IBM To Hire 1,800 Blockchain, AI and IoT Researches in France

IBM CEO Virginia Rometty has announced that in the next two years the company is planning to hire close to 2,000 people in France in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain.

In an interview with Le Monde, Rometty noted that the company currently works with Crédit Mutuel, Orange Bank, Generali, France’s national railway system and Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) without clarifying what projects the researchers may work on. She said, “In the next two years, we will hire 1,800 people in France at IBM. In January, we announced a project to recruit 400 people for research. These jobs will include AI, blockchain and the Internet of Things.”

Building on the American classifications of “blue collar” or “white collar” jobs, Rometty said that IBM will bring a training program for “new collar jobs” to France. This follows their pursuit of the idea of making France a “center of excellence” dedicated to artificial intelligence.

IBM, meanwhile, is known to be already heavily at work involving blockchain. For example, in March, the tech giant spoke of a tiny computer – “smaller than a grain of salt” – that would use blockchain technology and soon be embedded into everyday devices. IBM also joined MOBI (Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative), aiming to explore blockchain for use in a new digital mobility ecosystem that could make transportation safer, more affordable, and more widely accessible.