Samsung is looking to invest around $20 billion into research regarding emerging technologies like artificial intelligence over the next three years, according to a report from CNBC. The investment is only a small part of a larger $161 billion pool that would go toward component research and capital expenditures.
The $20 billion sum would primarily be used to look into a variety of new technologies to support building components for future cars, use in the pharmaceutical industry, and other use cases like artificial intelligence and 5G mobile capabilities. Samsung said that 40,000 jobs would be created over the course of the next three years, and 1,000 of those positions would be for AI researchers in centers around the world.
The announcement comes after Samsung put out its earnings report last week. It had its slowest quarterly profit growth in over a year (down by 4 percentage points). The company said that it was the result of fewer smartphone sales than average, citing “slow” Galaxy S9 sales just as it is expected to announce the new Note 9 device this week.