Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, President & Director, NVIDIA
LIVE: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Delivers Major AI Keynote at Japan Government Policy Event | AI1B
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote speech at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) event focused on artificial intelligence policy. The address comes as governments and technology leaders work to shape the future of AI innovation, regulation, and global competitiveness. Huang's remarks are expected to highlight AI's growing impact on industry, infrastructure, and economic growth. For more details, watch our story and subscribe to our channel, DRM News.
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About Jensen Huang
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, has been active in promoting the expansion of AI infrastructure, particularly in Japan and the United States. In Tokyo, he announced a partnership with Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Noetra Corp. to build what he described as Japan's first national AI infrastructure for "physical AI," stating that "Japan cannot outsource its national intelligence." He later returned to Japan to participate in a government-led AI strategy event alongside executives from Sony, Honda, and SoftBank, and also reunited with former SEGA president Shoichiro Irimajiri, crediting SEGA's $5 million investment from 30 years ago with saving Nvidia. In the U.S., Huang joined Coherent CEO Jim Anderson in Sherman, Texas, for a groundbreaking ceremony at a manufacturing facility, where he argued that AI is driving a "reindustrialization" of the country and called for the U.S. to become "pro-energy growth" to support AI's energy demands. Huang has also addressed the societal and economic impacts of AI in multiple interviews and public appearances. He stated that AI's impact will be "largely wonderful" but acknowledged the need for "new social norms" and careful regulation, comparing the transition to the advent of automobiles. He rejected claims that AI is reducing jobs, citing data that software code commits have nearly tripled and arguing that AI is increasing demand for software engineers. At Nvidia's annual shareholder meeting, he declared that "useful AI has arrived" and described the data center as an "AI factory of digital assistants." He also announced Nvidia's first foray into PC technology with a partnership with Microsoft, unveiling the RTX Spark superchip, and discussed the role of open agent systems and connectivity in AI infrastructure during appearances with LangChain and Marvell.
Transcript (17 segments)
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Host0:22
We would like to inform all attendees. The major outreach event on Japan's physical AI policy will begin shortly. Please take your seats and wait a moment.
Thank you very much for waiting. We will now begin the major outreach event on Japan's physical AI policy, hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. To all attendees here and those watching online, thank you very much for joining us today. I am Enjoji Yoko, your moderator for today. Nice to meet you. Today, we will introduce Japan's policies and the development project for a domestic multimodal foundation model that will serve as the base for AI robots and physical AI, with the theme of physical AI, artificial intelligence that understands and acts in the real world, where development competition is accelerating globally. First, please watch the opening video for this project.
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Prime Minister6:51
I am Prime Minister. Congratulations on the kickoff event of the Frontier Project. This event brings together key Japanese and US companies, including Nutra, Honda, NEC, SoftBank, Sony, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, to launch the Frontier Project. Physical AI is essential for advanced manufacturing, logistics, infrastructure, and other fields where Japan has strengths. Japan's manufacturing culture, passion for precision, and pride in quality are the foundation. It is important to combine Japan's strengths with global intelligence to create trusted AI in Japan. The Cabinet has set a growth strategy with 17 strategic fields and will accelerate strategic domestic investment. For physical AI, we envision 80 trillion yen in public-private investment by fiscal 2040, and the first step is the Frontier Project starting today. It is encouraging that a domestic model development base for physical AI is being built. Let us make the Frontier Project a Japanese flag to create trusted physical AI in Japan and go out to the world. Congratulations.
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Host9:24
We have just heard a message from the Prime Minister. Thank you, Prime Minister. Next, we will have a greeting from Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Akazawa. Minister Akazawa, please.
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Akazawa10:10
Hello everyone. I am Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Akazawa. I feel there is more applause than usual. Thank you for joining today's Frontier Project kickoff event, both in person and online. I am very pleased to have NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang here. I myself wanted to express my heartfelt welcome and respect, so I came here in a tie today. Now, in the era of big data times AI, the key to AI transformation in various fields is on-site data. I have been saying for about 10 years that Japan's winning path lies in being a super-aged society and a disaster-prone country. We have more elderly and disasters than any other country, and that is big data. It looks like a crisis, but that is our strength. We also have the only decommissioning site in the world from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. In extremely harsh conditions, we have to make sensors and cameras work in high radiation, accumulating big data and physical AI data. Japan also has the world's best manufacturing sites. Healthcare for the elderly, disaster response, compensating for labor shortages in manufacturing, and the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi – solving these social issues by utilizing on-site data and physical AI that works in the world is important and will be a major driver of Japan's economic growth.
And expanding these efforts to regional areas will lead to regional revitalization. It is important that all regions, companies, and human resources are involved. By connecting to a wide data infrastructure, we will build physical AI that can be used in various fields and support AI transformation at each site. Growing this physical AI ecosystem ahead of the world is extremely important, a lifeline. By leveraging Japan's position as a problem-advanced country, we want to take the lead in solving global common issues like aging and disaster response. The Frontier Project, which kicks off today, is the core of the physical AI ecosystem. Its name comes from the initials of words meaning a reliable AI base that naturally understands the real world. By combining Japan's strengths in on-site and manufacturing technology with advanced AI R&D capabilities from domestic and international sources, we will build a reliable multimodal foundation model with high intelligence and the ability to understand the world. A new challenge begins with the consortium of Nutra and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, bringing together excellent engineers from Japan and the world. I sincerely hope that the engineers in this project can fully demonstrate their abilities. I welcome diverse talents with passion to learn cutting-edge technologies and needs, take on difficult challenges, and open the frontier of a world where humans and AI collaborate. We will implement trusted physical AI in society and advance AI transformation across Japan, contributing to solving various global issues. Japan has been said to win in technology but lose in business, but we aim to win in both technology and business. I express my strong determination. Thank you.
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Host14:42
Thank you, Akazawa. We will now have a stage change. Please wait a moment while preparations are made.
Next, we will have a commemorative photo session. The photo session will include: Dr. Saito Tamotsu, Chairman of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization; Dr. Ishimura Kazuhiko, Director and COO of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology; the Representative Executive Officer and CEO of Sony Group Corporation; Mr. Miyagawa Junichi, Representative Director, President and CEO of SoftBank Corp.; Mr. Morita Takayuki, Representative Director and CEO of NEC Corporation; the Representative Director and President of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.; Mr. Nami Hiroshi, Representative Director and Chairman of Nutra; and NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang. And Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Akazawa. These people will participate.
Now we will have a photo session. Press and photographers, please take photos from the designated positions. Today's shooting will proceed in the following order: first, the central record camera, then still photography by each media, followed by video photography. Shooting time is limited, so we ask for your cooperation. First, we will take the record camera photo. Please face the camera in the front center.
I ask everyone to look forward directly in front of you. Thank you. Next, please look to the left from the perspective of the attendees. Next, please look to the right from the perspective of the speakers. Please at the camera on your right. Thank you.
Yes, thank you. Media, still photography is now complete. Next, we will do video shooting. Please face the video camera at the front of the venue. At the camera. Is it okay? Left side, is it okay? Yes. Thank you. Media, video shooting is now complete. With that, we conclude the photo session. Thank you all for participating.
We will now have a stage change. Please wait a moment while preparations are made.
Now, we will have a message from the strong partner of this project, NVIDIA Founder and CEO, Jensen Huang. Please welcome.
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Jensen Huang24:48
Konnichiwa. Minister Akazawa, so nice to meet you. I'm so happy two of us have similar sense of style. Distinguished ministers, Tom, leaders from Nutra, industry, academia, and Japan startup community, thank you. It is great to be here with you. Great honor for me. Today, Japan must build Japan AI. Japan's industrial expertise is its national intelligence, your national treasure. For more than a century, Japan has set the standard of excellence in modern manufacturing. Made in Japan means the highest quality, the highest precision. Takumi, the Japanese generations of industrial expertise into a way of life. That knowledge lives in shipyards, factories, roads, hospitals, networks, and the people who operate them. That knowledge can be lost. Japan cannot outsource its national intelligence. Japan AI, the technology that makes this possible, has finally arrived. It is called physical AI. After 15 years of work, physical AI is here, the foundation of the next industrial revolution, and should be made in Japan.
To the journey to build Japan AI, a new kind of AI factory. Today we are honored to partner with Nutra to build the world's first national AI infrastructure for physical AI. This is not the first time Japan has been first. In Nagasaki, from Nvidia GeForce GPUs with fans for quantum chemistry, at Titech they built Subame, the first GPU supercomputer. The world's first GPU supercomputer. Japan saw that Nvidia could use GPUs as a new kind of computer before anyone else. NVIDIA is honored to provide the computing systems for Japan's first national AI infrastructure. We will also provide the full-stack AI platform that makes this possible. Nemotron, the open frontier language models for agents; Cosmos, the world foundation model that is the backbone of physical AI; Omniverse and Isaac, the virtual worlds where robots learn before entering real enterprises.
Genups, open foundation, taking it into Japan's factories, roads, hospitals, networks, and homes. With Nutra, we will scale Japan's AI infrastructure to support every company, startup, university. My personal hope is that Japan AI will serve all of Japan, from great industrial companies to small factories and family workshops that carry generations of skills. AI will let a small manufacturer teach a robot new process and pass a master's craft to the next generation. Japan's industrial expertise is its national intelligence, your national treasure. To Japan, industry made right here and now. And all partners, congratulations to Japan. Thank you. Thank you very much.
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Host30:23
Now, we have a message from Professor Yutaka Matsuo, Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Strategy Expert Committee, University of Tokyo, regarding this project.