Japanese giant NTT Data considers establishing European AI center in Barcelona

The Japanese firm NTT Data is considering establishing its first European Artificial Intelligence center in Barcelona, the Catalan News Agency (ACN) has learned.

The Catalan government is negotiating with the company, owned by technology giant NTT, in order to secure the deal.

Indeed Catalonia's digital policy minister, Jordi Puigneró, was in Japan on Friday to follow up on contacts over the issue which began in 2019 Mobile World Congress, held in the Catalan capital one month ago.

Both Puigneró and Quim Torra, the Catalan president, met with some representatives for NTT Data during the convention on February 25.

The investment, if confirmed, could result in new job posts for high-profile workers.

According to Puigneró, the investment would amount to "taking a factory of 21st-century talent to Catalonia."

"Catalonia is getting ready and preparing its ecosystem to become a reference in this advanced digital technology, like others," he added talking to ACN.

The government's aim, he stated, is for Catalans to not only be consumers of AI, but also "producers."

NTT Data

NTT Data is a Japanese giant firm whose revenue was 14.6 billion euros in 2016 and has more than 100,000 employees.

It is a partially-owned subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), the formerly state-owned Japanese telecommunications firm.