On Wednesday, July 15th, the high-tech American company Nvidia released a new artificial intelligence (AI) model aimed at robots and vision AI agents, further solidifying its dominant position in the Japanese “Physical AI” market. The new model introduced by Nvidia is named “Cosmos 3 Edge” and falls under the category of “world model,” which assists systems in real-time perception of the physical environment for navigation. Unlike large language models (LLMs), world models can learn from a wider range of input data. This release comes after the launch of the Cosmos 3 model back in May.
This regional expansion marked a significant event during Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s two-day visit to Japan. Nvidia revealed that the company is expanding its footprint in the “Physical AI” domain by forming an alliance, with Japanese industrial giants such as Fujitsu, Hitachi, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries showing interest in joining this alliance.
“The next frontier for AI lies in the physical world, presenting a rare opportunity for Japan,” stated Jensen Huang in a statement released on Wednesday. “Japan pioneered modern manufacturing, and now it is embracing the opportunity to reshape the manufacturing industry in the age of AI.”
This collaboration between the tech giant and Japanese enterprises comes shortly after Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment in Japan aimed at establishing AI infrastructure and enhancing cybersecurity. Japanese investment powerhouse SoftBank is also heavily betting on the AI wave, seeking partnerships with Microsoft and Sakura Internet to develop AI technology in Japan.
According to the U.S. International Trade Administration, the Japanese AI market is projected to reach $27.9 billion by 2029, providing investment opportunities for American companies. This growth is primarily fueled by the Japanese government’s push for industries to adopt AI technology, as well as local companies’ strong desire to establish international cooperation.
Nvidia is also expanding its business into the realm of agentic AI targeting cutting-edge science, particularly in new drug development and medical robotics. This expansion aims to extend Nvidia’s AI footprint into Japan’s healthcare and biotechnology industries.
Major Japanese pharmaceutical companies have increased their investments in this area. Nvidia highlighted in a blog post that several large Japanese pharmaceutical companies, including Astellas Pharma, Daiichi Sankyo, and Ono Pharmaceutical, are leveraging Nvidia’s specialized biological toolkit to optimize their workflows.
In addition to the biotechnology field, Nvidia is actively expanding into the industrial automation market through establishing a partnership with Kawasaki Heavy Industries.