By Rajwa Quasim
Nvidia unveiled its new AI model and announced partnerships with domestic Japanese industrial giants to expand physical AI ecosystem in Japan.
During Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s two-day visit to Japan, he announced the Cosmos 3 Edge model as part of Nvidia’s strategy to expand its physical AI ecosystem in the country, focusing on robotics and manufacturing sectors. The Silicon Valley chip giant announced partnerships with domestic Japanese industrial giants like Fujitsu, Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
Nvidia also announced on Thursday that it’s teaming up with Japanese firms Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric to further develop robotics and AI technology together.
The new model Cosmo 3 Edge, known as “world model,” is designed to help systems perceive and navigate physical environments in real time and can learn from a wider range of inputs compared to large language models (LLMs).
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“The next frontier of AI is in the physical world, and this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Japan,” CEO Huang said in a statement on Wednesday. “Japan invented modern manufacturing. Now, it has the opportunity to reinvent it for the age of intelligent industries.”
Japan also plans to purchase to purchase 27,500 Nvidia Rubin chips for a newly formed Noetra Corp. to build a home-grown foundational AI models for robots. Noetra plans to begin construction in April 2027.
Noetra, backed by ¥387.3 billion ($2.4 billion) in government funding through next March, will oversee the project and build a 140-megawatt data center, which is slated to go online in June 2028. Noetra is also backed by dozens of companies and organizations, including Sony, SoftBank and Toyota-backed Preferred Networks.
Huang also appeared alongside executives from key supply chain companies including CEOs of chipmaker Kioxia and equipment maker Tokyo Electron. While Japan’s share of the global chipmaking market has declined significantly since the 1980s, the AI market is projected to grow to $27.9 billion by 2029.
As per International Trade Administration, it is creating fresh opportunities for the U.S. companies to invest. Tokyo’s efforts to encourage AI adoption across industries and strong interest from Japanese firms in building international relationships will fuel to reach the expected growth.
“I think he’s the most influential man on Earth,” said Chang Hui-Yu, a 57-year-old Taiwanese tourist, speaking outside the Sega event.
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Through new drug discovery and medical robotics initiatives, Nvidia is also aggressively expanding into Japan’s healthcare and biotech sectors through agentic AI.
The U.S. company also said in a blog post that Japanese drugmakers including Astellas Pharma Inc, Daiichi Sankyo, and Ono Pharmaceutical are utilizing Nvidia’s specialized biology toolkit to streamline their workflows.
CEO Huang joined industry minister Ryosei Akazawa at government AI event, both wearing a leather jacket, for which Huang said, “I’m so happy the two of us have a similar sense of style.”