Japan plans to purchase 27,500 next-generation Rubin chips from Nvidia to develop basic artificial intelligence models for local robots. The newly established Noetra Corp. Said that it will be responsible for promoting this project and building a large data center. The company has received financial support of approximately 387.3 billion yen ($2.4 billion) from the Japanese government as of March next year. Preferred Networks Inc. backed by SoftBank and Toyota Motor and NEC are among dozens of companies helping to build and operate Noetra.
Although the scale of Japan's order is considerable, it still pales in comparison to Microsoft's eventual plan to use hundreds of thousands of Nvidia Vera Rubin chips to build data centers.
The Japanese government has taken many measures to reduce its dependence on foreign technology and strengthen national security. Hironobu Tamba, president of Noetra, said Japan, which has some of the world's largest manufacturers of industrial robots, may be able to create an alternative to U.S. and Chinese artificial intelligence systems.
The company plans to release an artificial intelligence model in March next year and will update it regularly thereafter. Tamba said the long-term goal is to release a model tailored for robotic applications within a few years.
