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Japan’s NTT wades into AI for land-based aquaculture

Japanese conglomerate Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) has launched a new company that will develop artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT)-based solutions for land-based aquaculture and sustainable food production activities.

The company recently launched NTT Green & Food Corporation. The new company is in a joint venture with the  Regional Fish Institute, a Japan-based firm involved in genomic fish breeding. Through this partnership NTT “aims to solve future food shortages while mitigating negative environmental impacts associated with onshore seafood production,” a company press release said.

AI refers to the use of computers and machine to mimic problem solving and decision making functions typically attributed to humans. IoT refers to a network of physical objects that have embedded sensors, software and other technology for the purpose of exchanging date with other devices and systems connected to the Internet.

The Tokyo-headquartered telecommunications giant said it aims use “breed improvement technology” to increase the growth rate of fish as well as “develop smart land-based aquaculture using  NTT’s IoT, AI, and other technologies.”

NTT Green & Food Corporation will primarily focus on the development of a carbon dioxide conversion system. The company hopes that mass cultivation of alga can help in carbon capture. The nutrient-rich algae can be further developed for as fish food and fertilizer.

NTT Green & Food Corporation said it will develop land-based aquaculture systems to produce these algae-based products. The company will build three facilities: a facility that will produce fish and shellfish, a facility that produces algae to feed the fish; and a water purification facility that purifies fish and shellfish waste.

Full commercialization of the idea will include sales of the system to third parties through NTT Corporation and its operating companies. NTT Green & Food aims to achieve revenues of about $70 million in about five years, and over $200 million in around a decade.