Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, spent two days in Tokyo, engaging with Japan’s industrial and chip-supply leaders. His visit resulted in agreements spanning Japan’s entire tech ecosystem, including a national AI factory and partnerships with leading robotics companies. The focus is on building AI for factory floors, robots, and machines, positioning Japan as a key player in the physical-AI era. Huang emphasized that AI’s next chapter belongs to these sectors, with Japan’s manufacturers joining the effort. The collaboration aims to develop AI systems that can operate in the physical world, marking a significant shift in the country’s industrial strategy. Source: techcrunch
Nvidia and Japan are collaborating on the Noetra project, a sovereign-AI initiative led by 44 domestic firms, including SoftBank, Sony, NEC, and Honda. The government is investing up to 1 trillion yen ($6.2 billion) over five years to develop homegrown “physical AI” foundation models. These models are designed to run machines and will be trained in Nvidia’s upcoming Vera Rubin AI factory, expected to launch in 2028. The factory will house 13,750 Vera CPUs and 27,500 Rubin GPUs, delivering 140 megawatts of power. Noetra’s plan includes three stages: a Japanese-language reasoning model starting in fiscal 2026, an omni-modal version by 2028, and “Real-world Native AI” for robots by 2030. Source: techcrunch
Toyota, a key partner, is integrating Nvidia chips into its vehicles and manufacturing processes. The company has committed its next-generation vehicles to Nvidia’s Drive platform and is expanding into simulations for production lines and software for its vehicles. Toyota’s approach to advanced driver assistance is more conservative, requiring a human driver, unlike systems being developed by companies like Waymo and Tesla. The collaboration underscores Japan’s push for physical AI, with plans to deploy 10 million AI-equipped robots across 18 sectors by 2040, backed by $65 billion in public and private investment. Source: techcrunch
