🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Japan backs a new AI firm with national security in mind

• Japan has a public-private project valued at about 3 trillion yen (US$19 billion) 1.
• The government plans 1 trillion yen (US$6.28 billion) in support after concluding that reliance on foreign AI could damage industrial competitiveness and national security 1.
• The firm aims to build Japan’s largest AI foundation model, a broad AI system trained on vast amounts of data that can be adapted for many tasks, with 1 trillion parameters to rival leading models from the U.S. and China 2.
• SoftBank is putting 2 trillion yen (US$12.6 billion) into AI data centers now under construction 1. The sites will buy high-performance chips from Nvidia, a U.S. AI chipmaker 1.

Sony and Honda drop Afeela EVs as AI plans take shape

• Sony Honda Mobility, the joint venture, has dropped two Afeela-branded electric vehicles it had been developing 3.
• Honda raised the prospect of a US$15.7 billion writedown, an accounting charge that reflects a drop in an asset’s expected value, linked to its electric vehicle strategy 4. The warning led to a reassessment of plans 4.
• Backing a national AI model lets both companies pursue “emotional” technology experiences while sidestepping the capital exposure and manufacturing hurdles of the auto industry 5.
• The switch from a single hardware product to a foundation AI platform aligns with companies trying to reduce innovation risk by focusing on core AI development 6.