TOKYO - Sakana AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) company that recently secured about Y30 billion from global semiconductor firms and Japan’s megabank groups, expressed its ambitions to tackle Japan's challenges in an interview with ANN.
Sakana AI's Chief Operating Officer Ren Ito said, "We have received investment from MUFG as our lead investor, and we aim to build major projects with Japanese companies and financial institutions like MUFG."
MUFG Executive Managing Director Tadaji Yamamoto added, "While advancing our operations, we hope to take it a step further and contribute to solving Japan's challenges. That, in the end, is the best outcome we can achieve."
Sakana AI, a Japanese startup founded just last year, has already exceeded a valuation of $1 billion. In addition to securing funding from U.S. semiconductor giant Nvidia, on the 17th of this month, the company signed investment deals with 10 Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
The total funding raised, amounting to approximately Y30 billion, has garnered significant attention. COO Ito also expressed the company’s intention to work with Japanese companies to address domestic issues moving forward.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which is among the investors, emphasized the high compatibility between AI and banking operations, where large amounts of data are processed. They plan to utilize Sakana AI's technology in the future.
Source: ANN
