AWS Japan Reports Physical AI Program Results

AWS Japan held a results presentation on August 31, 2026, for its Physical AI Development Support Program for Japanese companies. Fourteen companies across 13 projects reported on their progress and challenges. Announced in January 2026, the program provided technical support, cloud credits worth a total of $6 million, community building and market development for about six months starting in March. It selected 51 companies; one of the projects presented was a joint venture involving two companies.

Participating companies are developing humanoids, work arms and household robots. Atom verified walking with a physical robot and demonstrated 24-hour continuous operation for logistics sorting. Omron Sinic X evaluated time-series understanding and presented a lightweight model that detects and describes its own actions and failures. Zeals developed a cart-based humanoid for hospitals and demonstrated a total of 35 hours of operation over three days in a hospital. Telexistence tested a model for retail tasks with a physical robot, while Highlanders presented plans to build mass-production capacity. Fast Travel trained models using a mix of real-world and simulation data, and Muu worked on collecting household-task data, additional training and physical robot testing.

Zeals designed its D1 humanoid as a cart-based robot intended to work in the same indoor spaces as people, avoiding the fall risk of bipedal walking. The company initially used robots made by other companies, but developed its own robot and AI model in about five months through the support program. Hospital demonstrations included moving around, guiding visitors near reception, operating a tea-serving machine and opening and closing doors. Zeals began accepting orders for D1 from ¥5 million, and aims to mass-produce 100 units in fiscal 2026 and achieve 10,000 hours of operation at work sites.

Highlanders displayed HLQ PRO, a four-legged robot for disaster sites and infrastructure inspections, and N, a humanoid for work tasks. In collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors, it plans to begin mass production and shipments at a scale of 1,000 units per month starting in April 2027. Highlanders says its proprietary Kepler AI model will collect feedback from sold robots to support data gathering and model improvement.

AWS Japan held a results presentation on August 31, 2026, for its Physical AI Development Support Program for Japanese companies. Fourteen companies across 13 projects reported on their progress and challenges. Announced in January 2026, the program provided technical support, cloud credits worth a total of $6 million, community building and market development for about six months starting in March. It selected 51 companies; one of the projects presented was a joint venture involving two companies.

Participating companies are developing humanoids, work arms and household robots. Atom verified walking with a physical robot and demonstrated 24-hour continuous operation for logistics sorting. Omron Sinic X evaluated time-series understanding and presented a lightweight model that detects and describes its own actions and failures. Zeals developed a cart-based humanoid for hospitals and demonstrated a total of 35 hours of operation over three days in a hospital. Telexistence tested a model for retail tasks with a physical robot, while Highlanders presented plans to build mass-production capacity. Fast Travel trained models using a mix of real-world and simulation data, and Muu worked on collecting household-task data, additional training and physical robot testing.

Zeals designed its D1 humanoid as a cart-based robot intended to work in the same indoor spaces as people, avoiding the fall risk of bipedal walking. The company initially used robots made by other companies, but developed its own robot and AI model in about five months through the support program. Hospital demonstrations included moving around, guiding visitors near reception, operating a tea-serving machine and opening and closing doors. Zeals began accepting orders for D1 from ¥5 million, and aims to mass-produce 100 units in fiscal 2026 and achieve 10,000 hours of operation at work sites.

Highlanders displayed HLQ PRO, a four-legged robot for disaster sites and infrastructure inspections, and N, a humanoid for work tasks. In collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors, it plans to begin mass production and shipments at a scale of 1,000 units per month starting in April 2027. Highlanders says its proprietary Kepler AI model will collect feedback from sold robots to support data gathering and model improvement.