ai& and Plug and Play Japan Collaborate to Drive Enterprise AI Transformation with Sovereign Infrastructure

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TOKYO, JAPAN, June 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- ai&, a vertically integrated global AI technology company, and Plug and Play Japan KK, one of the world’s largest innovation platforms, today announced a collaboration to help enterprises build and deploy AI with greater speed, control, and confidence. The partnership connects Plug and Play's AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) with ai&'s vertically integrated AI platform, which unifies data centers, heterogeneous compute, and advanced model services into a single stack built from Japan for the global market.

The collaboration marks the first of its kind across Plug and Play's global network of more than 60 locations, reflecting the growing strategic importance of Japan as a hub for sovereign AI development.

“Having established Plug and Play's AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) in Japan, we believe that robust AI infrastructure—capable of supporting the activities of every stakeholder—is the most essential foundation for advancing AI transformation. We were deeply inspired by ai&'s bold vision to 'build AI infrastructure originating from Japan,' as well as by the exceptional, cutting-edge technical capabilities that bring this vision to life, which led us to forge this partnership. Through this collaboration, we have great expectations that enterprises and startups alike will fully leverage state-of-the-art compute resources and the most advanced AI models, giving rise to a continuous stream of disruptive innovations born in Japan and delivered to the global market. By combining the strengths of both companies, we are committed to powerfully driving the real-world adoption of AI across Japanese society.” said Phillip Vincent, Managing Partner, APAC CEO Japan

“There is a clear need among enterprises and developers for sovereign and secure AI. By owning and optimizing the stack end to end, from data centers and compute to models and services, we can give customers better performance, better economics, and less friction. This collaboration with Plug and Play puts that infrastructure in front of the companies that need it most,” said David Bennett, CEO and Co-Founder, ai&

■ What the Collaboration Covers
The partnership gives enterprises and startups direct access to what has historically been hard to combine in Japan: compute at scale, globally connected co-creation, and AI models built for the local market.

● Strengthened Japan data centers. Through ai&'s AI data centers and cloud services, the AI CoE will offer partners direct access to large-scale compute resources, integrating hardware from AMD, NVIDIA, and Tenstorrent across architectures optimized for performance, efficiency, and cost.
● A global co-creation network. Startups and corporate partners gain access to ai&'s continual learning models and enterprise services, combined with Plug and Play's network across more than 60 locations worldwide.
● AI built for Japan. ai&'s models are optimized for the Japanese language, culture, and enterprise environment, helping companies move from AI experimentation to real-world deployment with fewer dependencies on foreign infrastructure.

The agreement signals a broader ambition: to establish Japan as an origin point for enterprise-grade AI infrastructure with global reach. Under the collaboration, Plug and Play's AI CoE will connect ai&'s platform directly to enterprises and startups across its global network of more than 60 locations.

■ About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we're present in 60 locations globally. We offer corporate innovation programs and help our corporate partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also organize startup accelerator programs and have built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where we've invested in hundreds of successful companies including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi.

■ Plug and Play Japan Company Profile
● Company: Plug and Play Japan KK
● Founded: 2017/7/14
● Address: Shibuya Dogenzaka Tokyu Building 1-10-8 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN 150-0043
● Representative: Phillip Vincent　　
● URL: http://japan.plugandplaytechcenter.com/

■ About ai&
ai& is a global AI technology company founded on the simple conviction that whoever owns and optimizes the full stack wins. By integrating next-generation data center infrastructure, heterogeneous compute, and frontier model services into a single optimized platform, ai& gives enterprises and developers the performance, economics, and data sovereignty that no single-layer provider can match. Founded in Japan and expanding globally, ai& is building the foundation for the AI-native future.

For more information about ai&, please visit www.aiand.com.

■ Press Inquiries
● Plug and Play Japan KK
o PR Contact: Shimizu
o E-mail: press-japan@pnptc.com
o Official Website: https://japan.plugandplaytechcenter.com
● ai&
o PR Contact: contact@aiand.com
o Official Website: https://www.aiand.com

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