Nvidia-backed Tokyo-based startup Sakana AI eyes more partnerships in Japan – report

Sakana AI is eyeing more strategic investors in Japan as a growing tussle between the U.S. and China prompts the country to expand its own AI ecosystem, Bloomberg News reported.

The Tokyo-based AI startup said last week that it raised over $100M in a funding round led by New Enterprise Associates, Khosla Ventures and Lux Capital, with participation from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). Sakana also unveiled its collaboration with Nvidia, which lost about $400B in market cap last week.

“We think that a strong economy like Japan would want to advance their own AI ecosystem, and we want to be part of that,” said Sakana’s Co-Founder and CEO David Ha in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday, according to the report.

Sakana’s focus on many small models which work together, rather than on one large foundational model, is gaining interest in Japan.

Sakana’s will work with Nvidia on research, and AI infrastructure in Japan, including data centers, according to Ha, the report noted.

Ha had helped establish the Google Brain research team in Tokyo, and the other Co-Founder Llion Jones was one of the authors of a key paper which introduced the current AI wave, the report added.