Samsung to open Cambridge AI research lab

The Korean technology giant is the latest Asian company to announce a major investment in artificial intelligence research in the UK.

The company is to open an AI research lab in Cambridge with a focus on health and communication, joining other such centres in Moscow and Toronto. The Cambridge lab would also focus on areas such as getting computers to recognise human emotions and ways to improve how people communicate and interact with increasingly intelligent machines, including the company's own devices.

The UK centre could recruit as many as 150 scientists or AI experts. It will be led by Prof Andrew Blake, a former director of Microsoft’s Cambridge Research Lab.

The UK government recently announced a major £1bn investment fund, combining private sector money, that aims to train people with the right skills. A recent study by recruitment specialists Odgers Berndtson found just 225 students in the country were doing post-graduate technology research in specialist areas including AI and machine learning.

Theresa May said the announcement was "a vote of confidence in the UK as a world leader in artificial intelligence" and would create high-skilled highly paid jobs.

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