Artificial intelligence “will acquire a human form,” a senior official at US chipmaker Nvidia told an event in Tokyo on October 28, while the CEO of Hyundai Motor said the South Korean automaker would create a “hydrogen ecosystem.”
The executives were speaking on the opening day of the Global Management Dialogue, a forum organized by Nikkei and Swiss business school IMD.
“The machine is to the body what AI is to the brain,” said Masataka Osaki, vice president of worldwide field operations at chip giant Nvidia.
He noted the difficulty of developing machines such as actuators, motors and control systems that can work seamlessly with AI. “Japan can make a big contribution by developing technologies for combining AI with manufacturing,” said Osaki, who is also Nvidia’s manager for the country.
The East Asian nation can be a global leader in AI, if its businesses move quickly to connect artificial intelligence and machines to create services, Osaki said. He added that it is also important to integrate Japanese large language models in such efforts.
Osaki praised Japan for its efforts to build a domestic base for AI technologies by attracting data center investment to the nation.
“The importance of taking advantage of domestically generated data and developing domestic AI cannot be emphasized enough,” he said. “It makes no sense to ask somebody outside Japan to create AI out of domestically generated data.”
“It will improve Japan’s own competitiveness to nurture engineers, make investments and develop AI within Japan.”
Meanwhile, Hyundai’s president and chief executive, Chang Jae-hoon, said the group would “really focus on hydrogen,” and that it would not “only provide mobility solutions, but create a [hydrogen] ecosystem.”
The head of the automaker stressed the need for technological collaboration. “Technology needs to collaborate in alliances, together with many industries,” said Chang. “Not only those in the automotive sector, but the other industries. We are also coworking with … research [institutions] and universities.”
As competition to develop autonomous driving and advanced safety technology accelerates, Chang said that car producers must handle these developments effectively as well as managing cost efficiently.
“We are open and we talk to many other technology suppliers domestically and also outside as well,” he said.
Earlier this month, Hyundai announced a multiyear strategic partnership with Waymo, an autonomous driving company under Google parent Alphabet. The partners expect to begin testing their technology on roads by late 2025.
The spotlight at this year’s event in Tokyo was also on biotechnology.
Hiroyuki Okuzawa, president of Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo, emphasized the importance of global management and alliances to provide innovations to the rest of the world.
Daiichi Sankyo is a global leader in technologies for delivering cancer-killing drugs that minimize damage to the rest of the body. The technology is currently being used in the Enhertu breast-cancer treatment.
Okuzawa highlighted alliances formed with overseas companies for collaborative development and sales promotion. “With these alliances it is possible to deliver innovations to other countries even by a day,” he said.
Also during the event, Christoph Gebald, co-founder and co-CEO of Swiss-based Climeworks, said that, in order for the world to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions, technology to remove the greenhouse gas directly from the atmosphere is essential.
“There is no chance we can achieve net zero with CO2 reduction alone,” said Gebald, whose company develops the direct capture and storage technology to collect CO2 from the air. The collected CO2 is mixed with water and pumped deep underground to be stored.
Gebald is looking at Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, mainland China, and Australia in the Asia Pacific to deploy Climeworks’ technology.
Atanu Das, executive vice president and head of project finance at Saudi Arabian renewable energy champion ACWA Power, said the firm has green ammonia and green hydrogen plants under construction.
“We are not a technology company per se … but what we are very good at is identifying the right technology, the right innovation, and integrating those into our business model,” said Das.