Sweden’s Ericsson sets up AI research facility in Bengaluru

Sweden's mobile telecom gear maker Ericsson on Friday said it has set up a Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (GAIA) facility in Bengaluru.

The hub will focus on research and development in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, the company said in a statement.

This year, Ericsson has set up GAIAs in the US and Sweden as well.  

Ericsson’s GAIA in Bengaluru will help create 150 jobs for data scientists, engineers, AI architects, and software developers in 2019, the statement said.

“The setting up of GAIA in India is a testament to Ericsson’s long-term commitment to India, to the rich talent pool as well as the vibrant ecosystem available in the country. GAIA has been set up as a central unit to be able to accelerate the projects of Ericsson as well as of its customers,” said Sanjeev Tyagi, head of Ericsson research and development, Bengaluru.

He also stated that several other projects were already underway to bring in AI and automation capabilities to Ericsson’s product portfolio across business areas.

"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 (fifth-generation cellular standards) and IoT (Internet of Things), we expect to see an explosion in the number of potential ways in which we will use the networks of the future. The traditional methods of managing and running networks will no longer scale up. AI-driven automation will be a necessity to manage these networks. These data-centric technologies also open up the potential to tap new revenue-generating opportunities and business models for telecom service providers,” Tyagi added.

The company intends to explore partnerships with telecom service providers, industry stakeholders, startups and academia to bolster innovation.