A Tiny Puerto Rican Port Is Turning Into a Test Lab for Trade Fluidity

Scale AI investing $2 million into ‘Smart Port Lab’ in Ponce
The port has previously been hit by hurricanes, earthquakes

California-based Scale AI will be investing $2 million into the Port of Ponce in southern Puerto Rico to turn it into a “Smart Port Lab” where it will experiment with incorporating AI into shipping.Source: Scale AI

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By Jim Wyss

February 16, 2023 at 12:00 PM UTC

Updated on

February 16, 2023 at 2:27 PM UTC

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Scale AI, a California-based artificial-intelligence company, has found an oddity in Puerto Rico’s Port of Ponce — two idle ship-to-shore cranes.

Shipping ports are capital intensive projects designed to operate at full capacity, with lumbering cranes shuttling containers from ships to the port around the clock. The idea of slowing down operations enough to do research and development is usually out of the question.