Sony and Mitsubishi Set Up AI Vision Joint Venture for Factories

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Sony Group Corp. said they will set up a joint venture to provide factory automation services by combining their expertise in artificial intelligence and image sensors.

The joint venture, Advanced Vision Solutions, will begin operations in October, with Mitsubishi holding a 60% stake and Sony with 40%, the two companies said in a statement on Wednesday. The move comes just a week after Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang urged Japan to go all-in on the coming physical AI boom.

Tokyo-based Mitsubishi can leverage Sony’s cutting-edge image sensor technology to strengthen its position in the growing but fiercely competitive factory automation market, where it faces domestic rivals including Fanuc Corp., Omron Corp. and Yaskawa Electric Corp. as well as global players such as Siemens AG and Rockwell Automation Inc.

Sony, meanwhile, has been looking to diversify the customer base for its sensor business as demand from smartphone makers — its biggest customers — weakens due to market saturation and surging component costs. One of Sony’s key growth areas is AI-enabled semiconductors, marketed as Intelligent Vision Sensors, together with its Aitrios image analysis platform, which is designed to work with the high-end sensors.

Japanese electronics companies — from component suppliers and product manufacturers to software developers — are racing to expand into AI. The shift is driven by the need to attract investor capital as well as the risk of being left behind by a boom-or-bust technological disruption that could fundamentally reshape how companies generate revenue.

Nvidia’s Huang visited Japan last week and encouraged local companies to seize what he described as a generational opportunity in physical AI. While he said Japanese companies are well positioned to play leading roles in the emerging ecosystem, he also warned they would need to move quickly to secure those opportunities.