US tech giants reviving Japan’s cutting edge

Blocked from operating and expanding in China, leading American computing and software companies have shifted their focus to Japan, reinforcing a longstanding partnership that is accelerating the recovery of Japan’s technological competitiveness.

American tech giants Nvidia, Microsoft and Oracle have all recently announced new investments in data centers and related services in Japan. They have also invited Japan’s participation in AI and quantum computing development projects.

In March, the new ABCI-Q supercomputer built by Fujitsu at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) announced it will feature Nvidia’s CUDA-Q hybrid quantum-classical computing platform, equipped with more than 2,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) for accelerated computing.

(ABCI is an acronym for AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure; CUDA for Compute Unified Device Architecture.)

ABCI-Q is designed for integration with future quantum hardware. It will enable quantum simulations for research and contribute to the advance of machine learning in fields such as AI, energy, biology, pharmaceuticals, logistics and industry..

According to Masahiro Horibe, a deputy director at AIST, the new supercomputer “…will let Japanese researchers explore quantum computing technology to test and accelerate the development of its practical applications.”

If everything goes as planned, ABCI-Q will be available commercially beginning in 2025.

In early April, Microsoft announced plans to invest US$2.9 billion over the next two years to expand its cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Japan, open a Microsoft Research Asia lab in Tokyo, provide AI-related training to more than three million Japanese workers and students, assist AI