SIMIC

AN obscure, largely unused and useless Port of Ponce in southern Puerto Rico has had a new lease on life now that Scale AI wants to set up an artificial intelligence lab to develop a "smart port", reports Bloomberg.
Ponce now only handles bulk cargo and a handful of cruises, but no containerships, despite having two modern quay cranes, a 524,000-TEU capacity yard and berths to dock three 4,500-TEUers.
Fortuitously, the territorial government bought the two ZPMC quay cranes in 2009 for US$22.7 million, but they haven't run in years.
But this was a godsend for Scale AI, a California-based artificial-intelligence company, that plans to invest $2 million during the next 12 months to turn Ponce into a Smart Port Lab.
Normal ports are designed to operate at full capacity, with cranes shuttling containers from ship to shore 24/7. Thus, slowing down to do research is out of the question.
Scale AI wants to develop autonomous inspection systems, computer-assisted surveillance systems, and digital-receipt registries that will track and monitor container movement.
Said Scale AI managing director Michael Kratsios: "We have scoured the country to find a place that has this specific hardware and this specific area to build out. This is the one place in the United States where we can do this."
Scale AI intends to "bring global port operators from around the world to see and feel what a future smart port can look like," Mr Kratsios said.
Backed by the Founders Fund, Accel, and Tiger Global Management, the company had a valuation of $7.3 billion in 2021, according to its website.
Said Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi: "The smart port lab is another example of investments that are betting on Puerto Rico's sophisticated business ecosystem as an innovation leader in the Caribbean."