Japan's leading electronics, telecommunications, and robotics companies including SoftBank, NEC, Honda, and Sony Group have joined forces to establish a "Japan AI Alliance" and founded a company to develop domestic artificial intelligence technology.
According to reports from Yomiuri Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 12th, the four companies have established Nihon AI Foundation Model Development to pursue AI development with trillion-scale parameters. The goal is to surpass the United States and China in physical AI, which applies artificial intelligence to robotics.
Under the plan, SoftBank and NEC will lead AI foundation model development, while Sony and Honda will deploy the developed AI across automotive, robotics, gaming, and semiconductor sectors. The target is to introduce AI into practical applications by 2030. Beyond the four major shareholders, leading Japanese banks and corporations including Nippon Steel, Kobe Steel, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank are participating as minority investors. An executive who led AI development operations at SoftBank will serve as president of Nihon AI Foundation Model Development.
The new company also plans to secure Japanese government support. It intends to apply for the domestic AI development support program run by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to provide 1 trillion yen (approximately 9.3 trillion won) over the next five years to promote AI development through this program. The newly established company is considered highly likely to be selected for this support.
"The U.S. and China lead in AI development, but Japan is believed to have an advantage in physical AI," Yomiuri Shimbun reported. "Major Japanese companies will develop large-scale domestic AI and build deployment systems to catch up."
Nihon Keizai Shimbun noted, "As cases handling sensitive information such as AI facility operations increase, concerns about overseas leakage of such information are also growing." The paper added, "Developing large-scale domestic AI models will eliminate information leakage risks and support the realization of physical AI by connecting with devices requiring high confidentiality."
