Sony invests in artificial intelligence startup Cogitai

Japan's Sony said it plans to build up its artificial intelligence (AI) business and eventually turn it into a major revenue source, beginning with an investment in a U.S. startup. The electronics maker has invested an undisclosed sum in California-based Cogitai. The year-old firm, founded by three researchers, focuses on technology that allows machines to learn continually and autonomously from interaction in the real world. The move comes a time when major technology companies such as Facebook, Apple, and Alphabet's Google are spending aggressively on AI ventures. "From an objective perspective, we are lagging behind," Hiroaki Kitano, chief executive of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, said in an interview.