A joint venture formed by BSN i-Net Co., Ltd. (head office: Niigata City, Niigata; President and Representative Director: Shunsuke Nagumo), BSN Wave Co., Ltd. (head office: Niigata City, Niigata; President and Representative Director: Hiroyuki Kaneda), and Socialups Inc. (head office: Niigata City, Niigata; President and Representative Director: Akimitsu Takase) has been selected for Niigata Prefecture’s publicly solicited project, the “FY2026 AI Utilization Promotion Lab Outsourcing Project.” Through the project, the three companies will combine their strengths to build “Niigata AI Digital Playground,” a new platform connecting business challenges in Niigata Prefecture with AI technologies from inside and outside the region. In partnership with the public and private sectors, the initiative aims to improve productivity across diverse local industries, solve regional issues, and foster a new AI-driven innovation ecosystem. The project comes as Niigata faces increasingly complex social and economic challenges, including population decline, labor shortages, and changes in industrial structure. At the same time, AI technologies, including generative AI, are rapidly advancing and are expected to become powerful tools for addressing these issues. However, local gaps remain: companies often do not know how to solve their own problems with AI, AI developers struggle to find demonstration fields and connections with operating companies, and information on subsidies, support programs, and outreach opportunities is fragmented. The project will address these issues through three pillars: matching local corporate challenges with AI developers inside and outside the prefecture, providing demonstration subsidies to companies and organizations attempting AI adoption, and holding “Niigata AI Expo 2026,” one of the largest AI events in the prefecture. The joint venture consists of BSN i-Net, BSN Wave, and Socialups. BSN i-Net will oversee the overall project, planning, and central s