WatsonX AI Labs will link local startups and researchers with IBM talent to jointly develop AI products, with funding from IBM Ventures potentially available.
US-based computing technology producer IBM launched an artificial intelligence accelerator yesterday to capitalise on New York’s local AI talent.
WatsonX AI Labs is expected to combine the efforts of local talent and IBM’s own researchers and engineers to create agentic AI products for business in specific domains, spanning areas like customer service, supply‑chain optimisation, cybersecurity and responsible AI governance.
Participants could also potentially receive funding from the company’s corporate venture arm, IBM Ventures, and the $500m Enterprise AI fund it launched in late 2023.
Part of WatsonX AI Labs’ brief is to collaborate with local universities and research institutions such as Columbia University and New York University, both recently ranked among the top 15 universities worldwide for AI research by science publication Nature.
The accelerator also plans to support local entrepreneurs, in a market that includes AI unicorns AlphaSense (valued at $4bn), Insider ($2bn+) and Formation Bio ($1bn+). One of the most recent deals for IBM’s investment arm, IBM Ventures, was New York-based AI deepfake detection startup Reality Defender’s series A round.
“This isn’t your typical corporate lab. WatsonX AI Labs is where the best AI developers gain access to world-class engineers and resources and build new businesses and applications that will reshape AI for the enterprise,” said Ritika Gunnar, IBM’s general manager of data and AI, while announcing the fund yesterday.
“By anchoring this mission in New York City, we are investing in a diverse, world‑class talent pool and a vibrant community whose innovations have long shaped the tech landscape.”
WatsonX AI Labs is named after IBM’s Watson AI query system and comes in the wake of a similar accelerator for machine learning that was formed in 2021. IBM Ventures’ investments out of the Enterprise AI Fund include backing generative AI developers Mistral and Writer, valued at a combined $7.9bn in their last rounds.
