Insider Brief
- KDDI and its AI subsidiary Elyza launched Elyza Robotics with plans to invest about $190 million in physical AI research and deploy more than 1,000 robots by fiscal 2030.
- The new company will combine Elyza’s foundation-model expertise with KDDI’s research, communications infrastructure and experience deploying technology in real-world operations.
- Elyza Robotics plans to develop robot foundation models and deployment platforms while testing industrial robots, quadrupeds and humanoids across retail, logistics, manufacturing and other sectors.
KDDI and its AI subsidiary Elyza have launched Elyza Robotics, a new company focused on physical AI, with plans to invest about $190 million (30 billion yen) in research and development and deploy more than 1,000 robots at working sites by fiscal 2030.
According to KDDI, the company was established the company to combine Elyza’s foundation-model development expertise with KDDI’s research and experience deploying technology in real-world operations, referring to it as “a Center of Excellence (CoE) for Physical AI.” Elyza Robotics began operations Oct. 1 and will work on technology development and deployments in retail, logistics, manufacturing and services.
The KDDI Group plans to build a physical AI organization of more than 300 specialists as part of the investment. The company said it intends to eventually expand robot deployments into areas including agriculture and construction.
Business Plan
Research and development — Elyza Robotics will develop robot foundation models, including vision-language models that combine image and language understanding and vision-language-action models that translate those inputs into robot actions. It will also work on collecting first-person work data and recreating real-world environments in simulation.
Workplace deployment — The company plans to begin proof-of-concept projects in 2026 using industrial robots, quadrupeds and humanoids from manufacturers in Japan and overseas. Initial applications include inventory management, stocking and customer service in retail; material handling and stockout detection in logistics; and precision work in manufacturing.
Physical AI platform — Elyza Robotics plans to develop two supporting platforms. One will provide tools and infrastructure for developing robot models and collecting and using field data, while the other will support operation at customer sites through distributed AI inference, remote monitoring and coordination among multiple robots.
The company indicated it plans to combine those systems with KDDI’s communications infrastructure, computing resources and remote monitoring technology. Data from deployments will be collected to improve subsequent AI models and robot systems.
KDDI said Elyza Robotics will work with other companies across the group, including Lawson, AltiusLink, KDDI Research, KDDI Technology, LAC and Soracom, along with outside partners involved in testing and deployment.
KDDI has identified physical AI as a priority as Japan faces potential labor shortages in industries that depend heavily on workers performing physical tasks. The company cited Japanese government projections pointing to possible shortages in areas including manufacturing, construction and services by 2040.
Elyza Robotics is based in Tokyo and led by President Yuya Soneoka and Vice President Naoki Imai. The company was established with capital of about $634,000 (100 million yen).
