NVIDIA and Japanese Industrial Giants to Develop New Physical AI Standard
Japan has long faced an aging population and labor shortages, while its precision manufacturing and industrial robotics technologies occupy a critical position globally. As generative AI converges with robotics, “physical AI,” which applies artificial intelligence to the operation of hardware, has become a strategic priority for the global automation industry. A unified control platform could sharply reduce development costs and accelerate manufacturers' digital transformation, making it a key battleground in the race to set next-generation industrial standards.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced in Tokyo on July 16, 2026, that Fujitsu would work with industrial giants including FANUC, Yaskawa Electric and Kawasaki Heavy Industries to develop a common “physical AI” standard using NVIDIA technology. The initiative centers on NVIDIA Cosmos as its world model and includes the launch of Cosmos 3 Edge, a lightweight edge-computing model with 4 billion parameters. It aims to standardize the underlying robotics control platform and accelerate the shift to intelligent automation.
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The history behind this eventKawasaki Heavy Industries, NVIDIA Partner on Physical AI Robotics
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a major Japanese industrial robot manufacturer, is partnering with NVIDIA to combine its existing robotics technology with “physical AI,” which can perceive, reason and act in real-world environments. The collaboration will focus on medical-assistance and quadruped walking robots, underscoring generative AI’s accelerating expansion into manufacturing and service settings.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries recently announced plans to establish a joint research and development base with NVIDIA in California and to work with companies including Microsoft, ADI and Fujitsu on new solutions. The partners have not disclosed the investment amount or a formal opening date. News of the collaboration sent Kawasaki Heavy Industries shares up more than 11% at one point in intraday trading.
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