the Toyota Research Institute of North
America
- Fei-Fei Li, director of the Stanford
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL)
- Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer
Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
The hiring announcement comes as TRI is moving quickly to launch
its research and development programs. Two new facilities, one in
Palo Alto, CA and the other in Cambridge, MA officially open in
January. The two offices are located within ten-minute bike rides
and walks to the Stanford and MIT campuses and will further
accelerate TRI’s partnership with both universities.
Toyota has already committed $50 million over the next five
years to support collaborative research into artificial
intelligence and robotics research at Stanford and MIT. The program
has identified and funded almost thirty initial research projects
and project teams.
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Media ContactsElizabeth Winter,
213-335-5587ewinter@golin.comorRebecca Lee,
213-335-5552rlee@golin.comorJohn
Hansonjohn_hanson@toyota.comorCindy
Knightcindy_knight@toyota.com
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