Today, the new fortiss AI Center was opened by Franz Josef Pschierer, Minister of Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology for the State of Bavaria. The center, an open facility for conducting application-oriented research and development into AI technologies, will provide an opportunity for interested academic and industry partners to work together with researchers on concrete issues.
Up to 70 researchers and partners from industry and the public sector will work together in the Highlight Towers building in Munich’s Schwabing district. The activities will focus on research into reliable and safe AI methods and the development of software solutions designed for managing and controlling business-critical processes and systems. This includes embedded decision and control systems such as software for autonomous, interacting vehicle fleets, utility infrastructures and new digital services for the public sector.
“In the age of digitalization and growing connectivity between people, machines and processes, data is becoming an increasingly important resource. Artificial intelligence is evolving into a key technology for transforming the huge amounts of available data into information for improving efficiency and creating innovative business models and new products,” explains Minister Pschierer.
Prototype development
The new AI Center will be launched with two key projects. In the AI Potential project, fortiss researchers will help companies search for ideas and concepts and exploit AI’s potential in order to create new products, business models and services. Companies will be able to utilize the existing AI infrastructure and hardware to develop initial prototypes. They will also have the opportunity to participate in application-specific training and education programs targeted toward select AI technologies.
In the second key project – Dependable AI – computer scientists will develop reliable, safe and self-learning software systems capable of making real-time, safe decisions in unsafe environments or during unforeseeable situations. These systems will also be designed to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations for handling personal data and allow companies and other organizations to process the growing volumes of data without violating privacy and data protection rights. “We have set aside 20 million euros to help fortiss create the Bavarian Center for Artificial Intelligence. With this investment, we will be supporting collaboration between industry and science with the aim of developing products for everyday use. Our goal is to become a technology leader in the field of artificial intelligence,” declares Minister Pschierer.