Japan's PM names a tiger-striped LOVOT robot "Hanshin-kun"
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dressed a LOVOT pet robot in Hanshin Tigers stripes and asked if she could name it. The meeting was about Japan's physical AI plans.
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giftdetect· the right gift in minutesJapan's prime minister met a robot in a tiger-print outfit this week and asked if she could give it a name. Sanae Takaichi, a well-known die-hard fan of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team, waved at the LOVOT pet robot with a smile and said: "Can I call you Hanshin-kun?"
The occasion was serious enough. On November 12, Takaichi invited representatives of companies working on physical AI to her office for an exchange of views. Six makers of robots and robot parts took part. She tried out some of the latest AI robots herself and called for public and private sectors to push ahead with putting physical AI to use in society "on a large scale and strategically", ahead of the rest of the world.
What is physical AI?
It means machines that move on their own, driven by artificial intelligence. Think robots rather than chatbots.
The government has made it one of 17 strategic fields getting concentrated public and private investment. The targets are big: around 10 million AI robots in use by 2040, and a 20 trillion yen market that would give Japan more than 30 percent of the global share.
What is LOVOT?
LOVOT is a family-type robot, something like a pet, made by GROOVE X in Tokyo. Its CEO, Kaname Hayashi, used the meeting to ask for government backing. He said he wants to grow the industry into one that earns foreign currency second only to cars.
Takaichi answered that Japanese innovation could help solve global problems and create a new engine of growth.
So the headline is a prime minister playing with a robot named after a baseball team. The substance is a stated goal of 10 million robots and a fifth of a quadrillion yen, or 20 trillion yen, in market share.
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