The Japanese government will secure 27,500 units of Nvidia's next-generation AI Semiconductor "Rubin" to build a manufacturing-based "physical AI" ecosystem. The strategy is to develop its own AI platform with Japan's leading corporations, including SoftBank, to secure global competitiveness in specialized areas such as industrial robots.
According to Nikkei and others, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on the 16th announced a plan to procure 27,500 units of the next-generation GPU Rubin together with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who visited Japan.
Nikkei said this procurement is the world's largest in terms of a nation-level securing of Rubin.
The Japanese government plans to投入 the secured GPUs into developing the sovereign AI project "Noetra," led by SoftBank with participation from 44 corporations including NEC, Honda, and Sony Group.
Starting with 387.3 billion yen this year (about 3.7 trillion won), the government will support a total of 1 trillion yen (about 9.5 trillion won) over the next five years to foster an industrial AI ecosystem.
Noetra will be developed based on a large-scale data center to be built on the site of the former Sharp factory in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. After performing AI computation there, it plans to provide services so that Japanese corporations can use them on manufacturing floors.
Japan has decided it is difficult to catch up with the United States and China in general-purpose AI and chose a strategy focusing on physical AI that leverages manufacturing data and on-site industrial experience.
The government will also establish the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology with participation from 13 research institutions worldwide, including Tokyo University of Science, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford, to drive core technology development such as image and video generation and human-robot collaboration.
Huang said, "The know-how of Japan's manufacturing industry is this country's treasure," adding, "Infrastructure related to physical AI can only be built in Japan."
Later, at a roundtable hosted by Fujitsu, participants discussed AI cooperation plans in manufacturing, distribution, and healthcare with Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
Nvidia will provide "Nemotron" and "Cosmos," foundation models for AI agents and Robotics, as well as semiconductor technology for robots, while Fujitsu plans to supply a physical AI operating system (OS).
Huang emphasized, "Japan is a country with 'monozukuri,' a craftsmanship spirit passed down through generations," adding, "By combining the know-how accumulated on manufacturing floors with advanced AI, we can develop world-class Robotics technology."
Nvidia is developing robots for automobile manufacturing with Toyota and plans to expand AI and Robotics cooperation with Honda, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Hitachi.