AI News Flash | Japan Unveils FugakuNEXT, the World's Most Powerful AI Supercomputer

Hello from the AI world! 🚀 Today's newsletter covers the following topics: ・Japan unveils FugakuNEXT, the world's most powerful AI supercomputer ・NVIDIA: "the AI boom isn't over" ・US workplace shift: half of employees secretly use AI

Japan Unveils FugakuNEXT, the World's Most Powerful AI Supercomputer

Fujitsu and NVIDIA are working with RIKEN to develop Japan's next national supercomputer, FugakuNEXT, targeting 2030 and unifying simulation with AI on one platform.

Image source: Riken

Japan's First GPU-Accelerated Flagship System

FugakuNEXT will be Japan's first flagship-class project using GPUs as accelerators: NVIDIA designs the GPU infrastructure, Fujitsu handles CPU and system integration, and RIKEN develops software and algorithms.

The target is highly ambitious: over 600 exaflops (EFLOPS) of AI performance at FP8 precision — which, if achieved, would make it the world's most powerful announced AI supercomputer.

100x Performance Gain While Keeping Power Efficiency

Notably, the goal is to boost application performance up to 100x within roughly the same 40-megawatt budget as the current Fugaku — via not just hardware but surrogate models, mixed-precision computing, and physics-informed neural networks.

Under NVIDIA's roadmap, a "Feynman GPU" architecture — named after physicist Richard Feynman — is expected around 2028 and likely to be adopted in FugakuNEXT.

New-Generation CPU “MONAKA-X” Also in Development

Fujitsu is also developing "MONAKA-X" (tentative name), a successor to its MONAKA CPU, with more cores, expanded SIMD, and an Arm matrix engine for AI inference.

Paired with NVIDIA's accelerators, this should let large simulations and heavy AI workloads run simultaneously.

Industry-Academia-Government Effort to Set a New AI-HPC Standard

RIKEN President Makoto Gonokami said: "It's an honor to develop FugakuNEXT with Fujitsu and NVIDIA. Since ancient times, humanity has built civilization through computational science; today AI, advanced semiconductors, and quantum computing are bringing discontinuous change to it."

NVIDIA VP Ian Buck added: "FugakuNEXT will deliver zettascale performance and nearly 100x faster application speed at the same energy use as before — accelerating research and industrial competitiveness in Japan and worldwide."

The project aims to set a new "AI-HPC platform" standard supporting science, industry, and AI-driven discovery.

NVIDIA: "The AI Boom Isn't Over"

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said on the 28th that fears of an AI chip bust are unfounded, forecasting the AI market will reach trillions of dollars within five years.

However, Q3 revenue guidance was modest, partly from excluding China revenue, and shares fell about 2% to $178.43 in early Thursday trading — reflecting US-China trade uncertainty. NVIDIA holds export licenses for China-bound H20 chips under a deal with former President Trump requiring it to return 15% of related revenue to the US government, and Huang reportedly signaled openness to selling "Blackwell" chips to China on similar terms.

Image source: FoxNews

After the earnings report, investors grew concerned about slowing growth, but Huang stressed "a new industrial revolution has begun," forecasting $3–4 trillion in AI infrastructure investment by 2030.

NVIDIA shares have far outpaced the S&P 500's roughly 10% gain over two years, though AI stocks show signs of overheated enthusiasm — OpenAI's Sam Altman has warned "investors are overexcited."

Still, Huang argues "the more you buy, the more you grow," noting NVIDIA's innovations let customers process huge data with less energy — "everything is sold out," he said.

In Q2, customers outside China bought $650 million worth of the China-restricted H20 chip. NVIDIA is now seeking approval to sell a scaled-down Blackwell in China, while US hyperscaler demand keeps driving results.

US Workplace Shift: Half of Employees Secretly Use AI

About half of US employees reportedly use AI tools at their own expense without telling their bosses. This "shadow productivity economy" is reshaping work — AI is no longer optional but an "invisible colleague," affecting roles, workflows, and leadership.

According to ProofHub's "Workplace Trends Report 2025," AI is just one facet of the shift, among eight trends shaping work's future — flexible arrangements, mental health focus, sustainability, and more.

Image source: DreamsTime

AI Becomes the Quiet Colleague

AI has evolved from a support tool into a core part of daily work — used for emails, data analysis, and brainstorming without bosses knowing. This shows growing trust in efficiency gains and the need for company guidelines, with ethics and compliance next.

Hybrid Work Becomes the Norm

The return-to-office debate has settled, with hybrid work now mainstream. It's more than a location issue — it reshapes team collaboration, evaluation, and culture.

Digital Collaboration Becomes a Lifeline

Meeting-room-centered collaboration is fading as project management, video calls, and even VR move collaboration onto digital platforms, making IT literacy and online communication essential.

Mental Health Moves to the Center of HR

Employee wellbeing has shifted from a benefit to a "productivity metric," with companies investing in wellness programs and flexible schedules to prevent burnout and aid retention.

DEI and Belonging Take On New Importance

Diversity, equity, and inclusion now go beyond hiring, building organizations where employees feel a sense of "belonging," with leadership training and org design treating inclusion as long-term strategy.

Sustainability Becomes a Management Priority

Beyond regulatory compliance, companies are accelerating sustainable management, partly driven by Gen Z job seekers' focus on "environmental responsibility," with ESG and green initiatives creating new job categories.

Reskilling and Continuous Learning on the Rise

Rapid change is making old skills obsolete, so investment in reskilling and upskilling — AI literacy, digital strategy — is growing, with continuous learning now key to career survival.

Trust-Based Leadership

Command-and-control leadership is fading, replaced by management valuing transparency and empathy, with flexibility and support for employee wellbeing now expected.

Why These Trends Matter

The "future of work" has already arrived — for students entering the job market and companies alike, understanding it is a survival strategy, not just an edge.

Closing

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