Japan bets on physical AI, rallying world's top researchers and elite universities

Japan is assembling leading AI research institutions and scholars from around the world to launch a full-scale push into physical AI development, betting that its vast manufacturing data and industrial expertise can secure a commanding position in what many regard as the next major battleground in artificial intelligence.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on Tuesday, 14 major universities and research institutions from Japan, the United States and Europe will take part in a physical AI development project led by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, known as AIST, under Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Participants include researchers from the University of Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University, Tokyo University of Science, Osaka University, Waseda University and Keio University. Yoshua Bengio, a professor at the Université de Montréal widely known as the "godfather of AI," will also join the project. The research team will number about 200 people in total.

The findings will feed into next-generation AI model development at Noetra, an AI company founded by SoftBank and others. Noetra plans to supply the physical AI it develops to Japanese companies for use in manufacturing facilities, robots and automated systems.

Physical AI goes beyond generating text or images — it enables robots and autonomous machines to perceive, reason about and act within real-world environments. The technology is drawing wide attention as a core enabler across industries, including manufacturing processes, logistics, autonomous driving and service robots.

Japan's strategy centers on leveraging its world-class manufacturing data and industrial sites to build global competitiveness in physical AI.

More than 30 major Japanese companies and manufacturers have joined the Noetra project as investors and partners, including SoftBank, NEC, Honda, Sony Group, Fujitsu and Asahi Kasei.

The Japanese government is also throwing its weight behind the effort. It has designated Noetra as a recipient of support under a national research and development corporation public offering program and plans to commit 387.3 billion yen ($2.38 billion) this year to back the research and development work.