Xcelerator – Smartphone as brain of a motorcycle in 2020.
Honda Motor Company yesterday in Japan, or today in the US, announced that in December 2021 it invested in U.S. (California)-based Helm.ai to “strengthen its software technology development in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision*1 technologies.” Honda claimed that Helm.ai “has key strengths in the area of AI-based image recognition technologies advanced through unsupervised learning”*2.
Helm.ai is an artificial intelligence software startup company established in November 2016. Honda and Helm.ai have been working in together since 2019 through Honda Xcelerator*3, described as a global open innovation program of Honda.
Honda said it invested in Helm.ai “to strengthen value creation in the efforts to make mobility products more intelligent and to generate greater achievements more quickly. The financing will further strengthen the relationship between the two companies and accelerate development of original solutions for Honda that combine Honda technologies and AI technologies of Helm.ai.”
*1 Technology to recognize specific elements from computer-based visual information and provide necessary information based on the results of such recognition.
*2 Unsupervised learning is one of the methods of machine learning, which supports AI. Unlike supervised learning through which AI learns the correct answers to derive from labeled input data, unsupervised learning lets AI learn without being provided with the correct answers and derives the patterns and unique characteristics of the unlabeled data on its own.
*3 Honda Xcelerator is a global open innovation program designed to facilitate collaboration between startups and Honda. The program is led by Honda Innovations Inc., a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. based in Silicon Valley in the U.S.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Software – Honda Invests in US-based Helm.ai
Xcelerator – Smartphone as brain of a motorcycle in 2020.
Honda Motor Company yesterday in Japan, or today in the US, announced that in December 2021 it invested in U.S. (California)-based Helm.ai to “strengthen its software technology development in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision*1 technologies.” Honda claimed that Helm.ai “has key strengths in the area of AI-based image recognition technologies advanced through unsupervised learning”*2.
Helm.ai is an artificial intelligence software startup company established in November 2016. Honda and Helm.ai have been working in together since 2019 through Honda Xcelerator*3, described as a global open innovation program of Honda.
Honda said it invested in Helm.ai “to strengthen value creation in the efforts to make mobility products more intelligent and to generate greater achievements more quickly. The financing will further strengthen the relationship between the two companies and accelerate development of original solutions for Honda that combine Honda technologies and AI technologies of Helm.ai.”
*1 Technology to recognize specific elements from computer-based visual information and provide necessary information based on the results of such recognition.
*2 Unsupervised learning is one of the methods of machine learning, which supports AI. Unlike supervised learning through which AI learns the correct answers to derive from labeled input data, unsupervised learning lets AI learn without being provided with the correct answers and derives the patterns and unique characteristics of the unlabeled data on its own.
*3 Honda Xcelerator is a global open innovation program designed to facilitate collaboration between startups and Honda. The program is led by Honda Innovations Inc., a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. based in Silicon Valley in the U.S.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.