PANews reported on April 13 that, according to Japan's Kyodo News, a new company has been established, primarily comprised of SoftBank, NEC, Honda, and Sony Group, to develop artificial intelligence (AI). The report states that the company will utilize support from the Japanese government to create a domestically developed AI foundation model, with the aim of providing the developed AI to Japanese companies.

The company, named "Japan AI Basic Model Development," plans to gather approximately 100 AI developers, with a SoftBank executive serving as president. In addition to these four companies, Nippon Steel, Kobe Steel, and three major banks—Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank—have also invested. SoftBank and NEC will conduct development, while Honda will apply the results to autonomous driving. AI development company Preferred Networks (Tokyo) is also involved. The developed AI will be widely available to Japanese companies beyond the investors, and future plans include expanding into AI for controlling robots.