Sony to build up AI as key business pillar, invests in U.S. start-up

Japan's Sony Corp said it plans to build up its artificial intelligence (AI) business and eventually turn it into a major revenue source, beginning with an investment in a U.S. start-up. The move comes a time when major technology companies such as Facebook Inc, Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google are spending aggressively on AI ventures. "From an objective perspective, we are lagging behind," Chief Executive Hiroaki Kitano at Sony Computer Science Laboratories said in an interview.