Nvidia is accelerating its expansion into Japan’s industrial technology sector through new partnerships with some of the country’s biggest robotics manufacturers, as Chief Executive Jensen Huang broadens the company’s strategy beyond AI chips and cloud computing into what he describes as the next major growth frontier: physical AI.
Speaking at a media event in Tokyo on Thursday, Huang announced collaborations with industrial automation leaders Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric to advance robotics and artificial intelligence, underscoring Nvidia’s ambition to become the foundational technology provider for intelligent machines as factories worldwide become increasingly automated.
“With AI, robots will become smart, easily adaptable and accessible,” Huang said.
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The partnerships represent an important step for Nvidia as it seeks to extend its dominance from training large language models to powering autonomous robots capable of operating in factories, warehouses, logistics centers and eventually homes. Rather than focusing solely on supplying graphics processors, Nvidia is positioning its hardware, software platforms, and AI models as the operating system for a new generation of intelligent industrial machines.
The announcement also aligns with Japan’s long-standing strengths in robotics. Fanuc and Yaskawa are among the world’s largest industrial robot manufacturers, supplying automation equipment to automotive, electronics, and manufacturing companies across the globe. Integrating Nvidia’s AI computing platforms into those systems could enable robots to move beyond repetitive programmed tasks toward machines capable of perception, reasoning, and real-time decision-making.
The collaborations come as governments and companies increasingly see “physical AI” as the next phase of artificial intelligence, where AI systems move from generating text and images to interacting directly with the physical world.
Separately, government-backed AI infrastructure company Noetra announced plans to purchase 27,500 Nvidia Rubin AI chips as it develops physical AI capabilities. The company counts Sony among its investors, highlighting growing public and private sector efforts to build domestic AI infrastructure in Japan.
The Rubin processors represent Nvidia’s next-generation AI architecture, succeeding its Blackwell platform, and are expected to power some of the world’s largest AI data centers and robotics applications. A deployment of 27,500 chips would constitute one of Japan’s largest announced AI hardware investments and would further strengthen Nvidia’s presence in one of Asia’s most technologically advanced markets.
Japan has emerged as a priority for Nvidia as countries race to establish sovereign AI capabilities. Rather than relying entirely on foreign cloud providers, governments are investing heavily in domestic computing infrastructure, advanced semiconductors and AI research to secure long-term technological competitiveness.
Huang’s visit also points to Nvidia’s broader effort to deepen relationships across Japan’s semiconductor ecosystem. Although Japan no longer dominates global chip manufacturing as it did during the 1980s, it remains indispensable to the semiconductor supply chain through its leadership in chipmaking equipment, specialty chemicals, precision materials and advanced manufacturing technologies.
During the trip, Huang met executives from several key suppliers, including the chief executives of memory chipmaker Kioxia and semiconductor equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron, companies that play critical roles in producing advanced AI chips.
The visit comes as momentum across the global semiconductor industry continues to strengthen.
Dutch chip equipment maker ASML raised its sales forecast this week and announced further capacity expansion to meet growing demand from AI chip manufacturers. Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported record earnings on Thursday and increased its capital expenditure forecast, reflecting sustained investment by customers building AI infrastructure worldwide.
Together, those developments amplify expectations that the AI investment cycle remains robust despite concerns over supply constraints, valuations and geopolitical risks.
Huang also appeared alongside Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ryosei Akazawa, at a government AI event, marking what many believe to be a close coordination between Nvidia and Japanese policymakers.
The partnerships announced in Tokyo show that Nvidia’s strategy is evolving beyond selling AI accelerators to cloud providers. The company has been embedding its technology across the entire AI value chain, spanning data centers, robotics, industrial automation, autonomous systems and sovereign AI infrastructure.
Against the backdrop of the widening gap left by China’s robotics leadership, Japan sees collaborating with Nvidia as an opportunity to combine world-leading robotics expertise with cutting-edge AI computing, potentially strengthening the country’s competitiveness.
On the other hand, as manufacturers worldwide shift toward more autonomous, AI-driven production systems, Nvidia sees the alliances as an opportunity to deepen its presence in one of the world’s most sophisticated manufacturing economies. This will help the chipmaker to boost its ambition to become the foundational technology platform not only for generative AI but also for the emerging era of intelligent machines.