TOKYO - Major real estate firm Mitsui Fudosan Co. said Monday it will work with the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto to set up a center to support research and development into physical AI, which uses artificial intelligence to autonomously operate machines.
The plan to build the physical AI center from 2027 onward in Koshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, comes amid expectations for market growth, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker, planning to mass-produce advanced semiconductors used for AI and other applications in the prefecture from 2028.
Mitsui Fudosan and Kumamoto Prefecture established an organization on Monday to support research and development into physical AI, which will be the body that creates the hub in Koshi.
The hub will support research and development of semiconductor technologies that will contribute to the development of physical AI, such as self-driving cars and industrial robots. It will also assist in the launch of joint research and technological development projects by companies, universities and research institutions from Japan, Taiwan and elsewhere.
Koshi borders the town of Kikuyo, also in Kumamoto Prefecture, where TSMC has a plant.
Kumamoto Prefecture is promoting the "Kumamoto Science Park" initiative to attract semiconductor industries and research institutions. In April, it signed a basic agreement with Mitsui Fudosan and Koshi to develop research and development facilities, factory sites and an industry-government-academia collaboration hub.
