Disrupting Japan

In the popular imagination, Japan is almost synonymous with robots. While Japan once dominated cutting-edge robotics, over the past decade she has fallen further and further behind the US and China. Today we sit down with Chiamin Lai of Firstlight Capital, who believes that Japan might just regain that leadership. We talk about the unique opportunity and advantage Japan has in the deployment of practical physical AI, the enterprise culture that is holding it back, and what a handful of innovators are doing about it today. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. Show Notes How starting startups in Japan has changed over the past 20 years -- especially for foreigners How Japan's labor shortage is driving the adoption of physical AI The biggest problem in integrating GenAI and robotics The best use cases for physical AI today and why healthcare is not one of them How secrecy is holding back AI innovation What keeps Japanese enterprise from embracing open innovation Can Japan'