Nvidia is collaborating with Japanese industrial robot giants such as Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric on AI projects.

On December 26th, the Nikkei Shimbun reported that Nvidia is collaborating with Japanese industrial robot giants such as Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric on AI technology.

In an interview, Murali Gopalakrishnan, head of Nvidia's intelligent machines business, acknowledged Japan's deep expertise in industrial robotics but also stated frankly that, under the new AI-driven trend, "Japan is no longer a leading nation in robotics."

Gopalakrishnan pointed out that the era of "physical AI," where robots are autonomously controlled by AI, has arrived, and the application of robots is expanding to areas previously difficult to access, such as healthcare. He estimated the relevant market size to be as high as $50 trillion and believes that physical AI is at a critical turning point towards large-scale practical application.

Humanoid robots are a prime example of this trend. Gopalakrishnan said that current Chinese and American companies are leading the development wave, while Japan "has fallen behind."

The reason for this is that in the past, robot development was hardware-centric, where Japan had a significant advantage; now it has shifted to "AI-first," which is the key reason why Japan has lost its leading position.

Nevertheless, Gopalakrishnan still highly praised Japan's "unparalleled and complete ecosystem" in the industrial robotics field. He believes that by empowering robot clusters already deeply integrated into production lines and machine tools with AI technology, the Japanese industry still holds enormous development potential.