Kickoff Ceremony Held for X-PAI, the U.S.–Japan AI Partnership
On April 23, 2025, a ceremony marking the official launch of the Cross-Pacific AI Initiative (X-PAI), a U.S.–Japan AI partnership, was held at the University of Tsukuba Tokyo Campus.
X-PAI was agreed upon in Washington, D.C. in April 2024 to advance research, talent development, entrepreneurship and real-world implementation in artificial intelligence. Bringing together the University of Tsukuba, the University of Washington (Seattle), NVIDIA and Amazon, the initiative is backed by USD 50 million in support over ten years.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of the partner institutions, together with guests from the U.S. Embassy in Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and many companies from Japan and abroad.
In his opening remarks, President Kyosuke Nagata underlined the importance of international industry–academia collaboration between Japan and the United States, and expressed his hope that the project will lead to the real-world implementation of AI.
Prof. Tetsuya Sakurai, Co-Director of X-PAI at the University of Tsukuba, then outlined the partnership and the AI education and research hub scheduled for completion in 2026. Presentations followed from Prof. Jenq-Neng Hwang, Co-Director of X-PAI at the University of Washington; Anne Szeto, Director of Academic Research Initiatives at Amazon; and Jack Wells, Director of Higher Education and Research Computing at NVIDIA.
