AI TRENDS | Japan to Fund SoftBank-Led Noetra With 387.3 Billion Yen to Develop Domestic AI Models

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it planned to provide 387.3 billion yen in support for a new company led by SoftBank to develop domestic artificial intelligence foundation models. According to Jin10, Kyodo News reported that the ministry disclosed on June 30 that the funding would be paid as development commissioning fees for fiscal 2026. The ministry said it aimed to back research in “physical AI” that combines robotics and AI technologies, with the goal of strengthening the competitiveness of Japan’s manufacturing sector. The new company is named Noetra and was established with SoftBank, NEC, Honda, and Sony Group as core participants. In addition to advanced Japanese-language understanding and reasoning capabilities, Noetra said it would work on foundation models that can recognize images, video, audio, and physical spaces. The company has been selected for a support program under the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), which is affiliated with the ministry.