Sony Corp. President Kazuo Hirai said Wednesday the company is making progress in its transition from restructuring to seeking profitability, pinning hopes on the growth potential of games and artificial intelligence-based robots. "We got off to a good start in the first year toward generating profits and investing in growth," Hirai told a press conference in Tokyo. Sony kept to its operating profit target of more than 500 billion yen ( 4.9 billion) set under its three-year business plan through fiscal 2017, although he called it "challenging." With an aim of developing AI-based robots, Sony will set up the "Sony Innovation Fund" in July to invest in startups, marking Sony's reentry into a market it quit when it ended production in 2006 of robotic dog AIBO. "Robots that can connect with our customers at heart...and receive affection are among items we want to develop," Hirai said.