The Dawn of the Humanoid Era: How GMO Internet Group is Building the Infrastructure for Japan's Robotic Revolution

Humanoid Summit2026

「Year One of Humanoids — Japan's Deployment Frontline」

Tomohiro Uchida, CEO at GMO AI & Robotics Corporation

In May 2026, Japan embarked on a landmark three-year demonstration project at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Co-developed by GMO Internet Group and Japan Airlines (JAL), the initiative deploys advanced humanoid robots to handle demanding back-of-house container transport operations. Beyond its immediate operational impact, this milestone project marks a profound structural shift for GMO Internet Group. Under the leadership of Mr. Tomohiro Uchida, Senior Managing Director of GMO Internet Group and CEO of the newly established GMO AI & Robotics Corporation (Japanese trade name: GMO And Robotics Shōji), the conglomerate has declared 2026 as "Humanoid Year One"—the starting point of a massive transition from internet services to robotic implementation infrastructure.

The Strategic Pivot: From Bits to Atoms

For over three decades, GMO Internet Group has served as the quiet backbone of Japan’s digital economy. Founded in 1995, the conglomerate celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025. With 153 companies under its umbrella, including 12 publicly listed entities boasting a combined market capitalization of approximately 1.5 trillion yen, GMO has dominated Japan’s internet infrastructure market. Its 8,300 "partners" (employees) support critical domains including internet connectivity, server hosting, domain registry, e-commerce payment gateways, cyber security, and online financial services. Financially, this has yielded massive scale, with annual revenues reaching $1.8 billion (1.8 billion USD) and profits of $360 million (360 million USD).

Now, GMO is redirecting this formidable ecosystem toward the physical world. While the company spent its first thirty years ensuring that its services were embedded in nearly every Japanese website, its new chapter aims to ensure that GMO's services are integrated into the operational infrastructure of every robot functioning in Japan.

To lead this charge, GMO established GMO AI & Robotics Corporation. Crucially, the new entity will not manufacture robots itself. Instead, it is positioning itself as a pure-play implementation and operations partner, focusing entirely on deploying, securing, and maintaining superior third-party humanoid hardware in the field.

Why 2026 is "Humanoid Year One"

According to Mr. Uchida, the sudden viability of humanoid robotics is driven by the powerful convergence of two critical forces: surging domestic demand and rapid technological breakthroughs.

1. High Social Acceptability and Strong Demand

In April 2025, GMO launched Japan’s first humanoid rental and dispatch business. Since its launch, the service has received over 100 inquiries and successfully deployed humanoids to various active work sites. These deployments revealed a unique cultural advantage: an exceptionally high level of "social acceptability" and minimal psychological resistance toward robots in Japan. Rather than fearing automation, Japanese workers and the public consistently welcomed the humanoids, often gathering to observe and take photos.

2. Rapid Technological Evolution

Concurrently, global hardware manufacturers have achieved staggering technological progress. Over the past twelve months, humanoid capabilities—particularly in motion stability, control technology, expressive communication, and operational ease of use—have advanced at a pace that has surprised even industry veterans.

The Catalyst: Japan’s Severe Labor Crisis

The urgency of GMO's robotic push is dictated by a harsh demographic reality. Japan is facing an unprecedented labor shortage, driven by a total fertility rate that has plummeted to 1.15, with citizens aged 65 or older already making up nearly 30% of the national population.

This labor squeeze is particularly acute in airport operations. While passenger terminals appear highly automated, baggage handling, container transportation, and cargo operations remain physical, labor-intensive processes. At the same time, airports are caught in a severe structural vice:

• Skyrocketing Demand: Inbound tourism is surging, with current visitor numbers at 42 million annually, and a government target to reach 60 million by 2030.

• Plunging Labor Supply: The domestic workforce capable of supporting physically demanding airport operations is shrinking rapidly.

By deploying humanoids to Haneda Airport, JAL and GMO aim to bridge this gap without needing to modify existing, highly complex airport physical infrastructure, allowing humanoids to step directly into spaces designed for humans and carry out tasks.

GMO’s Full-Stack Robotic Infrastructure

To make large-scale robot deployment viable, hardware must be supported by a sophisticated suite of digital and financial services. GMO is leveraging its existing group-wide capabilities to provide a comprehensive, end-to-end robotics platform:

• AI and Foundation Models (GPU Cloud): GMO is deploying its massive GPU cloud computing resources to fully back the development of the "Robot Foundation Model" championed by the AI Robotics Association.

• Robotics-Dedicated Communications: The company has engineered a customized, highly stable "HN network line" tailored specifically for real-time robot command and control.

• Elite Cyber Security: Recognizing that mobile, autonomous robots represent high-value targets, GMO is applying its world-class security team to the platform. GMO’s security unit has won consecutive global hacking competitions for three consecutive years and secured first place globally in Anthropic’s prestigious bug bounty program.

• Fintech & Transaction Support: Introducing million-dollar humanoid fleets requires robust financial underwriting. GMO is coordinating with GMO Aozora Net Bank (leveraging its 250,000 bank accounts) and payment giant GMO Payment Gateway to provide seamless leasing, financing, and transactional infrastructure.

Technical and Financial Deployment Requirements

To successfully scale humanoid fleets across commercial environments, GMO has mapped the specific operational demands of the field to its comprehensive digital and financial infrastructure.

Infrastructure Area / Fleet Requirement	Technical & Operational Specifications (GMO Ecosystem)	Target Field Application & Deployment Purpose
AI & Motion Computation	• High-performance GPU Cloud resources• Precision motion capture modeling of top-tier track and field team members with the caliber to win the New Year Ekiden	• Training robot foundation models• High-speed dynamic control testing (running) to establish highly stable on-site walking
Communications Infrastructure	• Customized, uniquely designed "HN network line" (dedicated robotics network line)	• Real-time, fast remote commands and controls, even within highly restricted areas (e.g., airport aprons)
Cyber Security Protocols	• Elite security framework designed by global hackathon champions and Anthropic bug-bounty winners	• Protecting mobile autonomous fleets against unauthorized access and external hacking in sensitive environments
Leasing & Financial Infrastructure	• Credit, leasing, and transactional bases powered by GMO Aozora Net Bank (250,000 bank accounts) and GMO Payment Gateway	• Financing and managing capital deployment of high-cost humanoid assets
Data Ingestion & Benchmarking	• Shibuya Humanoid Lab (showroom/R&D facility taking up the entire 11th floor of Shibuya Cerulean Tower)• Dedicated data-collection factories	• Side-by-side benchmarking of diverse global humanoid models in identical environments• Gathering visual and physical interaction data to train neural networks
On-Site Dispatch & Work Design	• Fleet-dispatch rental framework established in April 2025 (over 100 inquiries)	• Structuring daily shift patterns, robot workflows, and specific task parameters (e.g., container transport)
Continuous Lifecycle Maintenance	• Urban Maintenance System (rapid-response maintenance and support network)	• Daily physical servicing, mechanical repairs, part replacements, and firmware updates to prevent downtime

Six Strategic Pillars of Implementation

To transition from pilot programs to everyday commercial operations, GMO AI & Robotics Corporation is actively executing its six core initiatives:

• Rental and Dispatch Operations: Deploying humanoids directly to active commercial sites to systematically gather invaluable "raw field data" across diverse environments.

• The Shibuya Humanoid Lab: Operating the centralized showroom and R&D hub on the 11th floor of the Cerulean Tower in Shibuya, allowing clients to test and compare different hardware configurations.

• Athlete Motion Replication Project: Replicating running styles of GMO's top track and field runners in robots to build an exceptional physical control baseline that makes standard tasks simple and highly reliable.

• Group Synergy Deployments: Launching internal pilot projects that combine the group’s dedicated communications networks and top-tier security protocols in active operational loops.

• Industrial Data Pipelines: Establishing dedicated factory environments designed to feed high-quality visual and physical interaction data into the neural networks that govern robot task optimization.

• Urban Maintenance Infrastructure: Creating a rapid-response maintenance and support network (Urban Maintenance System) to ensure robots can work daily shifts rather than perform temporary demonstrations.

Conclusion: Japan as the Global Hub for Robotic Operations

As the humanoid robot market matures, the competitive landscape will shift from who can build the best hardware to who can run fleets most efficiently. Mr. Uchida envisions Japan becoming the undisputed global capital of the "humanoid operations market". The nation boasts a rare, powerful combination of advantages: a severe labor shortage driving acute corporate urgency, a highly receptive public, long-term corporate capital commitment, and a deep cultural tradition of operational excellence and high-quality data generation.

GMO AI & Robotics Corporation aims to act as the definitive bridge between global hardware innovators and practical, real-world industries. By partnering with pioneers like JAL at Haneda Airport, GMO is not merely acting as a technology vendor, but as a long-term operational partner, laying down the physical and digital highways for an automated, robot-assisted society.