Nvidia’s chief Jensen Huang spent two days — July 15 and 16 — in Tokyo, courting Japan’s industrial and chip-supply elite, weeks after a keynote in Taiwan, and months after a visit to South Korea. He left with deals spanning Japan’s entire tech ecosystem: a national AI factory, partnerships with the country’s leading robotics companies, and agreements with the chip-material suppliers powering Nvidia’s next generation of AI chips. His message was clear. Nvidia is targeting Japan’s factory floor, and many of the country’s biggest manufacturers are joining in. AI’s next chapter, Huang said, belongs to factory floors, robots, and machines, and he wants Japan to build it.
Thirty years ago, a $5 million Sega investment helped keep a near-bankrupt Nvidia afloat; today, Nvidia and Japan’s industrial giants need each other again — this time to build the physical-AI era, starting with these three projects:
Noetra — Japan’s sovereign-AI play. The country doesn’t want to run its factories and robots on American or Chinese AI. So, the government pulled together roughly 44 domestic firms, with SoftBank, Sony, NEC and Honda at the core, to build its own AI for robots, vehicles and factory floors. Tokyo is committing up to 1 trillion yen ($6.2 billion) over five years, a bet on homegrown “physical AI”, foundation models built to run machines. Japan wants to own the software brain. The hardware to build it, though, still comes from Nvidia. The U.S chip giant is building “a Vera Rubin AI factory”, a massive data center packed with its next-generation chips, expected to launch in 2028, with 13,750 Vera CPUs and 27,500 Rubin GPUs, delivering 140 megawatts. Noetra will oversee the effort, with plans to build the data center. Noetra’s plan runs in three stages: a reasoning model heavy on Japanese-language skills starting in fiscal 2026; an omni-modal version handling text, images, video, and audio by 2028; and “Real-world Native AI” built to run robots by 2030, released to outside Noetra developers in phases.
The robotics coalition — Japan’s industrial giants line up behind Cosmos. Nvidia is targeting Japan’s factory floor, and many of the country’s top robotics and manufacturing players are signing on. Fanuc, Yaskawa, Kawasaki Heavy, Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Sony, SoftBank, Kubota and robotics group AIRoA say they plan to build on Nvidia’s Cosmos models, an open-model effort Nvidia started in May with a handful of global AI labs. In Tokyo, Nvidia gave them a reason to commit, unveiling Cosmos 3 Edge, a version of the model that runs on its Jetson Thor chips inside the machines themselves. Some are already testing a shared control system; others, like Honda R&D and Omron, are building on the tools now. “The next frontier of AI is in the physical world, and this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Japan,” Huang said in the company’s statement. “Japan invented modern manufacturing. Now, it has the opportunity to reinvent it for the age of intelligent industries.”
Toyota — cars and physical AI. Toyota uses Nvidia chips across much of its stack. It committed its next-generation vehicles to Nvidia’s Drive platform at CES in January 2025; the newer work extends Nvidia into its manufacturing, where simulations are used to design production lines, into the software that runs its vehicles, and into systems that read road traffic. Toyota’s cars will run advanced driver assistance, which steers and brakes but still requires a driver, a more conservative approach than Waymo and Tesla, which are developing systems that rely less on a human driver.
Huang’s visit put physical AI at the center of Japan’s industrial strategy, and Tokyo is spending to back it. Facing a shrinking workforce, Japan wants 10 million AI-equipped robots across 18 sectors by 2040, backed by $65 billion in public and private physical-AI investment.
The longer game is bigger. Japan’s AI Robotics Strategy, released in March, aims to capture more than 30% of the global AI robotics market by 2040, a market Tokyo values at roughly ¥20 trillion, or about $133 billion. METI is funding a domestic foundation model to run the machines, and Noetra’s Nvidia-powered factory is where models of that scale, into the trillions of parameters, would be trained. The wager is that Japan’s factory-floor data and manufacturing base can do for physical AI
Underneath the industrial case is a sovereign one. As the U.S. and China pull ahead in large-scale AI, Tokyo wants its own data, its own compute, and less dependence on infrastructure it doesn’t control. Huang appeared on July 16 alongside trade minister Ryosei Akazawa at the government’s physical-AI launch, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi joining by video. The Takaichi administration has made AI and semiconductors the centerpiece of a growth plan chasing ¥370 trillion ($2.3 trillion) in public and private investment by 2040. Noetra’s factory — which Nvidia bills as “the world’s first national AI infrastructure” — is the clearest bet yet. Japan’s push for independence, at least for now, rests on American chips.ndence runs on American silicon.
In two days, Huang sat across from nearly every name that matters in Japanese tech — the CEOs of Toyota, Fanuc, Yaskawa, Fujitsu and Kawasaki over lunch, and dozens of supply-chain chiefs over skewers and whisky in a Kanda izakaya.
It’s the same playbook he ran weeks earlier — a homecoming keynote in Taiwan, fried chicken, and a 50,000-GPU deal in Seoul last fall. This time, it was Tokyo’s turn, with the robots, the supply chain, and the chips underneath.
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Key Takeaways
- Japan Embraces “Physical AI”: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s visit solidified Japan’s commitment to developing AI for robots, factories, and physical machines, backed by significant government investment and a national strategy.
- Nvidia’s Central Role: Despite Japan’s push for AI sovereignty, Nvidia is crucial, building a massive “Vera Rubin AI factory” and providing core technology (Cosmos models, Drive platform) for key initiatives like Noetra and partnerships with industrial giants.
- Strategic Economic & Sovereign Play: Japan aims to capture 30% of the global AI robotics market by 2040 and reduce reliance on foreign AI infrastructure, leveraging its manufacturing prowess while navigating the geopolitical complexities of chip dependence.
Jensen Huang’s Tokyo Tour: Forging Japan’s AI Future, One Robot at a Time
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently completed a pivotal two-day tour in Tokyo, a strategic move following keynotes in Taiwan and visits to South Korea. His agenda was clear: to court Japan’s industrial and chip-supply elite, securing partnerships that span the nation’s entire tech ecosystem. Huang’s message resonated deeply with Japan’s ambitions for the next chapter of AI, a future he believes belongs to factory floors, robots, and intelligent machines – a realm where Japan has historically excelled and is now poised to redefine.
This isn’t the first time Nvidia and Japan’s industrial might have intertwined. Three decades ago, a crucial $5 million investment from Sega helped keep a then-struggling Nvidia afloat. Today, the stakes are far higher, and the mutual dependence is once again paramount as both entities collaborate to usher in the “physical AI” era. Huang departed Tokyo having secured commitments for a national AI factory, extensive partnerships with the country’s leading robotics companies, and critical agreements with the chip-material suppliers essential for Nvidia’s next-generation AI chips.
The Grand Vision: Japan’s Physical AI Ambition
Huang’s visit effectively cemented “physical AI” at the heart of Japan’s national industrial strategy. Faced with a rapidly shrinking workforce and an aging population, Japan views advanced robotics and AI as not just technological upgrades, but fundamental necessities for economic survival and growth. Tokyo is committing substantial resources, planning for 10 million AI-equipped robots across 18 sectors by 2040, backed by an estimated $65 billion in combined public and private investment in physical AI.
The long-term vision is even more ambitious: Japan’s AI Robotics Strategy, unveiled in March, targets capturing over 30% of the global AI robotics market by 2040 – a market projected to be worth roughly ¥20 trillion (approximately $133 billion). This strategy isn’t merely about adopting AI; it’s about leading its development and deployment in the physical world, leveraging Japan’s unparalleled expertise in manufacturing and industrial automation.
Pillars of Partnership: Three Key Initiatives
Huang’s discussions solidified three major projects, each critical to Japan’s AI future and Nvidia’s global strategy:
1. Noetra: Forging Japan’s Sovereign AI Brain
Recognizing the geopolitical implications of relying on foreign AI infrastructure, Japan is embarking on an ambitious sovereign AI initiative through Noetra. The goal is to build homegrown AI models specifically designed to power its vast network of robots, vehicles, and factory floors, rather than depending on American or Chinese systems. A consortium of approximately 44 domestic firms, including industry titans like SoftBank, Sony, NEC, and Honda, forms the core of this effort, backed by up to 1 trillion yen ($6.2 billion) over five years.
Central to Noetra’s success is a colossal data center, dubbed “a Vera Rubin AI factory,” which Nvidia is building. Expected to launch in 2028, this facility will house 13,750 Vera CPUs and 27,500 Rubin GPUs, delivering a staggering 140 megawatts of compute power. Noetra will oversee the development of “physical AI” foundation models in three phases: a reasoning model strong in Japanese language skills by fiscal 2026, an omni-modal version handling diverse data types by 2028, and “Real-world Native AI” designed explicitly for robot operation by 2030, with phased releases to external developers.
2. The Robotics Coalition: Empowering the Factory Floor with Cosmos
Nvidia’s direct target in Japan is the factory floor, and its outreach has garnered significant commitment from the nation’s leading robotics and manufacturing players. Industrial giants such as Fanuc, Yaskawa, Kawasaki Heavy, Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Sony, SoftBank, Kubota, and the robotics group AIRoA have pledged to build upon Nvidia’s Cosmos models. Cosmos, an open-model effort launched by Nvidia in May with global AI labs, found a compelling new application in Tokyo.
A key incentive for Japanese partners was the unveiling of Cosmos 3 Edge, a specialized version of the model designed to run directly on Nvidia’s Jetson Thor chips embedded within machines. This enables localized, real-time AI processing at the edge. Several companies, including Honda R&D and Omron, are already testing these tools, indicating rapid adoption. As Huang stated, “Japan invented modern manufacturing. Now, it has the opportunity to reinvent it for the age of intelligent industries.”
3. Toyota: Driving AI Innovation from Road to Production Line
Toyota, a long-standing user of Nvidia chips across its technological stack, is deepening its partnership. While the automaker committed its next-generation vehicles to Nvidia’s Drive platform at CES in January 2025, the new agreements extend Nvidia’s reach much further. This expanded collaboration will see Nvidia’s technology integrated into Toyota’s manufacturing processes, utilizing simulations for production line design, powering the software that runs its vehicles, and enhancing systems for real-time road traffic analysis. Toyota’s approach to advanced driver assistance, which focuses on steering and braking while retaining a human driver, represents a more conservative but pragmatic path compared to fully autonomous systems pursued by some competitors.
Beyond the Chips: A Sovereign Strategy with a Catch
Underpinning Japan’s industrial drive is a potent sovereign ambition. As the U.S. and China increasingly dominate large-scale AI development, Tokyo is determined to cultivate its own data, compute capabilities, and reduce dependence on infrastructure it doesn’t control. Huang’s appearance alongside Trade Minister Ryosei Akazawa and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (via video) at the government’s physical AI launch underscored the strategic importance of this initiative. The Takaichi administration has positioned AI and semiconductors as pillars of a broader growth plan, targeting ¥370 trillion ($2.3 trillion) in public and private investment by 2040.
Noetra’s “Vera Rubin AI factory,” which Nvidia touts as the “world’s first national AI infrastructure,” epitomizes this grand ambition. Yet, there’s an inherent paradox: Japan’s push for independence, at least for the foreseeable future, remains intricately linked to American silicon. While Tokyo aims to own the software brain, the powerful hardware required to build and run it still largely originates from Nvidia.
Huang’s Strategic Playbook
Huang’s Tokyo itinerary mirrored his successful playbook from previous visits: a mix of high-level government meetings, intimate lunches with CEOs of industry giants like Toyota, Fanuc, and Kawasaki, and casual dinners with dozens of supply-chain chiefs. Whether it was fried chicken in Taiwan or skewers and whisky in a Kanda izakaya, Huang’s personal touch and direct engagement are hallmarks of Nvidia’s strategy to embed itself deeply within national tech ecosystems. This time, it was Japan’s turn to be courted, with its unparalleled robotics, sophisticated supply chain, and insatiable demand for the chips that power the future.
Bottom Line
Jensen Huang’s visit to Tokyo represents more than just a series of deals; it marks a profound alignment between Nvidia’s vision for physical AI and Japan’s strategic imperatives for economic resilience and technological sovereignty. Japan is positioning itself as a global leader in the deployment of intelligent machines, leveraging its manufacturing prowess and significant investment to build a future where AI extends beyond the cloud and into the tangible world. While the nation’s pursuit of independence is clear, its reliance on Nvidia’s cutting-edge hardware creates a fascinating dynamic of partnership and dependence. This collaboration is set to reshape global manufacturing, accelerate the physical AI revolution, and solidify Japan’s role as a critical player in the intelligent industries of tomorrow.
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