Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang used a high-profile visit to Tokyo this week to announce a wave of artificial-intelligence partnerships spanning Japan's biggest industrial names.
According to Reuters, Nvidia said on Thursday, July 16, that it was partnering with Japanese companies including robotics makers Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric to advance the development of robotics and AI. Reuters quoted the company framing the goal as making robots "smart."
The robotics push appears to be broader than two firms. According to TradingView, Fujitsu, Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric and Kawasaki Heavy plan to collaborate using an Nvidia platform to develop a "physical AI" industrial platform. Coverage from Nvidia's own newsroom and syndicated outlets points to Japanese robotics and manufacturing leaders building on Nvidia's Cosmos technology for physical AI, while Japanese enterprises and startups are being encouraged to build industry-specific AI using Nvidia's Nemotron open models.
The deals reach beyond factories. Seeking Alpha reports that Huang unveiled new AI products and major Japan partnerships across robotics, healthcare, finance, quantum computing, automotive and gaming. Telecompaper describes an Nvidia infrastructure push in Japan cutting across AI-RAN telecom networks, robotics and high-performance computing. The Japan Times reports Nvidia is expanding an AI partnership with Toyota focused on smart cities and factories, and TradingView notes deepening ties with Mitsubishi Heavy and Toyota — while cautioning that Nvidia's access to the China market "remains a separate story."
The visit itself drew notice. Bloomberg and Crypto Briefing report that Huang drew crowds in Tokyo as he met AI supply-chain partners.
Why it matters: Japan is home to some of the world's leading robotics and manufacturing companies, and by embedding its chips and software across their operations, Nvidia is positioning itself at the center of the next wave of "physical AI" — machines that think and act in the real world, not just chatbots on a screen.