Japan Marshals 14 Global Research Institutions and 44 Companies to Build Homegrown 'Physical AI'

Japan is mounting an ambitious national push into so-called "physical AI," enlisting 14 universities and research institutions across Japan, the United States, Europe and Canada to develop domestic technology that controls robots and industrial equipment in the real world. The effort, coordinated by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), draws on a roughly 200-person research force and is intended to feed a new foundation-model venture backed by SoftBank and dozens of other firms.