Toru Nishikawa (right), co -founder and executive director of preferred networks, and Daisuke Okanohar, co -founder and executive researcher, with a robot hand Fanuc Corp. At the headquarters of their company in Tokyo, Japan, March 16, 2018.
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The preferred networks are a little known name outside Japan, but Toyota supported unicorn artificial intelligence has large plans to use deep learning to repair “real” problems-with the end goal of GLOBAL.
“For the last 10 years we have been working to use AI to solve problems in the real world,” executive researcher, Daisuke Okanohara, he told CNBC “Asia management. “ The company has engaged in industry as diverse such as transportation, health care and robot.
Preferred networks attracted the attention of big names such as car giant ToyotaWhat did he invested in 2017 10.5 billion yen ($ 95.4 million) at a company at the top of the initial billion yen in 2015.
Preferred networks are one of the few unicorn in Japan. Although the Japanese startup ecosystem has grown, Japanese companies worth over $ 1 billion make up only 0.5% of the total number of worlds, According to the working document of the International Monetary Fund Posted in December.
The starting of deep learning is also ua Common investment with Mitsui & Co. trade house in an autonomous ride field. The two invested in T2 to address the challenges related to the transport industry, including the “extremely long” working hours that extend into the night and declining the rally of drivers, said Nishikawa CEO.
But competition in the car industry was also a factor. Recognizing the current limit of the company, Okanohara added: “If we solved the problem of regular cars, it would be extremely difficult. There are many companies working on autonomous ride, which is a very competitive field.”
The preferred AI AI ambitions have been much further away. But compared to other AI solutions in the digital space, which “it is” relatively easy to achieve results with users “, dealing with real problems, it takes more time, Okanohara said.
Asked how much time it takes for the company technologies to start making money, Nishikawa said it could last as much as five years in a field like the discovery of material based in AI.
“First, we start a joint research with companies, and then evaluate whether it can be commercialized or not. Once we determine that it can be commercialized, we are working on creating services and products that can be provided to customers,” he said,
As for the latest AI events, Okanoharo said that the preferred networks recognized Deepseek’s “very good technology” and “pay attention to it” before it was catapulted by fame, adding that “various players” would soon enter the chips industry.
Preferred networks hope to be among them. Recognizing that Nvidia So far, a generative AI strategy has been well done, but it has a graphic design design that is not yet “optimal”, Nishikawa said that the preferred networks are in the middle of “creating more advanced processors” to gain a competitive advantage.
IPo plans
Whether the company will be able to achieve the proportions of its ambitions remains to be seen. For now, she looks at foreign investors and receives “a lot of inquiries in areas of entertainment, semiconductors and computers,” according to Nishikawa, who noted that “there are limitations to what we can do in Japan, and the global market is much larger than the Japanese market.”
Getting an initial public offer is one of the goals of the company, he added. Asked for a timeframe, Okanohara said, “I think there will be a need for huge means at a time when we present our hardware products in the world, such as a semiconductor. So, I think we will strive to go public into that time frame,” adding that it could take about three to five years.
