Major Japanese companies, including SoftBank Corp., NEC Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Sony Group Corp., are collaborating to start a new artificial intelligence (AI) company for a major push for Japan’s AI infrastructure.

According to NIKKEI Asia, the decision was taken on Sunday with the aim to build large-scale, high performance AI available to Japanese companies for broad use. The new collaboration between Japan based major companies show the country’s efforts to overtake U.S. and Chinese firms invested in AI. According to The Japan Times, SoftBank, NEC, Sony and Honda will have 10% stake each in the new AI company even as several other firms are currently negotiating to invest as minority shareholders.

Engineers from SoftBank and Tokyo-based AI developer Preferred Networks Inc. are expected to participate in the development, they said.

The new company will develop advanced AI systems., that will be shared with other Japanese businesses. Around 100 AI engineers will be hired, according to industry sources, with a senior executive from SoftBank is expected to lead the team. The group also plans to create AI tools for factory robots in the future. This may assist in enhancing automation within various industries.

Additionally, other major corporations have also allocated resources to the initiative. These include Nippon Steel Corp., Kobe Steel Ltd., MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank. AI developer Preferred Networks Inc. will also join later to support the technology work.

The company is expected to get support from the government. It will apply for funding from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization. This agency plans to provide up to 1 trillion yen for AI development in Japan.

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