Leading AI company and South East Asia Conglomerate to work with top Universities to support blockchain development and implementation.
PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 1, 2018 – ObEN Inc., the artificial intelligence (AI) company creating Personal AI (PAI) technology to revolutionize digital interactions, announced it is partnering with the Lippo Group to establish the Pacific Blockchain Research Institute (PBRI).
The Pacific Blockchain Research Institute will support research, development, and proliferation of blockchain technology throughout South East Asia and beyond. The institute will promote blockchain technology through partnerships with leading research institutions, key industry players, and government organizations with the goal of accelerating blockchain adoption and implementation. Areas of research will include blockchain technology using fundamental protocols such as Project PAI and currencies such as PAI Coin, to help reduce poverty worldwide and to improve the tax system through greater transparency. In addition, the institute aims to build its own cryptocurrency exchange which will accept and trade fundamental currencies such as PAI Coin. The Lippo Group and ObEN will be joined by the University of Indonesia and Universitas Pelita Harapan as founding members of the institute, with Mochtar Riady, Chairman of the Lippo Group, serving as the first Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Institute.
“The Lippo Group sees great potential in the application of blockchain technology in our various areas of operation and are therefore eager to support the advancement of blockchain technology,” said Mochtar Riady, Chairman of the Lippo Group. “Through the intersection of technology, industry, and research, The Lippo Group looks forward to helping make the PBRI a think tank and hub for blockchain activity.”
“ObEN is excited to partner with the Lippo Group in forming the Pacific Blockchain Research Institute,” said Adam Zheng, ObEN COO and co-founder. “Southeast Asia has become an epicenter of activity for blockchain, and we see ample opportunity for blockchain to be integrated in many government, social, and commercial applications. The Institute will serve as a great way to connect industry players, like ObEN and Lippo, with researchers from leading universities in the region as well as government entities to explore how best to utilize blockchain to make a positive impact.”
As founding members of the institute, Lippo and ObEN will serve as test cases for how the PBRI can deliver research, technology, and policy recommendations that can impact a variety of industry use cases. Blockchain is a core component of ObEN’s technology, which features state-of-the-art, full-stack AI that allows users to create their own Personal AI (PAI) with just a selfie and brief voice recording. PAIs are intelligent 3D avatars that look, talk, and can learn to behave like each individual user. In an effort to maintain security and data sovereignty for the individual, ObEN has elected to secure all PAIs and the associated user data on the Project PAI blockchain protocol, promoting the creation of a new digital economy centered around the use of PAI-based applications. Participation in the PBRI will help bring ObEN’s technology to potential users and partners in the region, supporting further research on potential use cases for Personal AI on the Blockchain.
The Lippo Group has long been a pillar of enterprise in the Pacific region. Its operating areas include retail, real estate, media, banking, healthcare, mobile payment, and insurance across North America and Asia, with a strong concentration in Indonesia. Therefore, Indonesia will serve as an early initiative for the institute. Through support from the PBRI, the Lippo Group will develop strategies to tokenize their businesses across the region, including the acceptance of PAI Coin, and create an unprecedented decentralized economy across all of their operating verticals.
About Lippo Group
Lippo Group is a pan-Asian investment holding company with investments in real estate, department stores, retailing, financial services, telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare, news media, and IT services. Over the past 60 years, it has established a model for growth, innovation and leadership in industries and new markets. Lippo’s education foundation manages 52 schools and two universities, including Indonesia’s leading private university. Lippo’s healthcare initiative manages Indonesia’s largest healthcare group, comprising 31 hospitals across the Indonesian archipelago, including Indonesia’s first and only world-class cancer treatment hospital. Lippo is dedicated to its vision of “Growing in Stewardship, Transforming Lives”.
About ObEN
ObEN is an artificial intelligence (AI) company developing Personal AI technology that revolutionizes personal digital interaction, enabling never before possible social and virtual interactions. The company’s technology allows users to create intelligent 3D avatars that look, sound, and behave like them. Deployed on the Project PAI blockchain, ObEN’s Personal AI (PAI) technology enables users to create, use, and manage their own PAI on a secure, decentralized platform. Founded in 2014, ObEN is a K11, Tencent, Softbank Ventures Korea and HTC Vive X portfolio company and is located at Idealab in Pasadena, California. To learn more about ObEN, please visit oben.com.
CONTACT INFORMATION
ObEN
Lisa Wang lisa@oben.com
