Amazon on Thursday announced an offshoot of the invitation-only MARS conference — which stands for machine learning, automation, robotics and space — that will be open to the public. The new conference, re:Mars, will run from June 4 through 7 in Las Vegas at the Aria Resort.
There's a reason why Amazon may want to bring thinkers in these spaces together. Reports from last year suggested that Amazon is working to build home robots that it hopes to launch as soon as 2019. The company is also heavily invested in artificial intelligence through its Alexa assistant and other products.
MARS is Amazon and Jeff Bezos' conference where billionaires and some of the brightest minds in science gather to discuss similar topics. Last year, Bezos famously took a robotic dog for a walk during the show. The year before, he walked around in a massive robot suit.
The June conference builds on the concept but doesn't require an invitation to attend.
"Hear from leaders across science, academia, and business as they share the latest research and scientific advancements, industry innovation, and their perspective on how these domains will evolve," Amazon's re:Mars site says. Speakers from Amazon, MIT, UC Berkeley, NASA and Harvard are on the docket.
Amazon said the event is for "business leaders and technical builders," such as engineers, roboticists and machine learning experts. Astronauts get to attend for free, according to the site.
Amazon also hosts a separate annual conference called re:Invent that's centered around Amazon Web Services.
Registration for re:Mars will open in March, but interested parties can sign up to receive more information now.
