The 91探花 and the University of Tsukuba have entered an innovation partnership with NVIDIA and Amazon aimed at furthering research, entrepreneurship, workforce development and social implementation in the field of artificial intelligence. This U.S.-Japan academic partnership is part of a broad, $110 million effort to build upon the strong ties between the U.S. and Japan and to continue to lead innovation and technological breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.
The groundbreaking agreement involving universities and industry leaders in both countries was announced on April 9th in Washington, D.C. as part of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio鈥檚 historic state visit. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, and Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Moriyama Masahito announced two new research partnerships in artificial intelligence between the 91探花 and the University of Tsukuba and between Carnegie Mellon University and Keio University. These partnerships are supported by $110 million in combined private sector investment from NVIDIA, Amazon, Arm, Microsoft, and nine Japanese companies. Amazon and NVIDIA will each invest $25 million in this collaboration.
鈥淭his is an extraordinary opportunity for the 91探花to lead the global conversation on AI and to convene academic researchers, industry experts and governmental leaders to not only advance the workforce, but to change lives and communities by leveraging this powerful technology,鈥� said 91探花Provost Tricia Serio.
鈥淭his is an exciting effort that brings together the talents and expertise of cutting-edge, world-class universities,鈥� said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. 鈥淎dvancements in AI are happening at a breakneck pace. This collaboration will help provide the research and workforce training for our regions鈥� tech sectors to keep up with the profound impacts AI is having across every sector of our economy.鈥�
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At the invitation of Ambassador Emanuel, the 91探花has been forging ties with the University of Tsukuba over the past year, with a focus on shared expertise in artificial intelligence. Tsukuba is known in Japan for being at the center of scientific research and innovation, much like Seattle鈥檚 reputation for fostering technological breakthroughs and being home to some of the world鈥檚 biggest technology companies.
鈥淲e are honored to work with Amazon and NVIDIA as well as with the University of Tsukuba to advance artificial intelligence and global engagement,鈥� said Nancy Allbritton, dean of the College of Engineering. 鈥淭sukuba is a science city just as Seattle is, and we see a tremendous opportunity to leverage the university and the whole ecosystem to create a better future on both sides of the Pacific. We are grateful to Ambassador Emanuel for catalyzing this landmark partnership.鈥�
Faculty and staff from the College of Engineering will spearhead 91探花interdisciplinary efforts. This multi-year partnership will feature work in areas where AI can drive transformative change to benefit society, including healthcare, robotics, climate change and atmospheric science, among others. The funding will support research awards, post-doctoral and doctoral students, an undergraduate summer research program, and an entrepreneurship bootcamp program.
Artificial Intelligence is the third strategic university-corporate partnership initiative concluded between American and Japanese academic institutions and the corporate sector since May 2022, when President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Kishida made a commitment to advance U.S.-Japan science and technology cooperation. The 91探花also is the lead partner on UPWARDS, a program focused on workforce development for the semiconductor industry supported by Micron, Tokyo Electron Limited and the National Science Foundation.