Hyundai Motor Group today announced that it will invest $400 million to create a new institute whose goal will be to make fundamental advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and intelligent machines.
Set to be led by Marc Raibert, the founder of Boston Dynamics, the institute will be headquartered in the heart of the Kendall Square research community in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Boston Dynamics Institute, as it will be called, will be a research-first organization that will work on solving important challenges in the advanced robotics space. It hopes to attract top talent from across the AI, robotics, computing, machine learning, and engineering worlds to improve the capabilities and usefulness of robots.
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Its remit will be focused on four core technical areas: cognitive AI, athletic AI, organic hardware design, and ethics and policy. Hyundai says that the institute will partner with other organizations, such as universities and corporate research labs.
“Our mission is to create future generations of advanced robots and intelligent machines that are smarter, more agile, perceptive and safer than anything that exists today,” said Raibert. “The unique structure of the Institute — top talent focused on fundamental solutions with sustained funding and excellent technical support — will help us create robots that are easier to use, more productive, able to perform a wider variety of tasks, and that are safer working with people.”
Hyundai purchased Boston Dynamics about a year ago and, in September 2021, they released their first co-developed robot, the Factory Safety Service Robot. Its job was to monitor safety risks at industrial sites and was first deployed at a Kia plant in South Korea.
Together, the companies plan to use robots to allow humans to remotely complete tasks with the help of robots and drones.
“We envision future mobility solutions made possible by advanced robotics – even expanding our mobility solutions to Metamobility,” said Euisun Chung, the Group’s Executive Chair, during a presentation at CES early this year. “This vision will enable unlimited freedom of movement and progress for humanity.”
