A new partnership between universities in the U.S. and Japan has been established with backing of $110 million from tech corporations in an effort to accelerate advancements in artificial intelligence. The partnership will involve research collaborations between the University of Washington in Seattle and the University of Tsukuba in Japan, as well as between Carnegie Mellon University and Keio University. NVIDIA and Amazon are each contributing $25 million to the collaboration, with support from other companies such as Arm and Microsoft. This initiative is aimed at promoting AI-related research, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and social implementation.
Leading the initiative, the College of Engineering at the UW will form an interdisciplinary team to focus on various areas of AI-related research, including healthcare, robotics, climate change, and atmospheric science. The UW will share $50 million of the funding with the University of Tsukuba to support research awards, post-doctoral and doctoral students, an undergraduate summer research program, and an entrepreneurship bootcamp program. The collaboration is seen as a critical step to keep up with the rapid advancements in AI technology and its profound impact on various sectors of the economy.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, highlighting the importance of bringing together the expertise of leading universities to address the challenges and opportunities presented by advancements in AI technology. The agreement was announced during Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to the U.S., as part of the commitment made by Kishida and President Biden in 2022 to enhance science and technology cooperation between the U.S. and Japan. Seattle-based tech giant Microsoft also announced a significant investment of $2.9 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure in Japan, further emphasizing the growing collaboration between tech companies and academic institutions.
The University of Washington has established various partnerships with universities and companies in Japan to promote technology and workforce development. Through the UPWARDS program, the UW collaborates with Micron, Tokyo Electron Limited, and the National Science Foundation to focus on semiconductor workforce development. Additionally, in 2017, the UW launched a U.S.-China graduate tech institute program in partnership with Tsinghua University in Beijing, with support from Microsoft. The program included the opening of a Global Innovation Exchange building near Seattle to facilitate cooperation and exchange between the two countries in the field of technology.
Overall, the new partnership between universities in the U.S. and Japan supported by tech corporations represents a significant effort to drive advancements in artificial intelligence and address the challenges and opportunities presented by this rapidly evolving technology. The initiative aims to promote research collaborations, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and social implementation in key areas such as healthcare, robotics, climate change, and atmospheric science. This collaboration not only strengthens ties between academic institutions and tech companies but also reflects a commitment to staying at the forefront of AI innovation and ensuring the future competitiveness of the regions’ tech sectors.
