Toyota Announces Major Push Into AI and Robotics, Wants Cars That Never Crash

At a press conference in Palo Alto, Calif., today, Toyota is announcing the first step of what is expected to be a major push into artificial intelligence and robotics, technologies that the company sees as critical for addressing current and future societal challenges. Toyota, the world's largest automaker by sales, says it will establish two collaborative research centers at MIT and Stanford, with an investment of $50 million over the next five years. The initial focus will be on accelerating the development of AI with applications to smarter and safer vehicles, as well as robots that can make our lives better at home, especially as we age. Toyota says an immediate goal is to figure out ways to save lives on the road. But the company is very clear that it's not trying to develop a fully autonomous car in the same way that Google and many others are.