The Japanese government will secure 27,500 units of Nvidia's next-generation AI semiconductor "Rubin" to build a manufacturing-based "physical AI" ecosystem, according to an announcement on the 16th by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who visited Japan. Nikkei reported this procurement is the world's largest in terms of a nation-level securing of Rubin. The secured GPUs will be used to develop the sovereign AI project "Noetra," led by SoftBank with participation from 44 corporations including NEC, Honda, and Sony Group. Starting with 387.3 billion yen this year, the government will support a total of 1 trillion yen over the next five years to foster an industrial AI ecosystem. Noetra will be based on a data center built on the site of the former Sharp factory in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Japan chose a strategy focusing on physical AI leveraging manufacturing data and on-site industrial experience. The government will also establish the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology with 13 research institutions worldwide. Nvidia will provide foundation models for AI agents and robotics, while Fujitsu plans to supply a physical AI operating system.