Photo/Illutration Jensen Huang, left, CEO of Nvidia Corp., with Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of Softbank Group Corp., at an event in Tokyo on Nov. 13 (Takahiro Takenouchi)

The CEO of U.S. semiconductor giant Nvidia Corp. expressed high hopes for Japan’s role in the artificial intelligence robotics revolution during talks with Softbank Group Corp.’s CEO on Nov. 13.

“I can’t imagine a better country to lead the robotics AI revolution than Japan,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at an event in Tokyo.

Huang predicted that two types of AI would lead the future: digital and physical.

Digital AI, represented by AI "agents," would handle tasks such as planning and document creation, while physical AI, represented by robotics, will take on manufacturing roles.

“No country in the world has greater skills in mechatronics than Japan,” Huang said. “I hope that Japan will take advantage of the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and combine that with your world-class expertise in mechatronics.”

Nvidia, which dominates the semiconductor market for AI applications, has seen its stock price surge tenfold over the past two years.

During his conversation with Softbank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, Huang quipped that it would have been interesting if Softbank Group had been Nvidia’s largest shareholder.

Son replied that he had made three attempts, including one to acquire the chipmaker.

Huang shared that Son had once offered financial support, predicting that Nvidia would face tough times as the market had not yet recognized its value. He jokingly said he now regrets not accepting the offer back then.

On the same day, Softbank Corp. announced it has begun developing AI-RAN, a system that integrates AI and RAN (Radio Access Network) using Nvidia’s technology.

Softbank is also strengthening its computing infrastructure with Nvidia’s graphics processing unit to develop large language models specifically for Japanese.

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