Nvidia allies With Fanuc, Yaskawa on AI robotics in Japan

Nvidia said Thursday it's partnering with Japanese industrial giants Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric to accelerate robotics and AI development, a move that also pulled in Fujitsu and Kawasaki Heavy Industries through Nvidia's Cosmos Coalition.

"With AI, robots will become smart, easily adaptable and accessible," CEO Jensen Huang said at a Tokyo media event.

On the very next day after the robotics partnership announcement, Nvidia announced another collaboration with Noetra, which is a government-funded firm that has Sony amongst its investors.

The company would be acquiring 27,500 Nvidia Rubin GPUs and 13,750 Vera CPUs in order to create a factory for artificial intelligence that would have a capacity of 140 megawatts as per the FRONTia project by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan.

The celebrity-like status of Huang's presence in Japan is nothing new to anyone who has seen him before during his Taiwan visits. 

On Wednesday, he was spotted in Akihabara, Tokyo, at the Sega Sammy gathering, having lunch in an izakaya restaurant, and distributing bread and tea among people outside all while wearing his trademark leather jacket in the midst of the hot season.

"He is the most influential person on earth," Chang Hui-Yu, 57, a Taiwanese visitor, told reporters. 

Huang was also seen meeting company officials of Kioxia and Tokyo Electron, who play vital roles in the chip-making supply chain in Japan, and appeared along with the industrial minister of Japan, Ryosei Akazawa, who also wore the same leather jacket for an AI government conference.