launcht In the quest of not falling back in the rat race that it is in the autonomous world, Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn Technology Group has announced its interest in the same. The New Taipei based company has reportedly announced that it is building a research and development facility in Michigan, according to South China Morning Post. Off late, Michigan seems to be attracting a lot of interest and could potentially turn out to be one the major hubs in the world for, autonomous machines. The Tech Group is planning to invest quite an amount, after recently announcing it would invest $10 billion in Wisconsin to build another facility creating 13,000 jobs.
On Monday, Foxconn Founder and CEO Terry Gou discussed a Michigan investment to Chinese media outlet The Securities Times.
“The Michigan investment will be unveiled soon, yet the transaction amount cannot be released,” said Gou. “We will cooperate with Michigan on next generation auto technology, such as Internet of Vehicle and self-driving cars.”
Image Source. Credit : The News-Herald
According to Foxconn founder Terry Gou, the United States are way ahead of China at this point with respect to self-driving tech segment. Although, the investment doesn’t affect the Taiwanese group’s interests in pursuing autonomous driving ventures in the Far Eastern country. If its pursuit to make advancements in the self-driving car industry in the U.S. ever sprouts wings, the company will not think twice to take on tech giants like Waymo, Tesla, Uber, and Apple.
The exact location of the facility has not been announced. But inside reports have revealed that the company is considering a certain 515-acre site in Lyon Township near Milford Road and The Grand River Avenue owned by Walbridge Aldinger Co., as well as Romulus.
Foxconn is not the first company from Asia that, has sets it sights on the autonomous vehicle segment. Many firms from the Far Eastern countries are also actively pursuing this tech and have created a buzz in the market . One such company is Baidu which has launched a partnership with NVIDIA last month, stating that the two will invest in a variety of artificial intelligence-related endeavors, including self-driving cars. Mr. Gou recently mentioned that Foxconn is also interested in AI and deep learning technologies in particular, without elaborating on the matter.
“I believe we have a strong future with Foxconn, and while I don’t have an announcement to make today, I think there are very exciting things to come in the future” said Michigan’s Governor Rick Snyder.
With regards to the discussion with Foxconn and the prospects of working together, Synder said, “We had a very productive dialogue! Michigan is where innovation happens. We are leading in mobility and the transformation of manufacturing, and the rest of the world is clearly taking note.”
