KDDI to Build AI Hub in Sakai, Osaka

KDDI announced on October 27 that it will launch the Alliance Park Project as a practical space for creating industries with partners. It designated Takanawa in Tokyo as a “testing ground for the future,” Yamaguchi as a “gateway to space,” and Sakai in Osaka as a “launch base for AI implementation.” The project aims to put new industries into practice through regional partnerships.

In Sakai, KDDI will create an environment where AI model developers, robotics companies, mobility businesses, universities and research institutes can contribute technology and expertise. Robots owned by ELYZA Robotics will also be introduced in stages. Starting from the Osaka Sakai data center, autonomous vehicles, robots and drones will operate at the site and at industrial locations in Sakai. Data collected will be used for training and improvement, with results returned to the field as KDDI links testing AI technologies with their real-world deployment.

To upgrade computing capacity, KDDI plans to install the NVIDIA HGX Rubin NVL8, based on a reference design, at the data center in fiscal 2027. The next-generation AI platform is intended to handle large-scale AI model training and inference, as well as AI agents, efficiently. It will provide about 1.4x the memory capacity, about 2.1x the memory bandwidth and about 2.8x the FP4 computing performance. Inference throughput will reach up to 10x, supporting demand for complex, large-scale AI processing.

The AI data center will let customers select AI models and run inference according to their needs while keeping sensitive data stored and managed in Japan. Alongside Google’s Gemini and Gemma, KDDI-selected models will be available through APIs, and customers’ own AI models will also be supported. Ricoh and the Medical Engineering Institute are among the participants.

In its medium-term management strategy starting in fiscal 2026, KDDI set out the Digital Belt Initiative, which calls for ¥1.2 trillion in investment over three years in Japan’s telecommunications networks and AI computing infrastructure. The project is part of that initiative. KDDI plans to expand sites nationwide to address the needs and characteristics of each region, then extend the results to society.

KDDI announced on October 27 that it will launch the Alliance Park Project as a practical space for creating industries with partners. It designated Takanawa in Tokyo as a “testing ground for the future,” Yamaguchi as a “gateway to space,” and Sakai in Osaka as a “launch base for AI implementation.” The project aims to put new industries into practice through regional partnerships.

In Sakai, KDDI will create an environment where AI model developers, robotics companies, mobility businesses, universities and research institutes can contribute technology and expertise. Robots owned by ELYZA Robotics will also be introduced in stages. Starting from the Osaka Sakai data center, autonomous vehicles, robots and drones will operate at the site and at industrial locations in Sakai. Data collected will be used for training and improvement, with results returned to the field as KDDI links testing AI technologies with their real-world deployment.

To upgrade computing capacity, KDDI plans to install the NVIDIA HGX Rubin NVL8, based on a reference design, at the data center in fiscal 2027. The next-generation AI platform is intended to handle large-scale AI model training and inference, as well as AI agents, efficiently. It will provide about 1.4x the memory capacity, about 2.1x the memory bandwidth and about 2.8x the FP4 computing performance. Inference throughput will reach up to 10x, supporting demand for complex, large-scale AI processing.

The AI data center will let customers select AI models and run inference according to their needs while keeping sensitive data stored and managed in Japan. Alongside Google’s Gemini and Gemma, KDDI-selected models will be available through APIs, and customers’ own AI models will also be supported. Ricoh and the Medical Engineering Institute are among the participants.

In its medium-term management strategy starting in fiscal 2026, KDDI set out the Digital Belt Initiative, which calls for ¥1.2 trillion in investment over three years in Japan’s telecommunications networks and AI computing infrastructure. The project is part of that initiative. KDDI plans to expand sites nationwide to address the needs and characteristics of each region, then extend the results to society.