SoftBank, NEC, Honda, and Sony jointly established a new company to develop Nissan AI

According to a report by Kyodo News, a new company has been established for artificial intelligence (AI) development, led by SoftBank, NEC, Honda, and Sony Group. The report states that the company will utilize support from the Japanese government to create a domestic AI foundational model, with the intention of providing the developed AI to Japanese companies.

The company is named "Japan AI Foundational Model Development" and plans to gather about 100 AI developers, with the president position held by an executive from SoftBank. In addition to these four companies, Nippon Steel, Kobe Steel, as well as three major banks—Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank—are also participating in the funding. SoftBank and NEC will handle the development, while Honda will apply the development results to autonomous driving. AI development company Preferred Networks (Tokyo) is also involved. The developed AI will also be widely available to Japanese companies outside of the funding companies, and in the future, it will venture into the AI field for controlling robots.