One in three Japan firms using or considering AI robots

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO, May 21 (Reuters) – One-third of Japanese companies are already using or considering deploying AI-powered robots, with automakers and other transportation equipment manufacturers leading the way, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.

The Japanese government expects the introduction of ‌AI robots into the workplace to be key in coping with the country’s chronic labour shortage and cementing its position as ‌a leading industrial robot supplier.

Home to Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Japan has been a global powerhouse in conventional industrial robotics.

But it now faces tougher competition from ​China and the United States in AI-enabled robots, which have a certain degree of autonomy to judge their environment and choose their action accordingly, rather than just repeating pre-defined tasks.

About 4% of respondents are already using AI robots, 5% plan to deploy them, and 25% are considering doing so, while the remaining 66% have no such plans, the survey showed.

Transportation equipment makers are the most aggressive adopters of AI-equipped robots, with 80% already using them or ‌looking into utilising them. By contrast, 94% of ⁠respondents in the wholesale sector have no plan to deploy AI robots.

Among the pool of respondents who are already using, planning to use or considering using AI robots, 71% chose manufacturing as a specific usage, 19% picked tasks ⁠with certain danger and 11% selected customer-facing services.

The poll question allowed multiple answers.

The poll was conducted by Nikkei Research for Reuters from May 1-15. Nikkei Research reached out to 492 companies, of which 220 responded on the condition of anonymity.

CASH HOARDING?

Asked about a government guideline urging listed companies to effectively use financial ​assets ​they hold that have increased in value to drive growth, 60% of respondents said ​individual firms’ decision on the matter should be respected ‌and 44% said corporate size should be taken into consideration in applying such a policy.

Also, 24% said keeping a certain level of financial assets is necessary to make wage hikes possible. The question also allowed multiple answers.

The Financial Services Agency and the Tokyo Stock Exchange last month compiled a draft revision to Japan’s corporate governance code, asking companies to make sure financial and other assets are being used efficiently for growth.

Cash and deposits held by Japanese companies with capital of 1 billion yen ($6.9 million) or more, excluding financial and insurance firms, totalled 83 trillion yen in 2024, ‌up 54% from a decade earlier, raising questions about whether the assets could ​be better used to spur growth.

“What the draft revision is calling for is to ​make checks and explain if business resources are at appropriate levels. ​A rise and fall in cash and deposits itself should not come under scrutiny,” an official at a ceramics ‌maker wrote in the survey.

The draft revision also encouraged ​listed firms to submit securities reports at ​least three weeks ahead of general meetings of shareholders.

Last year, about 58% of companies whose financial year ends in March submitted securities reports ahead of general shareholders’ meetings, but 80% of those who did so turned in their reports just one or two ​days prior to the meetings.

Asked if submitting securities reports ‌at least three weeks ahead of shareholders’ meetings is possible, 33% said hitting the target would be burdensome and difficult, ​while 26% said they would need to take steps such as pushing back the dates of shareholders’ meetings to comply ​with the guideline.

($1 = 158.9200 yen)

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)