Two New Partnerships Between U.S. and Japanese Universities Will Focus on AI Research

To coincide with the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Kishido Fumio to the United States, the Department of Commerce announced two new interdisciplinary, collaborative partnerships, focusing on AI research, between American and Japanese universities at a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 9, 2024.

The two partnerships are between the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle and the University of Tsukuba (UT) in Tsukuba, Japan; and between Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh and Keio University (Keio) in Tokyo, according to a release from the U.S. Embassy in Japan.

The effort is being funded by $110 million from private sector companies NVIDIA, Amazon, Arm and Softbank Group, Microsoft, and nine Japanese companies.
 
According to the embassy release, each partnership will be an interdisciplinary collaboration across departments, faculties, and students, but each will have a different focus in AI research, based on their location strengths. UW and UT will focus on workforce development. CMU and Keio will focus on multimodal and multilingual learning; embodied AI/AI for robots; autonomous AI symbiosis with humans; life sciences; and AI for scientific discovery.

The partnerships are the third of the Biden-Harris Administration's and Japan's May 2022 strategic university and corporate agreement initiatives to advance cooperation in science and technology and strengthen the two countries' alliance, the release noted. Japanese universities and corporations signed partnerships in quantum computing and semiconductor engineering at the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima.

"The United States is committed to working with our allies and partners to lead on the development of safe and responsible artificial intelligence and welcome opportunities for collaboration between our institutions in leading edge technology," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. "Today's announcement will build on President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida's commitment to advance U.S. — Japan science and technology cooperation to develop a talented global workforce and strengthen economic security in both countries."

About the Author

Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.

Featured

  • university building surrounded by icons for AI, checklists, and data governance

    Improving AI Governance for Stronger University Compliance and Innovation

    AI can generate valuable insights for higher education institutions and it can be used to enhance the teaching process itself. The caveat is that this can only be achieved when universities adopt a strategic and proactive set of data and process management policies for their use of AI.

  • glowing digital brain interacts with an open book, with stacks of books beside it

    Federal Court Rules AI Training with Copyrighted Books Fair Use

    A federal judge ruled this week that artificial intelligence company Anthropic did not violate copyright law when it used copyrighted books to train its Claude chatbot without author consent, but ordered the company to face trial on allegations it used pirated versions of the books.

  • robot typing on a computer

    Microsoft Announces 'Computer Use' Automation in Copilot Studio

    Microsoft has introduced a new AI-powered feature called "computer use" for its Copilot Studio platform that allows agents to directly interact with Web sites and desktop applications using simulated mouse clicks, menu selections and text inputs.

  • Stylized illustration showing cybersecurity elements like shields, padlocks, and secure cloud icons on a neutral, minimalist digital background

    Microsoft Announces Security Advancements

    Microsoft has announced major security advancements across its product portfolio and practices. The work is part of its Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a multiyear cybersecurity transformation the company calls the largest engineering project in company history.