GMO Conference Debates Japan's Push Into Physical AI
The gathering put a sitting prime minister and finance minister in the same room as an internet industry executive to argue physical AI should be treated as a growth industry, which is the clearest sign yet that robot policy has moved from research talk to cabinet-level messaging.
Reporting from 1 source: ASCII.jp.
The 4th GMO Conference Autumn Physical AI 2026 was held at the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel in Shibuya, Tokyo on September 15, 2026. GMO Internet Group representative Masatoshi Kumagai, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama, and Takashi Matsumoto spoke on cultivating AI robots as an industry. Kumagai said Japan is a lap behind in AI and robotics.
The conference opened with a dance performed by multiple humanoids. Masatoshi Kumagai showed footage of the same units from about a year earlier and pointed to backflips and autonomous combat movements, arguing the noteworthy figure is the rate of change across twelve months rather than the dexterity on display.
Kumagai said GMO began business in 1995 and is in its 31st year, and that he is running the company with his strongest sense of crisis while his motivation is also at its highest. He also said AI is beginning to take on software development, which accelerates the pace because it can run around the clock and in parallel.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.