HERE establishes institute for artificial intelligence

HERE Technologies is a provider of digital maps and location platform services. The company was formerly part of Nokia, before it was taken over by a syndicate of the German car manufactures Audi, BMW and Daimler. HERE has now established a new international Institute for Advanced Research in Artificial Intelligence (IARAI). According to a media release, this “will be the world’s first global machine-learning research institute to use industrial-scale geolocation data”. The aim of the IARAI is to deepen the location intelligence needed to build an autonomous world, which includes heightened location awareness for autonomous vehicles, more accurate, self-healing maps and better traffic prediction models.

An article from the Austria Press Agency (APA) revealed that the institute will have facilities in Linz, Vienna and Zurich. According to information on the IARAI website, the institute’s founders are Michael Kopp from HERE Technologies in Zurich, David Kreil from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna and Sepp Hochreiter from the Johannes Kepler University Linz.

At the moment, an international research team of approximately 30 people is being recruited. The researchers will primarily carry out fundamental research and be independent from HERE in deciding their focus. “This is not contract research, but a true cooperation based on data and expertise,” Sepp Hochreiter said to the APA. While HERE will support the IARAI over a period of five years with more than €25 million, the APA highlights that the funding will not be granted by HERE directly but via a foundation.