Hitachi targets 500 billion yen in sales with new Physical AI strategy

Hitachi, Ltd. has announced a strategic push into “Physical AI,” aiming for 500 billion yen in sales from its AI solution group, HMAX, by the end of fiscal year 2026. During the Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2026 JAPAN, President Toshiaki Tokunaga defined Physical AI as the transition from simple automation to “autonomy,” where systems make independent decisions based on environmental context to address projected labor shortages.

Hitachi is expanding its HMAX offerings to include “HMAX Cyber,” a security solution leveraging insights from Anthropic’s “Claude Mythos Preview.” This technology has demonstrated the ability to identify vulnerabilities in large-scale software that are difficult for humans to detect. The company intends to use these advanced models to assist in triaging and fixing vulnerabilities within critical social infrastructure, such as finance and energy sectors.

This shift aligns with a broader industry movement toward “autonomous AI agents.” Unlike traditional generative AI that acts as a simple productivity tool requiring constant human prompting, autonomous agents are designed to execute end-to-end business processes—such as monitoring communications, accessing databases, and executing system tasks—with minimal human intervention, moving the human role from operator to approver.