IBM planning new $2B AI research center in Upstate NY

New York City is developing a reputation for being a tech hotbed, but don’t sleep on Upstate. IBM is investing $2 billion into a new research hub in Albany focused on artificial intelligence.

The new AI Hardware Center will focus on computer-chip research, development, prototyping, testing and simulation, according to Bloomberg. It will be located at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany.

IBM, based in Armonk, has been pushing into new technologies like AI and cloud-computing and away from its legacy businesses like mainframe computers. The company plans to expand its partnership with SUNY Poly for the Center for Semiconductor Research, which is on track to expire at the end of 2021.

The company inked a 28,000-square-foot lease at 19 Union Square West last year to house part of its engineering and technology team, and the corporation took all of WeWork’s 88 University Place in 2017, the first time a single corporation had taken an entire WeWork space in New York. [Bloomberg] – Eddie Small