Honda R&D Co., Ltd., a wholly owned R&D subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., has announced plans to collaborate with SoftBank Corp. (SoftBank) and begin a joint research project toward application of the "emotion engine,*" an artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed by cocoro SB Corp. ("cocoro SB"), a SoftBank Group company, for mobility products.

In order to further enhance open innovation in the area of intelligent technologies, Honda has been preparing to start up the Honda R&D Innovation Lab Tokyo, a new operation that will focus on research and development of intelligent technologies, in Akasaka, Tokyo, by around September of this year. This joint research project with SoftBank will be one of the open innovation initiatives Honda will pursue in the area of AI technologies.

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