IBM partners with MIT to create an artificial intelligence research lab called the Watson AI Lab

IBM is planning to spend $240 million over the next decade to create an artificial intelligence research lab at MIT.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Thursday announced the formation of the new MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. It will support joint research by IBM and MIT scientists.

Its mission will include advancing the hardware, software and algorithms used for artificial intelligence. It also will tackle some of the economic and ethical implications of intelligent machines and look at its commercial application for industries ranging from health care to cyber-security.

MIT President L Rafael Reif says the new AI lab builds on a decades long research relationship between IBM and MIT.

It will be based at the university and IBM’s nearby research center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Last month, IBM opened its first “ Machine Learning (ML) Hub” in Bengaluru which would provide a physical space to organisations for hands-on training on machine learning.

Through the ‘ML Hubs’, data professionals, business analysts and engineers could work with IBM’s data science experts to understand and learn the technology to visualise, analyse and interpret data.

“‘Machine Learning’ termed by an IBMer decades ago has evolved significantly. Today, it is the entry point to the cognitive era, enabling enterprises to drive critical insights.

With India’s focus on digitisation, it’s an apt time for organisations to make this transition,” said Gaurav Sharma, vice president, IBM India Software Labs and vice president, Growth IBM India & South Asia.