Amazon and MIT Build Science Hub for AI and Robotics Research
Amazon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced the creation of a science hub, a collaboration focused on areas of mutual interest, starting with artificial intelligence and robotics in the first year.
To launch the hub, Amazon will provide gifts and fund research over the next five years to support research and academic fellowships on campus. The hub's main goals are to broadly spread the benefits of AI and robotics innovation (both through education and by advancing research), and to expand participation in research by diverse interdisciplinary scientists and other innovators.
“Artificial intelligence and robotics have a huge impact on all aspects of our lives, fundamentally changing how we work, learn, access resources and services, and connect with each other. That is why it is very important that we conduct research that advances this field in a natural, efficient and socially beneficial way. We take a broad view of AI and robotics to include expertise from all five of the Institute's schools. We are excited about the potential to collaborate with industry leaders who bring their ideas to research, want to support a new generation of talent, and are best positioned to apply the knowledge gained”
Oliva will serve as principal investigator at the science hub, which will be housed under the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, a cross-industry organization with educational and research ties through MIT to expand capabilities in computing and AI.
"Amazon's support of the new science hub underscores our enduring commitment to collaborating with academia on research efforts, as well as helping fund the education and training of future scientists who reflect the diversity of perspectives and experiences at Amazon, MIT and around the world," the company said in a statement.
An MIT alumnus and chief technologist of Amazon Robotics noted that Amazon's existing relationships with a number of MIT faculty helped lay the groundwork for the collaboration.
“We are especially keen to use the full range of collaboration mechanisms available in the new hub, including sponsored research that can lead to open source publications and community engagement”
The collaboration will enable a broad set of programs at MIT, including fellowships awarded annually to graduate students and doctoral researchers, as well as support for events that accelerate AI and robotics research and make it more accessible.
“We are pleased to join forces with MIT, connecting leading scientists and engineers from our two organizations in joint efforts to find solutions to the most complex problems in AI and robotics. MIT's well-established strength in cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, combined with Amazon's focus on turning research into applied science, will help ensure the new hub delivers practical solutions whose benefits extend beyond industry and academia”
The Director of Amazon Robotics AI said the company aims to use the full range of collaboration mechanisms available in the new hub, including funded research that can lead to open source publications. These mechanisms are now open to all areas of Amazon's business beyond robotics, so the company is glad to see the breadth of innovation that will emerge from this collaboration in the coming years.
The science hub complements the existing collaboration between Amazon and MIT, as well as Amazon's research presence in Boston, including the Alexa science group in Cambridge. Since 2003, Amazon has worked with leaders in MIT's global operations, with a particular focus on data analytics, supply chain research and systems optimization.
In 2021, the Amazon Last Mile team announced a collaboration with MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics aimed at bringing driver know-how into route optimization models. Both groups sponsored a competition called the Amazon Last Mile Routing Research Challenge, in which academic teams trained machine learning models to predict delivery routes chosen by experienced drivers.
Amazon is also building a new state-of-the-art robotics innovation center in Westborough, Massachusetts. The company is investing more than $40 million in the new facility to allow Amazon Robotics to expand its engineering and manufacturing capabilities. The new 32,500 m² center will include corporate offices, research labs and production space, and will become the hub of the company's robotics innovation.
Over the past decade, Amazon has invested more than $10 billion in Massachusetts in total, including opening five fulfillment and sortation centers, 13 delivery stations and 33 Whole Foods Market locations. These investments have helped create more than 20,000 full- and part-time jobs across the state.
