Japan's GENIAC project selects Atom and Muso Action for robot AI development

Two Japanese companies, Atom Inc. and Muso Action, have been selected for the GENIAC (Generative AI Accelerator Challenge) project, a national initiative led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and NEDO to strengthen domestic AI foundation model capabilities.

Atom Inc. will focus on developing foundation models for humanoid AI robots. The company aims to build a physical AI implementation base by collecting data from its own humanoid robots at the Atom Physical AI Foundry. This research involves developing Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models and world models to enable autonomous operation in industrial settings.

Muso Action will focus on automating warehouse picking tasks. In partnership with companies including ASKUL, Nippon Express, and Wakamatsu Konpo Unyu Soko, the company plans to collect approximately one million episodes of work data annually from three different logistics centers. The goal is to develop a robot foundation model capable of handling a wide variety of products (long-tail SKUs) while maintaining power efficiency levels 60% to 70% higher than humanoid models.