Preferred Networks
preferred.jp
Actively hiring
AI for Science
Robotics AI
AI Chips & Accelerators
Foundation Models
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Overview
Preferred Networks is a Japanese artificial intelligence company founded in Tokyo in 2014 and long regarded as the country's most technically ambitious AI startup. It created Chainer, one of the first define-by-run deep learning frameworks and an influence on the design of modern autograd systems, and has since built a full vertical stack from its own MN-Core accelerator silicon up to foundation models. The company applies that stack to manufacturing, robotics, materials science through the Matlantis simulator and healthcare, working closely with Japanese industrial partners including Toyota, Fanuc and Hitachi.
News
プレスリリース：Preferred Networksの「タレスカAI面接」が沖縄セルラー電話のインターンシップ選考において「書類では見えないポテンシャル」の可視化を確認PR TIMES
株式会社Preferred Networks東京都千代田区、代表取締役社長：岡野原大輔、以下 PFNは、AI面接サービス「タレスカAI面接」が、沖縄セルラー電話株式会社以下、沖縄セルラーの2028年卒夏インターンシップ選考に導入され、選考結果に基づく効果検証を完了したことをお知らせします
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PFN、日本語に特化したAI翻訳サービス PLaMo翻訳 のオンライン会議翻訳機能の無料トライアルを開始
株式会社Preferred Networksのプレスリリース2026年9月10日 13時00分PFN、日本語に特化したAI翻訳サービス PLaMo翻訳 のオンライン会議翻訳機能の無料トライアルを開始
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Preferred NetworksのAI面接サービス「タレスカAI面接」、シミックグループ新卒採用選考に採用：時事ドットコム
株式会社Preferred Networks「書く」選考から「話す」選考へエントリーシート提出を廃止し、学生が自分の言葉で語る「トークエントリー選考」を実現株式会社Preferred Networks本社：東京都千代田区、代表取締役社長：岡野原大輔、以下、PFNが提供するAI面接サービス「タレスカAI面接」は、シミックホールディングス株式会社、およびグループ会社であるシミックヘルスケア・インスティテュート株式会社、シミックファーマサイエンス株式会社、シミックCMO株式会社の4社の…
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Preferred Networks seeks IPO to mass-produce AI chips that could outpace Nvidia's GPUs
Preferred Networks plans an IPO to fund mass production of MN-Core AI chips that claim up to 10x faster inference, challenging Nvidia's GPU
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Japan's Preferred Networks debuts AI priced less than half of OpenAI models
TOKYO -- Japanese artificial intelligence developer Preferred Networks has begun offering a model optimized for the Japanese language that offers perf
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Japan startup Preferred Networks designs own AI chips to beat bottleneck
Japanese startup Preferred Networks is ramping up investment in customised artificial intelligence chips, seeking to ensure access to critical hardware as advances in generative AI spark a global investment boom. "We knew we needed to optimise energy cons
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Exhaustive Union Matching in Python
Pattern matching on algebraic data types is a powerful techn
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Tech stack
Technologies named in job postings at Preferred Networks over the last 12 months, by layer, with the share of postings for each.
Technologies in use
98
Postings analysed
54
Stack modernity
83/100AI adopter
Languages
Python54%
C++41%
Java26%
Rust15%
Frameworks & libraries
Scikit-learn11%
PoC Library9%
PyTorch7%
DeepSpeed6%
Cloud & platforms
AWS22%
Linux20%
GCP19%
Unix17%
AI & ML
LLM50%
Qwen6%
VLM6%
LLaVA2%
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Full Preferred Networks tech stack
98 technologies · by team · pay by technology · changes · similar stacks
Products
Robotics
The robotics arm builds autonomous machines for logistics, cleaning and domestic use, including the Kachaka home robot. It applies the group's perception and control research to physical products.
preferred.jp
Chainer
Chainer was Preferred Networks' open-source deep learning framework and one of the first define-by-run designs. Its approach influenced the dynamic computation graphs used in modern frameworks.
preferred.jp
Matlantis
Matlantis is a cloud materials simulator that uses a universal neural network potential to predict atomic behaviour. It cuts computation that would take days on conventional methods to seconds.
matlantis.com
PLaMo
PLaMo is the company's family of Japanese large language models trained on its own hardware. It targets enterprise and public sector customers needing strong Japanese performance.
preferred.jp
MN-Core
MN-Core is Preferred Networks' own deep learning accelerator, designed for high efficiency on matrix workloads. It powers the company's internal supercomputers and is being commercialised for external customers.
preferred.jp
People
Toru Nishikawa
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Toru Nishikawa co-founded Preferred Networks in 2014 and leads it as chief executive. He earlier co-founded Preferred Infrastructure while a student at the University of Tokyo.
Daisuke Okanohara
Co-Founder & Executive Vice President
Daisuke Okanohara co-founded Preferred Networks and directs its research agenda. He is a widely respected machine learning researcher in Japan and drove the Chainer framework.
Huinaga Nishikawa
代表取締役
Okanohara Daisuke
代表取締役社長
Names and roles come from public filings, company registers and the company's own site. Is this you? Correct or remove · How we handle this data
Growth
Hiring Momentum
84/100
Scaling fast
Open positions
63
63 opened / 1 closed in 30 days
Median time-to-fill
15 days
faster than 60% of the market
ATS activity
Every ~4 hours
Today
Hiring Dynamics
+100%
Hiring Focus
The percentage next to each role is its share of the company's job openings over the last 90 days; the arrow shows the shift versus the previous period.
AI/ML
44% ▲
Sales
14% ▲
Hardware
8% ▲
Backend
6% ▲
DevOps
5% ▲
Product
5% ▲
Actively hiring for AI/ML (+28 in 30 days)
Activity Timeline
Added Sim-to-Real to stack
Oct 2026
Added Physical AI to stack
Oct 2026
Added MuJoCo to stack
Oct 2026
Added Isaac Sim to stack
Oct 2026
Added Jupyter Notebook to stack
Sep 2026
+60 jobs in a week
Sep 2026
Offices
Where the company hires and what each office is for
Cities
1
Hiring now
1
Countries
1
Busiest office
Tokyo
Tokyo
Japan
HQ
59 open roles 60 posted in 90 days 66% engineering 3% remote 1000-5000 est. staff $621k Avg Salary
hires for AI/ML, Sales, Backend
Jobs
Hybrid • Full-Time • Japan
Python
Java
C++
DeepSpeed
Fine-tuning
Reinforcement Learning
LLM
Post-training
Pre-training
FSDP
Machine Learning
DevOps
GCP
CI/CD
AWS
Apply
Hybrid • Full-Time • Japan
InfiniBand
Apply
Hybrid • Full-Time • Tokyo
Python
Rust
C++
VLM
Physical AI
DevOps
Linux
Robotics
Isaac Sim
MuJoCo
SLAM
Sim-to-Real
Apply
$32k per year • Remote (Japan) • Part-Time • Tokyo
Jupyter Notebook
DevOps
GitHub
Apply
Hybrid • Full-Time • Tokyo
Apply
$458k – $917k per year • In office • Contractor • Master's Degree • Tokyo
Python
LLM
Machine Learning
Apply
Apply
Remote (Japan) • Contractor • Bachelor's Degree • Tokyo
Python
Rust
Optuna
Machine Learning
DevOps
GitHub
Apply
Hybrid • Full-Time • Tokyo
Python
Ruby
LLM
OpenAI
DevOps
FinOps
Apply
Hybrid • Full-Time • Tokyo
JavaScript
PowerShell
Node JS
GCP
Git
AWS
Linux
Windows
Cybersecurity
SIEM
Management
Slack
Google Workspace
Apply
Apply
Hybrid • Full-Time • Tokyo
Rust
C++
llama.cpp
vLLM
Quantization
SGLang
LLM
KV Cache
Apply
Financials
Investors
4
Key Investors
Hitachi
Hitachi backed Preferred Networks and works with it on industrial applications. The relationship connects the startup to large-scale operational technology deployments.
hitachi.com
NTT
NTT invested in Preferred Networks as part of a broader AI and computing partnership. The two collaborate on model development and infrastructure.
global.ntt
Fanuc
The industrial robot maker Fanuc invested in Preferred Networks and works with it on factory automation intelligence. The partnership brought the company into manufacturing at scale.
fanuc.com
Toyota
Toyota invested over a hundred million dollars in Preferred Networks and partners with it on autonomous driving and robotics research. It is the company's largest strategic backer.
toyota.com