Toyota Announces the Establishment of Toyota Research Institute

In this talk

1. 0:13

   TRI’s purpose and priorities

   Toyota announced that TRI would open in the United States in January 2016, with initial work in artificial intelligence. Pratt described its role as connecting foundational research with product development, focusing on safer mobility, broader access to transportation, and robotics that can help older people remain at home.

2. 6:16

   Pratt’s path to Toyota

   Pratt traced his interest in engineering and robots to his father’s work in the auto industry and the Japanese robot character Tetsujin 28-go. After studying and teaching at MIT, he joined DARPA, where the response to the Fukushima disaster helped inspire the DARPA Robotics Challenge. He said Toyota’s goals matched his own commitment to applying technology to social needs.

3. 11:04

   Personal reasons behind the goals

   Pratt connected TRI’s priorities to three family experiences: witnessing a child’s fatal car crash, helping his 83-year-old father stop driving, and seeing him move into a nursing home a year later. He said he joined Toyota to help reduce the likelihood of such events and improve quality of life through mobility technology.

4. 13:28

   Using vehicle data and AI beyond cars

   Pratt estimated Toyota vehicles travel about one trillion kilometers annually, generating information about vehicles, drivers, and their surroundings that could support safer technology. He also described possible AI uses in traffic management, delivery, factory operations, and scientific research. Toyoda said Toyota hoped to apply its experience and networks beyond the automotive sector.

5. 30:37

   Two ways AI can support driving

   Pratt distinguished systems that carry out a driver’s command, such as taking a tired person home, from systems that monitor a driver and intervene to prevent danger, like anti-lock brakes. He argued that both rely on related perception and planning capabilities, with autonomy taking control more or less often depending on the driver’s needs. Toyota planned to pursue both while preserving safety, access, and the enjoyment of driving.