Japan unveils Noetra plan to deploy 10 million robots across 18 sectors by 2040

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Japan plans to deploy 10 million additional robots before 2040 arrives

Nursing homes and food factories sit at the centre of expansion

Noetra will supply the AI foundation powering future Japanese robots nationwide

Japan has unveiled a revised national robotics strategy which aims to introduce around 10 million robots in the country by 2040.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa announced the plan, which now spans 18 fields after adding food manufacturing and medical care to earlier priorities.

The government intends to move quickly to establish a core AI robotics hub, supporting deployment, research, and workforce training activities across the country.

Robots move beyond the factory floor

Officials described the hub as central to helping companies adopt robots at scale over the coming years, particularly in sectors already struggling with staff shortages.

The strategy centres on Noetra, a domestically produced multimodal foundation model developed alongside a National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology project focused on physical AI.

Noetra is majority-owned by SoftBank, NEC, Sony Group and Honda, while Fujitsu and Rakuten are reportedly still weighing whether to join the consortium.

Akazawa said accumulated data from elderly care, disaster response, manufacturing sites and the Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning effort underpins the government's confidence in the approach.

"The utilization of accumulated data" would become Japan's "winning strategy," he said, framing global competition as a contest over accessible datasets rather than raw computing power alone.

The government plans to build data infrastructure for physical AI and robots that reflects the country's own industrial strengths.

It will lean on decades of experience operating machinery in hazardous or labour-scarce environments nationwide.

International partnerships and regional ambitions

Officials have confirmed a collaborative arrangement with research institutions in the US, Canada, France and the UK to support development of the base model.

The resulting technology will reportedly be made available widely to Japanese AI developers, businesses and eventual users across multiple industries and regions.

According to officials briefed on the plan, some companies are expected to use the platform as a foundation for expanding into foreign markets in later years.

The minister also linked the strategy to broader efforts encouraging AI-driven transformation originating from regional areas outside Japan's major metropolitan centres, rather than concentrating growth in Tokyo alone.

Japan's ageing population and restrictive migration policies continue creating labour shortages across industries struggling to recruit sufficient numbers of workers.

Policymakers increasingly view automation as a practical response because many vacancies remain difficult to fill through conventional hiring efforts alone.

Supporters frequently argue that robots are filling roles unavailable to human workers rather than directly replacing existing employees across industries.

The revised strategy therefore includes medical care responsibilities alongside duties within food production and beverage manufacturing environments across the country.

South Korea announced a comparable robotics ambition this week, adding a competitive dimension to the wider regional picture as both countries pursue sovereign AI capabilities.

Whether those ambitions become reality may depend less upon announcements than sustained investment, technical progress, and broader public acceptance domestically.

Via The Register