LG launches first overseas AI research center in Michigan

Participants pose for a commemorative photo at the opening ceremony of the LG AI Research Center in the U.S. state of Michigan. From left, University of Michigan Associate Dean of Research Eric Michielssen, University of Michigan professor of AI Lee Hong-lak, University of Michigan Chairman of CSE Michael Wellman and University of Michigan head of AI Group Rada Mihalcea. / Courtesy of LG Group

By Kim Hyun-bin

LG AI Research has established a U.S.-based research center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to advance in innovative technologies and recruit skilled workers in the region.

The LG AI Research Center is the first global research base of LG's AI research unit, and will be led by world-class artificial intelligence (AI) scholar Lee Hong-lak, to advance the latest AI advanced technologies.

Last month, LG AI Research Center and the University of Michigan AI Lab signed a business agreement on joint research.

The University of Michigan is considered to be among the world's top AI research facilities and won mention in a Forbes contribution, titled “The 10 Best AI And Data Science Undergraduate Courses For 2021.”

Near Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is located, there are also headquarters and factories of three U.S. auto giants ― GM, Ford and Chrysler Stellantis ― making it an optimal location for industrial-educational cooperation, LG explained.

The opening ceremony held Tuesday (local time) was attended by nine leading AI research professors at the University of Michigan as well as officials from LG AI Research Center.

“The opening of the North American center is the first step for LG AI Research to leap beyond Korea and into the world,” Lee said.

After the opening ceremony, LG AI Research Center plans to actively engage in recruitment, starting with a recruitment briefing session for professors and graduate students at the University of Michigan's AI department.

In addition, it plans to strengthen industry-university cooperation with several prestigious AI universities and research institutes in North America.

Earlier this month, LG AI Research established the SNU-LG AI Research Center with Seoul National University. The institute plans to secure 1,000 global AI experts by 2023.