METI announces national strategy to deploy 10 million AI robots

Explanation

On July 1, 2026, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) set a national target of deploying 10 million autonomous, AI-equipped "physical AI" robots across 18 fields by 2040. The scope extends beyond factories to fields suffering from severe labor shortages, such as food service, food manufacturing, medical care, and nursing care. The government plans to invest up to 1 trillion yen over the next five years, with a business consortium including SoftBank and Sony taking charge of developing domestically produced AI models. Whereas AI until now has mainly just answered chats on a screen, physical AI is different in that it perceives the real world through cameras and sensors and actually moves its body to perform tasks. For Japan, which faces a declining birthrate and an aging population, it is expected to be a trump card for making up for labor shortages.