Carnegie Mellon University will partner with Keio University in Tokyo as part of a $110 million program sponsored by the United States and Japanese governments to advance artificial intelligence research. The partnership was one of two collaborations announced by the U.S. and Japanese governments today, the other being between the University of Washington and the University of Tsukuba.
“This new partnership is global in its scope and single-minded in its purpose to advance AI research and impact,” CMU President Farnam Jahanian said in a prepared statement.
CMU is consistently ranked as one of the best schools in the country for computer science programs, with the school boasting a number one ranking for schools in AI, both undergrad and graduate, from the U.S. News and World Report. The partnership will be driven by the CMU School of Computer Science.
“Establishing AI research collaborations and industry partnerships on topics that align so closely with the research that’s underway at CMU are essential for making progress in advancing the best possible impacts of AI on people’s lives,” said Martial Herbert, dean of CMU’s School of Computer Science in a prepared statement.
The universities will collaborate on the following proposed research ideas: multimodal learning, embodied AI, autonomous AI symbiosis with humans, AI for life sciences and scientific discovery. According to a press release, additional areas will “be determined jointly, targeted to real-world and near-term AI applications.”
Although AI technologies are not new, rapid advancement in the sector has occurred in recent years, something that governments have taken notice of.
“Artificial intelligence is already impacting every sector of our economy and government leaders need to lean into its innovation to adapt to the rapidly changing technology market ethically and responsibly,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement. “That’s the approach we’ve taken in Pennsylvania and why the Commonwealth has partnered with Carnegie Mellon to develop best practices for governing generative AI. This new partnership between Carnegie Mellon University and Keio University will build on Pennsylvania’s and the United States’ global leadership in AI technology.”
The two universities will receive funding and collaborative support from Arm Holdings, Microsoft Corp. and SoftBank Group.
“The unprecedented progress we’ve seen in AI will transform virtually every industry and improve countless lives, but to maximize this opportunity, close cooperation will be required between the private sector, academia and government,” Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas said in a prepared statement.
Alongside the unprecedented progress has come shifts in public perception. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2022 38% of Americans said that they were “more concerned than excited by the technology.” That number was relatively consistent with 2021’s 37%. But in 2023 a majority of Americans said that they were “more concerned than excited.” Further polling in 2023 found a majority of Americans having a negative view on AI’s impact on privacy but views “more positive towards impact in other areas.”
