Twitter (TWTR) has invested $10 million in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) new Laboratory for Social Machines (LSM) that was launched on Wednesday.
LSM is focused on discovering and studying social patterns across mass media. The $10 million provided by Twitter will allow the lab to operate for five years. It will also have access to the social media company’s real-time Tweets and archives of every post ever made on the site, reports MIT News.
LSM plans to develop new tools and apps based on its studies. The goal of these tools and apps is to create new platforms for people to use social media with. While, the lab is funded by Twitter, it will also be looking at other social media websites during its run, MIT News notes.
Twitter’s investment in LSM comes at a time when it’s trying to better connect with app developers. It’s rumored that the company will announce a new app development platform, called “Fabric”, at its Flight convention on Oct. 22.
TWTR stock was up 3% as of Thursday afternoon.
