Honda picks Tokyo over Silicon Valley for AI research center

Honda Motor Co. will spearhead its artificial intelligence efforts out of a new lab in Tokyo so that researchers can work closely with its engineers to commercialize the technology. Honda, based in Tokyo, will start the r&d center next year and combine existing AI teams in Silicon Valley, Europe and Japan at the downtown location, according to Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, president of the automaker's largely independent research arm. In choosing Tokyo over Silicon Valley, the carmaker is betting closer interaction between its scientists and developers will lead to AI-enabled products consumers want, he said in an interview. Advances in artificial intelligence are sprouting like "bamboo shoots after rain," so it's time to find commercial uses for the technology by marrying research with Japan's traditional strength in hardware, Matsumoto said. "We won't make much difference if we did the same things as everyone else in Silicon Valley. And not everyone has succeeded there."