Located in the heart of Chelsea, the New York AI Center will be led by Daniel D. Lee, Executive Vice President of Samsung Research and a global authority in AI robotics, who joined Samsung Electronics last June. With cooperation from a leading authority in neuroscience-based AI technologies, H. Sebastian Seung, Executive Vice President of Samsung Research, the New York AI Center will spearhead the advanced AI research in robotics. As the Chief Research Scientist of Samsung Electronics, Seung will also advise Samsung on advanced AI research in developing future business growth opportunities.

“What we need now is to focus on creating new values that make people’s lives easier and more convenient by harnessing the power of AI in Samsung’s products and services,” said Hyun-suk Kim, President and Head of Samsung Research, the advanced R&D arm of Samsung Electronics’ device business. “To do this, our Global AI Centers, including the New York AI Center, must play a pivotal role.”

Samsung has announced plans to expand its advanced AI research capabilities to employ about 1,000 specialists by 2020. This will be Samsung’s sixth AI center around the world, and it will work in partnership with Samsung’s other AI research facilities. The additional AI centers are located in Korea, the U.K., Canada, Russia, and Silicon Valley, the U.S.

“We are excited to open a new Samsung AI center in New York, which will specialize in robotics research,” said Daniel D. Lee. “New York is one of the world’s great cities, and with this new facility we will be able to leverage the tremendous talent in the area. We also look forward to collaborating with top universities and academic centers in the region.”

The facility is located at 123 West 18^th St, New York. The facility’s opening ceremony was held on September 7^th in New York City, with about 100 guests in attendance including President Kim; Seunghwan Cho, Executive Vice President of Samsung Research; Geunbae Lee, Head of Samsung AI Center in Seoul; Professor Daniel P. Huttenlocher, the Dean of Cornell Tech; and Professor David Tank, Director of Princeton Neuroscience Institute.”

“The field of AI has made revolutionary progress by finally embracing neural networks,” said H. Sebastian Seung. “This is just the beginning of a new era of innovation in AI, and we at the Samsung AI research center in New York are proud to be part of this exciting quest.”

The global AI Centers will contribute to Samsung’s AI research with their unique regional strengths, and Samsung is expected to expand its AI centers to other technology and talent-rich areas to cement its place as a leader of AI research in the industry.

For more details on Samsung Research and the global AI Centers, please visit the official Samsung Research webpage at http://research.samsung.com.

The new Center’s main research areas will be computer vision and basic algorithms for AI platform. The Center will also expand the field of AI for key areas such as robotics, intelligent driving assistance, as well as those for future projects by Samsung.

The Samsung AI Center in Russia will be led by Professor Dmitry Vetrov of the Higher School of Economics (HSE). With a Ph.D. degree in Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Vetrov is also the Head of Samsung’s laboratory at the Center for Deep Learning, and Bayesian Methods Research Group at the HSE.

As the leader of the Center, Professor Vetrov will combine scientific work and administrative activities: interacting with Samsung’s divisions and third-party institutions, organizing the Center’s overall work, managing work groups, as well as controlling and participating in scientific research. Professor Viktor Lempitsky of the Skolkovo Institute of Science Technology will also join the team as the leader of the research group.

“Samsung has always been the first to introduce new products and solutions that change the way people interact. Considering Russia as one of the world’s biggest hubs in the field of technical sciences, it is only natural that we chose the country as one of the sites for our new AI Center,” said Ultack Kim, President of Samsung Electronics Headquarters in CIS countries. “A team of the world’s best scientists and IT specialists at the AI Center will help Samsung bring its robotics and AI technologies to a whole new level.”

While there currently are several joint AI laboratories at Moscow State University, the Higher School of Economics and the PDMI RAS, the new Center will establish additional joint labs with Russia’s leading universities. In addition, Samsung will conduct projects with the local universities and different regions of Russia including Kazan, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Tomsk, and Novosibirsk. Considerations regarding cooperation with Russian start-ups to solve practical problems are also under discussion. Moving forward, these can be developed into full-fledged services related to AI and machine learning, as well as promising developments in the field of applications and components for the company’s products.

“Samsung plans to introduce AI technologies to all of its connected devices and services by 2020. AI will enhance our customer value by offering information and services under any circumstances,” commented Jin Wook Lee, the Head of Samsung R&D Institute Russia, at the opening of the new Center. “This will be a huge step for the world of technology, and will help simplify the implementation of everyday tasks,” he added.

As the popularity of Internet of things (IoT) devices grows, the area of application of AI-based solutions is expanding rapidly. According to the forecast of Samsung experts, IoT devices with built-in AI will generate enormous amounts of data in the coming years. By processing this information, the devices will be able to provide maximum personalization and full compliance with the users’ needs.

“Currently, AI is one of the most promising branches of technology. The opening of the Samsung AI Center in Russia will allow us to contribute to the development of the industry and to apply the achievements of the Russian mathematical school, which has a high level of practical training of research specialists,” said Professor Vetrov.

Earlier in May, Samsung has opened two new AI Centers in Cambridge (UK) and Toronto (Canada). More information about Samsung AI Center in Russia and global AI Centers is available at Samsung Research website.

Samsung Research has led the latest effort in expanding the global AI research capabilities of Samsung Electronics and has converged its AI expertise with the creation of the new AI Centers. Samsung Research also oversaw the creation of the new AI Centers in Seoul last November and in Silicon Valley in January. With the addition of the three new AI Centers, Samsung Research will operate five AI Centers around the world.

Also, by securing global AI experts, Samsung Research plans to expand its number of advanced AI researchers to a total of about 1,000 globally by 2020.

“Samsung has a long history of pursuing innovation and we are excited to be bringing that same passion and technology leadership to AI,” said Hyun-suk Kim, President and Head of Samsung Research at the opening ceremony of the new AI Center in Cambridge. With the new AI Centers and recruitment of leading experts in the field, our aim is to be a game changer for the AI industry.”

Top Talent from AI Field to Help Lead New Centers

The Samsung AI Center-Cambridge will be led by Andrew Blake, previously Director of Microsoft’s Cambridge Laboratory, and a pioneer in the development of the theory and algorithms that can make it possible for computers to behave as seeing machines. With cooperation from distinguished experts in the field, such as Professor Maja Pantić (Imperial College), Samsung AI Center-Cambridge will play a pivotal role in advanced AI research for Samsung Research.

“This new Center signifies our commitment to the advancement of AI,” said Andrew Blake. “Our research will help us to better understand human behavior while exploring areas like emotion recognition, and further expand the boundaries of user-centric communication to develop AI technologies that ultimately improve people’s lives.”

Samsung AI Center-Toronto will be led by Dr. Larry Heck, Senior Vice President of Samsung Research America (SRA), and an expert in virtual personal assistant technologies and also the Leader of the SRA AI Center. The AI Center in Toronto will bolster its research efforts in core AI technologies with strategic cooperation from major universities in Canada.

Samsung AI Center-Moscow is expected to capitalize on Russia’s expertise in mathematics, physics, and other fundamental sciences. It plans to include leading AI experts such as Professor Dmitry Vetrov (Higher School of Economics) and Professor Victor Lempitsky (Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology) to lead its research on AI algorithms.

Key Principles Driving Samsung’s AI Vision

In its vision for AI, Samsung focuses on five core aspects to drive its research. These include AI that is: “user-centric,” realizing personalization through a multi-modal interface; “always learning,” through continuous self-learning from data; “always there,” as an ambient service; “always helpful,” with minimization of user intervention and response to requests; and “always safe,” ensuring user safety and privacy. As they work around these focuses, the new AI Centers will leverage cutting-edge research environments along with the regional strengths of the researchers to carry Samsung’s AI capabilities to new heights.

Through ongoing initiatives including hosting an AI Forum last year, Samsung has been cooperating closely with renowned AI scholars in preparing to set up research bases across areas of expertise. Samsung will continue to expand areas of expertise and technology across the globe, including of particular importance, the eastern area of the U.S.

In the coming years, Internet of Things (IoT) devices embedded with AI will generate a vast array of data that can provide fascinating insights about the lives of users, enabling them to take advantage of intelligent services optimized for their own personal preferences and behaviors. How AI-enabled devices provide consumers with the most optimized options will be critical to the success of AI technology for the near future. To provide a user-centric ecosystem, Samsung aims to build an AI platform under a common architecture that will not only scale quickly but also provide the deepest understanding of usage context and behaviors, making AI more relevant and useful.

For more details on Samsung Research and the global AI Centers, please visit the official Samsung Research webpage at http://research.samsung.com.