- Combining Hitachi's 110+ years of domain expertise with frontier AI will advance safe realworld deployment of physical AI and strengthen customer AI transformation
- Deploying advanced AI across all business processes for approximately 290,000 employees to enhance productivity at scale
- Developing 100,000 AI professional talent and co-creating new HMAX solutions leveraging proven outcomes from Hitachi's "Customer Zero" approach
- Establishing the "Frontier AI Deployment Center", a global organization spanning North America, Europe, and Asia with an initial team of 100 experts
TOKYO, May 19, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, "Hitachi") today announced a strategic partnership with Anthropic PBC ("Anthropic"), a global leader in AI safety research and trusted AI models, to further strengthen the "Lumada 3.0" business model.
As artificial intelligence evolves beyond cyberspace to directly influence real-world systems-otherwise known as physical AI-demand is rapidly growing for the safe and seamless deployment of AI in mission-critical environments.
This alliance combines Hitachi and Anthropic will combine Hitachi's deep domain knowledge built over more than 110 years, along with its expertise in IT, OT (operational technology), and products, with Anthropic's frontier AI capabilities. Together, the companies will accelerate the advancement of system engineering, operations, and cybersecurity for critical infrastructure sectors including energy, transportation, manufacturing, and finance. By enabling safer, more resilient, and intelligent operations of these infrastructures, the partnership will contribute to advancing AI transformation (AX) for customers and society at large.
To maximize value creation for customers, Hitachi and Anthropic will also drive transformation within Hitachi's own organizations. Hitachi will deploy advanced AI, including Anthropic's Claudemodels, across all business processes for its approximately 290,000 employees worldwide to significantly enhance productivity. In parallel, the two companies will jointly develop and implement talent programs to cultivate approximately 100,000 AI professional talent. Hitachi positions this large-scale internal transformation as "Customer Zero", leveraging the insights and best practices gained to further advance HMAX by Hitachi-a next-generation suite of solutions that brings the power of AI to social infrastructure.
As the core engine to drive value creation for customers in over 190 countries and to advance its own transformation globally, Hitachi will establish the "Frontier AI Deployment Center," a global organization spanning North America, Europe, and Asia. As its initial initiative, the Center will launch a joint team comprising Anthropic's Applied AI experts and Hitachi's specialists across IT, OT, products, and cybersecurity, bringing together the strengths and expertise of both companies.
Going forward, Hitachi will leverage this Center as a foundation to establish best practices for enterprise-scale deployment, accelerate value creation at customers' frontlines, and contribute to the realization of a harmonized society through the safe and scalable implementation of frontier AI.
Background
Artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving from a tool confined to digital domains into technologies that directly interact with and control real-world systems. This shift toward physical AI creates unprecedented opportunities to address pressing societal challenges, including labor shortages and increasing burdens on frontline workers in industries such as manufacturing, maintenance, and infrastructure operations.
As a global leader in social innovation, Hitachi recognizes this transition as a significant mission. Hitachi is advancing its "Lumada 3.0" business model, which integrates data from globally deployed IT, OT, and products with deep domain knowledge and AI to solve societal challenges.
However, as AI becomes deeply embedded in real-world infrastructure and operations, exceptional levels of safety, reliability, and trust are essential. Through this strategic partnership with Anthropic-provider of the advanced AI model Claude, which meets these requirements and has a strong track record in the enterprise domain-Hitachi will further strengthen its HMAX solutions, which embody its Lumada 3.0 business model and accelerate the empowerment of frontline workers.
Strategic Initiatives
1. Accelerating AX through the Integration of Anthropic's Claude and Hitachi's Capabilities
By combining the advanced code generation and analysis capabilities of Anthropic's Claude with Hitachi's system engineering expertise in mission-critical domains, the partnership will deliver significant improvements in efficiency and quality across customers' system development and operations. This will strongly support customers' AX, enabling the rapid launch of new services and the advancement of data-driven business transformation in fast-changing market environments. Additionally, the partnership will enhance cybersecurity for critical infrastructure sectors such as finance, transportation, and power transmission and distribution. Through close collaboration between Hitachi's Cyber Center of Excellence and Anthropic, the companies will advance capabilities in cyber threat detection and response, fundamentally strengthening the cyber resilience of social infrastructure and providing a robust environment for the safe and secure deployment of AI.
2. Enterprise-wide Transformation at Hitachi
Hitachi aims to become one of the world's largest enterprise adopters of Claude, deploying advanced AI across all business processes for approximately 290,000 employees. This includes:
- Reducing development effort in software engineering
- Enhancing efficiency in corporate functions
- Automating maintenance and operational processes in hardware environments
By extending AI adoption beyond engineers to business functions such as sales and planning, Hitachi will accelerate enterprise-wide transformation. In parallel, a large-scale talent development program will be launched to enable approximately 100,000 employees to become AI professional talent embedded in daily operations. Insights gained from this "Customer Zero" initiative will be continuously fed back into customer offerings.
3. Advancing HMAX through frontier AI
By combining its OT and product expertise with advanced AI, Hitachi will further enhance HMAX solutions. Claude's high-level reasoning capabilities will be integrated into HMAX to expand AI applications in mission-critical environments. This includes enhancing:
Intuitive equipment management through natural language interaction to minimize downtime
Optimization of maintenance operations through advanced algorithms to reduce costs
These capabilities will directly contribute to greater resilience and sustainability for customer operations and infrastructure.
4. Accelerating Value Creation through the Frontier AI Deployment Center
The Frontier AI Deployment Center will serve as the core of Hitachi's AI collaboration ecosystem. Beginning with a joint team of approximately 100 experts-expected to scale to 300over time-this organization will drive:
- Co-creation of physical AI use cases
- Deployment of advanced AI technologies in real-world settings
- Development of next-generation solutions
Comment from Jun Abe, Executive Vice President, Head of Digital Systems & Services Sector, Hitachi
"Through our Social Innovation Business, Hitachi has long contributed to the realization of a sustainable society. Today, as challenges facing frontline workers become more pronounced due to a shrinking workforce, we are very pleased that through this strategic partnership, Hitachi can jointly solve customer and social challenges by combining Anthropic's highly trusted AI technology with Hitachi's domain expertise in mission-critical areas and our IT, OT, and product capabilities. As a "global leader continuing to innovate social infrastructure with digital technologies," and by leveraging advanced AI ourselves as a practitioner, we will accelerate transformation at our customers' frontlines and promote true Digital Transformation in the realworld, striving together to realize a harmonized society."
About HMAX & Lumada
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About Hitachi, Ltd.
Through its Social Innovation Business (SIB) that brings together IT, OT(Operational Technology) and products, Hitachi aims to be a global leader in continuously transforming social infrastructure through digital, contributing to a harmonized society where the environment, wellbeing, and economic growth are in balance.
Hitachi operates worldwide across four sectors - Digital Systems & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connective Industries - as well as a Strategic SIB Business Unit focused on new growth areas. With Lumada at its core, Hitachi creates value by combining data, technology and domain knowledge to solve customer and social challenges. Revenues for FY2025 (ended March 31, 2026) totaled 10,586.7 billion yen, with 606 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 290,000 employees worldwide. Visit us at www.hitachi.com.
Source: Hitachi, Ltd.
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