Noetra, a domestically produced multimodal foundation model, will underpin the initiative and guide AI integration across sectors as the core of Japan’s robotics push.

The hub will help companies adopt robotics at scale, prioritizing sectors with staff shortages such as nursing homes and food factories.

Japan unveiled a revised national robotics strategy aiming to deploy around 10 million robots by 2040, expanding robotics applications to 18 fields including food manufacturing and medical care.

Foundational confidence in the Noetra-based approach rests on data from elderly care, disaster response, manufacturing sites, and the Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning project.

The plan centers on establishing a core AI robotics hub to support deployment, research, and nationwide workforce training for scalable adoption.

Noetra’s development is a collaboration among SoftBank, NEC, Sony Group, and Honda, with participation from Fujitsu and Rakuten, complemented by a National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology project focused on physical AI.