Sony Corp. said Wednesday it has invested in U.S. artificial intelligence startup Cogitai, aiming to develop new AI technologies and release products within the next three years.
Sony is believed to have obtained a roughly 20 percent stake in the company that was founded in September by three AI researchers. The move could lead to the electronics giant re-entering the robot business.
Sony was an AI pioneer, known for producing robotic dog AIBO and humanoid QRIO featuring AI technologies. But it withdrew from the robot business in 2006 to improve profitability and restructure its consumer electronics business.
The company has continued AI research, however, and its technologies, including face and speech recognitions, have been applied to other Sony products, such as digital cameras and smartphones.
Sony and Cogitai plan to develop systems that can autonomously and continually learn from experience and products such as a camera that adjusts exposures and other settings to meet the tastes of users who prefer artistic photography, according to Sony.
AI made news in March when a software program developed by an AI venture under Google Inc. defeated a professional South Korean champion of the Chinese board game known as go.