Nvidia-backed Sakana AI eyes strategic partnerships in Japan

Sakana AI sees the potential for more strategic investors in Japan as rising U.S.-China tensions spur the country to boost its own artificial intelligence ecosystem. Growing geopolitical risks are heightening interest in the Tokyo-based startup, which recently announced a 100 million-plus funding round that includes Nvidia, according to Sakana's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer David Ha. "We think that a strong economy like Japan would want to advance their own AI ecosystem, and we want to be part of that," Ha said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday. He added, however, that the recent funding round gives the company "more than enough ammunition" to develop its technology. Sakana's focus on a large number of small models that work together, rather than on one large foundational model, is attracting outsized interest in resource-poor Japan. The island nation, which relies almost wholly on energy imports, has been exploring more energy-efficient ways to catch up in AI.