Robotics may be on Sony’s plate yet again as CEO Kazuo Hirai has announced that Sony has re-established a corporate arm dedicated to robotics.
While Hirai did not give too much details as to what to expect from Sony’s renewed interest in robots and aritificial intelligence, the man did mention that the latest generation of robots from Sony will be “capable of forming an emotional bond with customers.” Just last month, Sony has invested an undisclosed amount of money in Cogitai, a US-based startup that specializes in artificial intelligence. Furthermore, Sony is also setting up a JPY 10 billion fund to invest in outside researchers and companies working on AI and robotics.
“It’s not about us getting back into the Aibo business. It’s us dipping our feet into a bigger area of new electronics in arficial intelligence and robots,” says Hirai. “We’ve done the real hard restructuring in the first three years. Now it’s time to innovate and really step on the gas.”
Sony’s previous attempt at robots resulted in the creation of the Aibo robot dog as well as the Qrio humanoid robot. However, heavy losses and cost-cutting measures resulted in Sony’s robotic wing being killed off back in 2006. With Sony now having renewed interest in robots and A.I. in general, we can only hope that Sony’s attempt at robotics would go smoothly this time around.
Source: Engadget, Financial Times
