Oxford University has announced the creation of the Oxford-UBS Centre for Applied AI, a research partnership between Swiss wealth manager UBS, Oxford’s Saïd Business School and the University’s Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences division.
The Centre will be led by a newly endowed UBS Professor for Applied AI at Oxford Saïd and supported by a team of 20 researchers. The team’s focus will be on AI governance, the application of AI in the business world, and emerging developments in AI models.
In a public statement, Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey, said that the partnership would lead to “pioneering new AI research solutions and practical applications at a time of unprecedented technological change”.
UBS Group Chief Operations and Technology Officer Mike Dargan said that the partnership is an opportunity to “develop practical tools and solutions that can be implemented at scale across” the bank, with AI representing “a fundamental opportunity to change how we operate and create value for clients”.
UBS has previously worked with other universities, including the University of St Gallen, ETH Zurich, and Singapore Management University. Its work at these institutions has focused on the development of Switzerland’s financial services sector and on boosting recruitment into finance, investment, and scientific careers.
UBS partnership with Oxford comes after strong financial performances by the wealth management group last year, but also amid resurfaced controversy over the 2008 rate-rigging scandal. The spotlight has returned to the bank following former trader Tom Hayes’s legal action, after his conviction for manipulating interbank rates was quashed by the UK Supreme Court.
The Centre adds to a growing list of AI research facilities at Oxford, including the Machine Learning Research Group at the Department of Engineering Science, the Applied Artificial Intelligence Lab at the Oxford Robotics Institute, and the Oxford AI for Science Lab at the Department of Computer Science.
UBS and the Oxford Saïd Business School have been approached for comment.
