Nvidia signs Japan deals focused on factory robots and national AI

In short: Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang visited Tokyo and left with new deals that tie Nvidia more closely to Japan’s plans for AI in factories, robots, and cars.

What happened

Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, spent July 15 and 16 in Tokyo meeting Japanese government leaders and major manufacturers. Nvidia makes the chips that power many AI systems, and it is pushing a message that the next wave of AI will be used in machines like robots and factory equipment.

One key project is called Noetra. Japan wants “sovereign AI,” meaning AI it controls locally instead of depending on systems run by companies in the US or China. The plan includes a large “AI factory,” which is basically a huge data center (a building full of computers) expected to launch in 2028, using Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin chips.

Nvidia also announced a broad robotics push with Japanese companies including Fanuc, Yaskawa, Kawasaki Heavy, Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Sony, SoftBank, Kubota, and the AIRoA robotics group. These companies say they plan to build on Nvidia Cosmos models, and use a version designed to run inside machines, so robots can act without always relying on an internet connection (like having the brain on the device instead of in the cloud).

Toyota is also expanding its work with Nvidia, including factory simulations and driver assistance features in future vehicles.

Why it matters

Japan is trying to use AI to deal with a shrinking workforce and to stay competitive in manufacturing. These deals show how much that plan still depends on Nvidia’s chips, even as Japan tries to keep more control over the software “brain” that will run robots and machines.

Source: TechCrunch AI