Japan wants to develop 10 million AI robots by 2040

Japan intends to develop a model of national artificial intelligence and to put into operation 10 million robots equipped with AI in more than a dozen sectors by 2040. The country will invest about $6 billion in the national AI model, which will be developed by Noetraa consortium of companies that includes SoftBank e Sony.

Countries around the world are trying to develop models of I sovereign to reduce a potentially dangerous dependence on technologies from the United States and China.

Japan’s investment and Noetra’s role

Some Japanese media outlets have reported that the government will allocate up to 1 trillion yen ($6.1 billion) over the next five years, based on the results of the initiative. The number of companies investing in Noetra is expected to rise to 44, including companies from the automotive, electronics and manufacturing sectors, as well as finance and logistics, as reported by the business daily Nikkei.

Sony, Honda and NEC are also part of Noetra and appear among the main shareholders. The project was also entrusted to AIST, a state research institute, by the Ministry of Economy (METI) and its agency NEDO, for the period 2026-2030. The goal is a multimodal model capable of combining language, images, video and sensory data, so that robots can interpret the environment and act accordingly. Public funding will only cover the first two years with certainty, after which the government will evaluate year by year whether to continue.

Physical AI and Robots

Noetra will focus in particular on “Physical AI” (physical AI); The government also announced an updated version of its AI robotics strategy on Tuesday. Unlike simply interacting with users via software on a screen, physical AI is about deploying artificial intelligence in real-world settings, such as self-driving cars, industrial robots or even androids with butler functions.

Despite huge investments and ambitious projects related to AI robots, their application and performance in real contexts remain limited.

The words of Minister Akazawa

“This strategy sets the goal of deploying around 10 million robots by 2040 and, including the catering, food production and healthcare sectors, will aggressively promote the social adoption of technology in a total of 18 areas,” said the Minister of Industry Ryosei Akazawa.