Noetra’s CEO Calls His Robot AI Startup a ‘Last Chance’ for Japan
Hironobu Tamba, formerly of SoftBank, is leading a state-backed initiative to develop Japan’s own foundation model for robots. In an interview with Reuters, he expressed the venture’s significance as a last chance for Japan to remain relevant in the upcoming AI wave.
A State-Backed Effort
Noetra, a Tokyo-based company, is at the center of this program, which includes substantial computing power from a 140MW AI factory. The initiative has strong backing from Japanese corporations like Sony Group, SoftBank, NEC, and Honda Motor, along with 44 other companies and organizations.
The Japanese government has committed ¥387.3 billion (approximately $2.4 billion) for the current fiscal year, part of a planned investment of up to ¥1 trillion ($6 billion) over five years, funded through green transition bonds.
Strategic Plan
Noetra’s strategy is phased:
- Fiscal 2027: Ship a reasoning model with Japanese-language understanding.
- Fiscal 2028: Develop an omni-modal system handling text, images, video, and audio.
- Fiscal 2030: Achieve "Real-world Native AI" capable of understanding physical properties.
The FRONTia data center, set to begin construction in April 2027 and operational by June 2028, will provide the computational power required to train these systems using 27,500 Nvidia Rubin GPUs and 13,750 Vera CPUs.
Focusing on Robots Over Chatbots
The choice to focus on robots over chatbots is intentional, leveraging Japan’s existing strength in industrial robotics, where it controls nearly 70% of the global market. The government aims to position the country as a leader in the next phase of AI competition, centered around factories and warehouses, where humanoid robots and physical AI will meet.
Japan has set an ambitious goal: deploy 10 million AI-powered robots across 18 fields by 2040, capturing more than 30% of the global market for physical AI, valued in the tens of trillions of yen.
Technological Sovereignty
The initiative is framed as one of technological sovereignty, ensuring Japan doesn’t rely on foreign firms for its robotic intelligence. This argument is rooted in a sense of urgency regarding the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.