Japan is teaming up with Nvidia to build what the two describe as the world's first national AI infrastructure — a state-backed "AI Factory" aimed at giving the country its own foundational AI model for robots.
According to Bloomberg and The Edge Singapore, Japan plans to buy 27,500 of Nvidia's next-generation Rubin chips to power the effort. Seeking Alpha reports the project is backed by $2.4 billion in funding and is designed to produce a homegrown robotics foundation model rather than relying on foreign systems. Crypto Briefing reports the Rubin GPU datacenter carries a June 2028 target.
The initiative is led by Fujitsu alongside major Japanese robotics companies. Outlook Business reports that Nvidia is teaming with industrial robot makers Fanuc and Yaskawa, part of a broader push into what the industry calls "physical AI" — intelligence embedded in machines that operate in the real world. According to Invezz, the effort links Nvidia's Cosmos, Omniverse, Isaac and Newton software to real-world robotics in factories, logistics and hospitals, while Stock Titan reports the planned AI Factory will share its models for robot AI.
The deal was cemented during Nvidia chief Jensen Huang's visit to Tokyo, which the South China Morning Post dubbed a "yakitori summit." Digitimes reports Nvidia is also wiring its Blackwell technology into Japan's science, banking, manufacturing and automotive sectors.
Why it matters: The move signals a growing race among governments to control their own AI capabilities rather than depend on others — and it extends Nvidia's dominance from data centers into the physical economy of robots and factories, a market that could define its next phase of growth.