IBM said it will invest more than $1 billion to establish a new business unit for Watson, as the tech giant hopes to get more revenue from the supercomputer system that beat humans on the television quiz show "Jeopardy."
The world's largest technology service provider said the IBM Watson Group will be headed by Michael Rhodin, who was previously senior vice president of IBM's software solutions group.
IBM said the investment includes a $100 million equity fund to boost innovation at its Watson Developers Cloud, which it opened up to external application developers last year.
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The unit will have about 2,000 employees and will be based in New York City.
Watson, which beat expert "Jeopardy" quiz show contestants in 2011, is an artificial intelligence super computer system named after legendary International Business Machines President Thomas Watson.
IBM's WatsonGetty Images
Using natural language capabilities and analytics, Watson processes information akin to how people think, allowing it to quickly analyze and interpret large amounts of data.
IBM said it has shrunk Watson to the size of three stacked pizza boxes from its original size of a master bedroom.
Under the Watson Group, IBM will offer the technology, which is delivered over the cloud and can power new consumer and enterprise apps, to businesses and industries as well as to consumers.
IBM said it decided to establish the unit because of strong demand for cognitive computing.
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