Japan's leading corporations, including SoftBank, Sony, NEC, and Honda, have joined forces to develop domestic artificial intelligence (AI). They plan to establish a "national AI corporation" to catch up with the United States and China.
On the 12th, according to Nippon.com, the four corporations will establish a joint venture called "Nihon AI Foundation Model Development" and push ahead with developing AI with parameters on the trillion scale. The goal is to provide high-performance AI for broad use by Japanese corporations and to develop physical AI technology that can run robots. SoftBank and NEC will handle foundation model development, while Sony and Honda plan to apply the developed AI to automobiles, robots, games, and semiconductors.
An executive who handled AI development at SoftBank has taken office as the joint venture's chief, and about 100 AI developers, including developers from Preferred Networks, a Tokyo-based AI developer, are expected to participate.
The four corporations—SoftBank, Sony, NEC, and Honda—each secured more than 10% equity. In addition, several Japanese corporations, including Nippon Steel, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank, will participate as minority shareholders.
The joint venture also plans to apply for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's AI development support program. Starting in the 2026 fiscal year, the program will provide a total of 1 trillion yen over five years to domestic AI development corporations.