Mitsubishi Heavy backs Preferred Networks in $64M AI deal
What's the deal? Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → will invest US$76.9M in Preferred Networks (PFN), a Tokyo-based AI company, through a third-party share allotment. The two firms signed the capital and business alliance on August 31 and announced it on September 16. The deal is subject to approval at PFN's shareholder meeting and other procedures.
What's the endgame? The investment builds on a June 2026 business alliance to jointly develop AI technologies for mission-critical machinery and systems, including social infrastructure and national security. It pairs MHI's operations in social infrastructure, aerospace, defense, and space with PFN's work on AI chips, computing infrastructure, and generative AI foundation models.
Why now? The deal lands as Japan weighs using AI in preemptive cyber defense, underscoring policy interest in security-related AI. PFN has described the effort as part of building Japan-made AI solutions.
The signal: This is a large late-stage bet by Japanese standards. The round sits in the 97th percentile among all-time late-stage VC rounds for AI companies in Japan, based on a sample of 163 deals — a sign of how much capital is flowing toward domestic AI tied to infrastructure and defense.
Read more: techinasia.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
