KUSHIRO, Japan – A university-launched venture in Japan has been striving to spread its artificial intelligence-based meat quality evaluation technology, aiming to make the wagyu beef grading done by human eyes more precise, while using the data to improve cattle breeding. Hokkaido-based MIJ labo Inc. has developed cameras that use AI to calculate more than 10 factors, such as the density and color of marbling, by taking a picture of the surface of a carcass. "A fair evaluation of luxury wagyu will be an advantage in marketing them overseas. I hope our products will be widely utilized," said Keigo Kuchida, a professor at Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine who developed the cameras and analysis system. Since its founding in 2018, MIJ labo's cameras have been used in about 10 meat markets and research institutions in Japan and overseas, including in the United States and Australia.