SAN JOSE — A cluster of artificial intelligence firms has emerged in downtown San Jose, prompting local politicians and business leaders to seek out ways to spur technology growth in town.
The city of San Jose has launched a series of monthly meetings about what officials are calling an “AI ecosystem” within the Bay Area's largest city.
The meetings also aim to seek out ways to spur growth in downtown San Jose's emerging technology sector.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan was the keynote speaker on the inaugural event Wednesday night, where a key city official and a top IBM executive gathered for a hearth chat on the roof of a downtown apartment tower.
After the event, Mahan said in an interview with this news organization that creating clusters of technology and artificial intelligence firms in downtown San Jose is vital to growing the industry in town.
“Big cities have a density that brings people together, so there are serendipitous interactions between people who can work together to create new companies and new products,” Mahan said. “Innovation requires diverse groups of people to meet each other and have productive conversations.”
An estimated 23 enterprise capital-backed artificial intelligence firms are based in downtown San Jose, based on a study by industrial real estate firm CBRE.
These downtown San Jose AI firms have raised $1.1 billion in enterprise capital since their inception.
In San Jose, 89 enterprise capital-backed AI firms have raised a combined $4.5 billion, CBRE reported.
Dinesh Nirmal, senior vice chairman of products at IBM Software, was the industry leader who led a hearth chat to kick off the event, which took place next to fireside pits on the roof of considered one of the 2 Miro residential towers on East Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose .
“AI has completely changed things,” Nirmal said in the course of the discussion. “AI is changing every aspect of life.”
While quite a few observers warn concerning the dangers of artificial intelligence and the hazards of the automation it unleashes, Nirmal suggested that artificial intelligence could possibly be seen as a force for improving lives.
“People are using AI in a variety of ways to improve their lives,” said Nirmal. “We all benefit from it.”
Despite these assurances, a growing variety of artificial intelligence experts and skeptics are warning that cutting-edge technology could possibly be used to exchange people and eliminate well-paying jobs. Some fear that artificial intelligence could even displace engineers.
“Will AI replace software developers?” asked Nirmal. He then answered his query by saying, “It’s more about improving an employee’s productivity than replacing them.”
What is for certain, says Nirmal, is that AI has begun to profoundly change many features of American life.
“AI will change the way we live, the way we learn, the way we interact, the way we trade,” Nirmal said.
Given these changes, San Jose leaders hope the monthly meetings will be a very important catalyst for a bigger AI presence in town.
“These gatherings will produce a growing and self-sustaining local community of innovators who will collaborate – and perhaps compete – to bring new AI-powered tools and services to San Jose and beyond,” a flyer said was prepared for the opening event which took place on September twenty fifth.
City and business leaders hope to create a stronger artificial intelligence workforce presence in downtown San Jose.
“Our goal is to help fuel a growing AI startup and innovation ecosystem in our downtown core, amplifying and accelerating AI efforts at City Hall, San Jose State, The Tech and other social and civic organizations “We want to use it to improve the world,” says the event documents. “We believe this can solidify San Jose as an AI capital and encourage companies to locate in our downtown.”
One solution to accomplish that, officials say, is to encourage the creation of a man-made intelligence incubator site in downtown San Jose. According to the mayor, such a location is currently being sought.
“We are very actively working on bringing an incubator downtown and leveraging the tremendous talent being trained here in our downtown at San Jose State University,” Mahan said.
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