Although the article makes no mention about whether or not IBM received any tax incentives, but guessing IBM has once again snow-jobbed a state but will be unable to deliver on a promise of a certain amount of jobs created.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-07/ibm-invests-2-billion-in-new-york-research-hub-for-ai
"Millions of people are publishing cancer research probably every week. "
Oh really?
IBM plans to create hundreds of jobs and invest $2 billion in augmented intelligence research in the
Albany region. The investment builds on the existing technology ecosystem here, an IBM vice president
said.
.
.
.
Khare could not disclose a specific number of jobs that will be created, but said it will be significant.
Those jobs will primarily be in Albany, with some in Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, where
IBM Research is headquartered.
Article from a local biz journal with more details [quoting it in-line as it's behind a paywall] --
https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2019/02/12/why-ibm-will-invest-billions-at-suny-poly-campus.html
By: Liz Young – Reporter, Albany Business Review
Feb 12, 2019, 2:54pm EST
IBM plans to create hundreds of jobs and invest $2 billion in augmented intelligence research in the Albany region. The investment builds on the existing technology ecosystem here, an IBM vice president said.
Mukesh Khare believes the new AI Hardware Center will be the first of its kind in some ways. Khare is the vice president of semiconductor technology research at IBM Research.
“We believe this is the first such initiative in the whole world, and the first such initiative that will provide the industry's leading ecosystem for partnership," Khare said. "And it's in Albany. That's wonderful.”
The center will be an expansion of IBM's existing operations at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. IBM first came to the Albany campus around 2002.
Khare, who works on the SUNY Poly campus, has lived in Albany with his family for about seven years. He said the company wanted to expand on its existing operations here.
"It’s very natural for us. The most advanced R&D in the world is happening on the site," he said.
New York state plans to provide a $300 million capital grant over five years toward the project. The Empire State Development grant will go to the SUNY Research Foundation for equipment purchases and installation.
The IBM investment is considered the second deal for NY CREATES, a nonprofit being created to replace Fuller Road and Fort Schuyler Management Corps. NY CREATES will handle SUNY Poly's real estate holdings around the state.
Khare could not disclose a specific number of jobs that will be created, but said it will be significant. Those jobs will primarily be in Albany, with some in Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, where IBM Research is headquartered.
The AI center will research and make hardware in Albany, while some of the design will be done out of Yorktown Heights.
IBM has 250 to 300 people at the SUNY Poly campus now.
Howard Zemsky, the chief executive officer of Empire State Development, called the latest IBM investment a "huge win" while testifying at a state budget hearing Tuesday morning.
"They're going to be adding many hundreds of jobs, investing billions of dollars," Zemsky said.
IBM (NYSE: IBM), as a vertically integrated company, is planning an end-to-end investment in augmented intelligence, beyond building software, Khare said.
"The center will focus on hardware, software, architecture, design, devices, so it's a very comprehensive approach," Khare said.
IBM executives were also attracted by the potential to partner with other companies like Applied Materials. Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) plans to be a member of the AI Hardware Center. The California computer chip equipment manufacturer recently announced it plans to invest $600 million over seven years to build a materials engineering research accelerator, called the META Center, at SUNY Poly.
"Applied Materials is complementary," Khare said. "This is how we can help each other to grow our ecosystem here at SUNY Poly."
The goal of augmented intelligence research is to help humans make better decisions, Khare said. He gave an example in the medical research field.
"Millions of people are publishing cancer research probably every week. No doctor can read all the papers and make any best possible decision," he said. "This is where computers can help. The idea behind AI technology is it can read and translate the natural language and build the correlation based on data and help a human make a better decision."
For the center, IBM plans to lease additional space in the NanoFab X building at the SUNY Poly campus, as well as potentially adding other space.
IBM has HR still?
I thought they dumped them years ago.
I see HR is posting here now. @fsn welcome to TheLayoff
Good move
This is IBM.. the don’t do innovation they do acquisition.. so the question is who will they purchase?
I've been reading a lot about AI, unfortunately IBM is never mentioned, so that scares me.
The amazing Watson cost 15 billion apparently, just think what can be achieved with 2 billion.
Things are moving in the right direction, AI is the future and this is the right move