Japan announces aid for domestic AI development project

Japan's industry ministry announced ¥387.3 billion in aid for a project led by Noetra to develop a domestic AI foundation model for controlling robots, aiming to catch up with the US and China. SoftBank and Preferred Networks engineers will join, with AIST supporting coordination. The first model release is expected as early as this fiscal year.

The industry ministry said Tuesday that it would provide ¥387.3 billion in aid for a project to develop a domestic model that serves as the foundation of a physical artificial intelligence system that controls robots. The ministry aims to make the multimodal foundation model widely available to Japanese companies to help the country catch up with the United States and China in the technology. The project is led by Noetra, a Japanese company founded by firms including telecommunications operator SoftBank, to develop AI models domestically. Engineers from SoftBank and Japanese AI startup Preferred Networks will join the project. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, or AIST, will support Noetra in coordination with research institutions at home and abroad. Under the five-year project, Noetra and the AIST will release a foundation model as early as this fiscal year. They plan to release an improved version every fiscal year by using data obtained from manufacturers and other companies. The ministry plans to provide additional aid to the project after the first year.