Softbank Corp. and the University of Tokyo announced that they will jointly research artificial intelligence, planning to create a specialized institute next spring. The Japanese mobile phone carrier plans to spend JPY 20 billion over 10 years to promote studies on AI use in advanced medical care and autonomous driving. The company aims to better compete with technology giants in the United States and China through collaboration with the Japanese university. The project includes fundamental research by the University of Tokyo and leading universities abroad as well as applied research using the results of the fundamental research.