Zenrin companies invest in Preferred Networks for geospatial AI alliance
Zenrin and Zenrin DataCom subscribe new shares as the partners develop AI services built on geographic data.
Preferred Networks announced a capital and business alliance with Zenrin and Zenrin DataCom on October 29. Both Zenrin companies are subscribing to a third-party allotment of new Preferred Networks shares. The announcement did not disclose the investment amount.
The partners will combine geographic information, including records of how places change over time, with AI models for analysis, prediction and decision support. They plan to structure data so it can be used by industry-specific AI services and build shared technical infrastructure.
Early use cases include forecasting local changes and facility demand, choosing store locations, and simulations for urban planning, disaster response and logistics. Zenrin contributes geographic data and customer expertise, Zenrin DataCom supports service development and operation, and Preferred Networks supplies AI research and model development.
Use of funds
Develop and commercialize AI services combining temporal geospatial data with industry-specific models