Nvidia launches Cosmos 3 Edge and expands Japan AI partnerships

Nvidia on Wednesday introduced Cosmos 3 Edge, an AI model built for robots and vision AI agents, as it broadens its physical AI push in Japan. The expansion comes as Japan’s artificial intelligence market is projected to reach $27.9 billion by 2029, according to the International Trade Administration, creating scope for U.S. technology firms to deepen investment in the country.

Cosmos 3 Edge is a world model, a class of AI system designed to help machines understand and operate in physical environments in real time, according to Nvidia. World models can learn from a broader range of inputs than large language models, which are primarily associated with text and related data. Nvidia’s rollout follows the May launch of Cosmos 3, its open frontier foundation model for physical AI.

The announcement coincided with a two-day visit to Japan by Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang. Nvidia said it is forming a local physical AI coalition that Fujitsu, Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries intend to join.

“The next frontier of AI is in the physical world, and this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Japan,” Huang said in a Wednesday statement. “Japan invented modern manufacturing. Now, it has the opportunity to reinvent it for the age of intelligent industries.”

Japan’s AI investment cycle draws U.S. technology groups

Nvidia’s Japan expansion follows other large commitments to the country’s AI infrastructure. Microsoft has announced a $10 billion investment in Japan aimed at expanding AI infrastructure and strengthening cybersecurity. SoftBank has also committed heavily to AI and is seeking to work with Microsoft and Sakura Internet on AI development in Japan.

The International Trade Administration has attributed Japan’s expected AI market growth to government efforts in Tokyo to encourage adoption across industries and to domestic companies’ willingness to form international partnerships. Ajay Rajadhyaksha, global chairman of research at Barclays, told CNBC last month that Japan has an advantage in Asia because of what he described as varied AI and clean structural growth stories.

Healthcare, drug discovery and industrial automation

Nvidia is also extending its Japan work into healthcare and biotechnology. The company highlighted the continuing expansion of Tokyo-1, an AI drug discovery consortium run by Xeureka, a subsidiary of Mitsui.

Tokyo-1, first announced in 2023, uses Nvidia’s BioNeMo Agent Toolkit, which the company describes as a platform for accelerating autonomous AI drug discovery. Agentic AI refers to systems designed to execute multi-step tasks with less direct human instruction than conventional software tools, though their deployment remains tied to the data, controls and objectives set by users.

Nvidia said in a blog post that Astellas Pharma, Daiichi Sankyo and Ono Pharmaceutical are using its specialized biology toolkit to make their workflows more efficient. The company also said it is expanding in industrial automation through a partnership with Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.