Nvidia's Jensen Huang secures sweeping Japan AI deals targeting factory floors and robotics
15 Sources
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What to watch for after Jensen Huang's Japan visit
Nvidia's chief Jensen Huang spent two days -- July 15 and 16 -- in Tokyo, courting Japan's industrial and chip-supply elite, weeks after a keynote in Taiwan, and months after a visit to South Korea. He left with deals spanning Japan's entire tech ecosystem: a national AI factory, partnerships with
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Nvidia partners with Japan robotics firms on AI development
TOKYO, July 16 (Reuters) - Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab said on Thursday it was partnering with Japanese companies including Fanuc (6954.T), opens new tab and Yaskawa Electric (6506.T), opens new tab to advance the development of robotics and AI. "With AI, robots will become smart, easily
[3]
Fujitsu and leading Japanese robotics companies to use Nvidia technology in 'physical AI'
TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese communications company Fujitsu is leading a major push in artificial intelligence using Nvidia's technology, bringing together what it said was the best in Japan's manufacturing prowess in robotics with AI. The technology area known as "physical AI" refers to smart,
[4]
Nvidia unveils new AI model and expands Japan's physical AI ecosystem
Nvidia unveiled a new AI model for robots and vision AI agents on Wednesday, deepening its push into the physical AI market in Japan. The company's new model, Cosmos 3 Edge, is a so-called world model, designed to help systems perceive and navigate physical environments in real time. Cosmos 3 edge
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Nvidia signs up Japan's robotics establishment for its open world models
FANUC, Yaskawa, Kawasaki and 19 others intend to join the Cosmos Coalition. Intend is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Nvidia has recruited most of Japan's industrial robotics establishment into the Cosmos Coalition, the open world-model programme it uses to seed its physical AI stack, in
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Japan's Robotics and Manufacturing Leaders Build on NVIDIA Cosmos to Advance Physical AI Frontier
* NVIDIA introduces Cosmos 3 Edge for on-device vision reasoning and robot policy deployment on NVIDIA Jetson Thor platforms, and NVIDIA Metropolis libraries built on NVIDIA Cosmos for agentic vision AI development. * Japan's physical AI ecosystem leaders AIRoA, FANUC, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Kawasaki
[7]
Nvidia builds Japan physical AI coalition with Fujitsu, FANUC
Nvidia $NVDA announced on Thursday that a broad group of Japanese industrial and technology companies intend to join its Cosmos Coalition, a collective aimed at building open physical AI models, as chief executive Jensen Huang visited Tokyo. Fujitsu is leading a push to develop a collaborative
[8]
'Japan's excellence is a philosophy, a way of life': Jensen Huang wants robots to take care of an aging society with a labor shortage | Fortune
The technology area known as "physical AI" refers to smart, futuristic robots that can think on their own, not just follow programmed directions, to work safely alongside people in factories, homes and hospitals. The initiative was announced in Tokyo on Thursday by Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive
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Fujitsu and Leading Japanese Robotics Companies to Use Nvidia Technology in 'Physical AI'
TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese communications company Fujitsu is leading a major push in artificial intelligence using Nvidia's technology, bringing together what it said was the best in Japan's manufacturing prowess in robotics with AI. The technology area known as "physical AI" refers to smart,
[10]
Fujitsu and leading Japanese robotics companies to use Nvidia technology in 'physical AI'
Fujitsu and Nvidia are leading a major push in physical AI technology. This initiative aims to integrate Japan's robotics with advanced artificial intelligence. Smart robots will work alongside people in factories, homes, and hospitals. The collaboration seeks to address Japan's acute labor
[11]
Nvidia expands Toyota AI partnership for smart cities, factories
Nvidia will supply its artificial intelligence hardware and software to Toyota Motor to power smart cities, traffic intelligence systems and carmaking factories, broadening a decadelong partnership that began with developing autonomous vehicles. The two companies will deepen their collaboration
[12]
Nvidia partners with Japan robotics firms on AI development
Nvidia announced a partnership with Japanese companies like Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric. This collaboration aims to advance robotics and artificial intelligence development significantly. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attended several events in Tokyo, generating considerable interest. His appearances drew
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NVIDIA Partners with Japanese Robotics Firms to Accelerate AI Development
NVIDIA has partnered with Japanese companies, including Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric, to support robotics and artificial intelligence development. The chipmaker announced the collaboration during a media event in Tokyo on Thursday. NVIDIA is also expanding the use of its Nemotron open models across
[14]
Fujitsu and leading Japanese robotics companies to use Nvidia technology in 'physical AI'
TOKYO -- Japanese communications company Fujitsu is leading a major push in artificial intelligence using Nvidia's technology, bringing together what it said was the best in Japan's manufacturing prowess in robotics with AI. The technology area known as "physical AI" refers to smart, futuristic
[15]
Fujitsu, Japanese Robotics Firms to Explore Physical AI Opportunities
Fujitsu is teaming up with leading Japanese robotics companies on physical artificial-intelligence development and implementation across various industries, a move aimed at strengthening the country's industrial competitiveness. The development comes as Japanese industrial sectors, especially
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spent two days in Tokyo courting Japan's industrial elite, leaving with deals spanning a national AI factory, robotics partnerships, and chip-supply agreements. The chip giant is targeting Japan's factory floor with physical AI, partnering with Fanuc, Yaskawa, Toyota, and 19 other firms. Japan aims to deploy 10 million AI-equipped robots across 18 sectors by 2040, backed by $65 billion in investment.
Nvidia Targets Japan's Factory Floor with Physical AI Push
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spent July 15 and 16 in Tokyo, securing deals that position the chip giant at the center of Japan’s industrial transformation
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. The Jensen Huang Japan visit delivered agreements spanning Japan’s entire tech ecosystem: a national AI factory, partnerships with leading Japan robotics firms, and commitments from chip-material suppliers powering Nvidia’s next-generation AI chips. His message was direct—physical AI belongs on factory floors, and Japan will build it1
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Source: Japan Times
Thirty years after a $5 million Sega investment kept a struggling Nvidia afloat, the company and Japan’s industrial giants need each other again to construct the physical-AI era
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. "The next frontier of AI is in the physical world, and this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Japan," Jensen Huang said4
. "Japan invented modern manufacturing. Now, it has the opportunity to reinvent it for the age of intelligent industries"1
.Cosmos 3 Edge Model Powers AI-Driven Robotics Development
Nvidia unveiled the Cosmos 3 Edge model during Huang’s visit, a four-billion-parameter world model designed to help systems perceive and navigate physical environments in real time
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. The Nvidia Cosmos 3 Edge model runs on Jetson edge hardware rather than data centers, and developers can adapt it to a specific robot, vehicle, or sensor rig in about a day5
. The model operates on Nvidia’s Jetson Thor chips inside machines themselves, enabling autonomous robots to think independently rather than follow programmed directions1
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.Twenty-two companies intend to join the Cosmos Coalition, Nvidia’s open world-model program seeding its physical AI stack
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. The roster includes Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric, the two largest industrial robot makers on earth by installed base, along with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Sony, SoftBank, Kubota, Honda R&D, and robotics group AIRoA1
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. Signing Fanuc and Yaskawa to a coalition organized around open models represents a significant shift, given both companies have spent decades running proprietary control stacks5
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Source: NVIDIA
Fujitsu Leads Collaborative Platform to Reinvent Manufacturing with AI
Fujitsu is leading the most concrete piece of the program, developing a collaborative control platform explored with Fanuc, Yaskawa, and Kawasaki that bridges digital and physical operations across industrial sectors
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. Built on Cosmos world foundation models, the Isaac robotics platform, Omniverse NuRec libraries, and the Newton physics engine, the platform handles digital twins, robot learning, and simulation-to-real validation before deployment on factory floors5
.Applications extend beyond traditional manufacturing. Kubota is exploring Cosmos for autonomous agriculture, while Enactic is fine-tuning Nvidia’s Isaac GR00T model for elder-care semi-humanoid robots
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. Shimizu Corporation is using Metropolis for construction-site safety, and Kawasaki is spreading the technology across healthcare, shipbuilding, transportation, aerospace, and energy5
. The executives stressed these autonomous robots could address Japan’s acute labor shortage, as the nation represents one of the most rapidly aging societies in the developed world3
.Noetra and Japan's Sovereign AI Strategy
Japan doesn't want to run its factories and autonomous robots on American or Chinese AI
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. The government assembled roughly 44 domestic firms, with SoftBank, Sony, NEC, and Honda at the core, to build Noetra, Japan’s sovereign-AI initiative focused on physical AI foundation models for robots, vehicles, and factory floors1
. Tokyo is committing up to 1 trillion yen ($6.2 billion) over five years to own the software brain, though the hardware to build it still comes from Nvidia1
.Nvidia is constructing "a Vera Rubin AI factory," a massive data center packed with next-generation chips expected to launch in 2028, featuring 13,750 Vera CPUs and 27,500 Rubin GPUs delivering 140 megawatts
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. Noetra will oversee the effort, with plans running in three stages: a reasoning model emphasizing Japanese-language skills starting in fiscal 2026; an omni-modal version handling text, images, video, and audio by 2028; and "Real-world Native AI" built to run robots by 20301
.Huang appeared alongside trade minister Ryosei Akazawa at the government’s physical-AI launch on July 16, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi joining by video
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. The Takaichi administration has made AI and semiconductors the centerpiece of a growth plan pursuing ¥370 trillion ($2.3 trillion) in public and private investment by 20401
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Source: TechCrunch
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Toyota Extends Nvidia Partnership Across Manufacturing Stack
Toyota uses Nvidia chips across much of its stack and committed its next-generation vehicles to Nvidia’s Drive platform at CES in January 2025
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. The expanded partnership extends Nvidia into Toyota’s manufacturing, where simulations design production lines, into software running vehicles, and into systems reading road traffic1
. Toyota’s cars will run advanced driver assistance that steers and brakes but requires a driver, a more conservative approach than Waymo and Tesla1
.Japan's AI Robotics Strategy Targets Global Market Share
Facing a shrinking workforce, Japan aims to deploy 10 million AI-equipped robots across 18 sectors by 2040, backed by $65 billion in public and private physical-AI investment
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. Japan’s AI robotics strategy, released in March, targets capturing more than 30% of the global AI robotics market by 2040, a market Tokyo values at roughly ¥20 trillion, or about $133 billion1
.Japan AI market growth is expected to reach $27.9 billion by 2029, driven by Tokyo’s active push to promote AI adoption across industries and local firms’ eagerness to forge international partnerships
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. Huang emphasized the philosophy of kaizen, or "continuous improvement," noting that Japan’s excellence in manufacturing quality makes it ideal for physical AI deployment3
. "'Made in Japan' means the highest quality, the highest precision," he said3
.The wager is that Japan’s factory-floor data and manufacturing base can establish leadership in physical AI as the U.S. and China pull ahead in large-scale AI
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. "Every nation and every company should own and control its intelligence infrastructure," Huang said. "Open models make that possible"5
. Whether world models actually shorten the road from demonstration to deployment remains unanswered, a question sitting unresolved through China’s crowded robot boom5
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