Sony may be known for making sound systems, televisions, PlayStations and disappointing Spider-Man movies, but now the tech juggernaut is joining the likes of Amazon, Apple and Google by diving into artificial intelligence.
Rather than go it on their own, the company is putting down money on AI in a major way. According to Reuters, Sony already has an undisclosed sum of money invested on an American startup by the name of Cogitai.
"From an objective perspective, we are lagging behind," said Chief Executive Hiroaki Kitano of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, adding that the company's experience producing hardware will work to its advantage.
Sony's investment may be revealed sooner than later, with the company hoping to have a product from its partnership with Cogitai ready to see the light of day within a year. Sony's work with AI could also play into its upcoming Xperia Agent - a competitor to the Alexa-powered Amazon Echo.
Developing AI has become a secondary focus for many major tech companies, with bigwigs like Facebook, Apple, and Google all putting their own spin on the concept, from digital assistants to robotic board game masters.
With a lengthy history making smartphones, game consoles, and laptop computers, Sony has a wealth of potential hardware to augment with AI tech. However, some of the conglomerate's goals are more out-there than others, as Kitano also mentioned that robots aren't out of the picture. What could go wrong?
