Ericsson sets up global AI accelerator in Bengaluru

Swedish networking and telecom major Ericsson Thursday announced the setting up of a global artificial intelligence accelerator (GAIA) here to create data-driven intelligent and robust systems for automation, evolution and growth.

The GAIA would help create 150 new jobs for data scientists, engineers, machine-learning andartificial intelligence architects and software developers in2019, head of Ericsson Reasearch and Development (Bengaluru) Sanjeev Tyagi told reporters here.

Globally, Ericsson would generate employment for over 300 people, he said.

The company has also set up GAIA in the US and Sweden apart from India this year, Tyagi said.

The newly launched GAIA facility would be the key to accelerate the execution of the strategy of Ericsson by leveraging cutting-edge AI and automation technologies to create data-driven intelligent and robust systems for automation, evolution and growth, he said.

The setting up of GAIA was testament to the long-term commitment of Ericsson to enrich the talent pool and vibrant ecosystem of India, he said.

Ericsson was already involved in projects to bring in AI and automation capabilities to its product portfolio across business areas, Tyagi said.

"The promising, game-changing results demonstrated so far are indicative of the potential that intelligent leveraging of data can bring to a domain like telecom," he said.

With the advent of 5G and IoT, the company expects to see an explosion in the number of potential ways in which it would use the networks of the future, he said.

Moreover, these data-centric technologies would open up the potential to tap new revenue-generating opportunities andbusiness models for telecom service providers, Tyagi said.

The company intends to explore partnerships with telecomservice providers, industry stakeholders, startups andacademia to bolster innovation, he said.

With GAIA, the endeavour of Ericsson was to spur innovations easy to use, adapt and scale, enabling its customers to get the full value of connectivity, Tyagi said.