What Free AI does

FreeAI Ltd. (Free AI株式会社) is a Tokyo-based AI infrastructure and investment company founded in December 2023 under the stated mission of 'AI for Freedom' (自由なAI). Its core product is an AI supercomputer named Tsuginosuke (継之助), configured with 8x NVIDIA A100 80GB GPUs alongside 12TB RAID0 SSD, 12TB RAID0 HDD, and 8TB NVMe RAID0 storage, optimized for running large open-source models such as DeepSeek v4 Flash via the DwarfStar4 framework on Mac Studio sub-nodes with 512GB memory. The company monetizes this hardware through weekly rental at 500,000 yen (excluding tax) for open-source model workloads.

The business combines three revenue lines: (1) AI supercomputer rental as a recurring subscription-style service to AI developers and researchers; (2) paid educational seminars — the AI Management School (AI時代の経営塾) at 40,000 yen per attendee and the FreeAI Seminar & Networking series at 20,000 yen — directed at business leaders and AI practitioners and designed to double as AI training data collection; and (3) equity returns from investment in and incubation of AI startups. The company is founder-led by Representative Director Tetsuya Yoshimi alongside Co-Founders Tomohito Ebina (former CEO of Opt, founder of Legend Partners, outside director at Mobcast and Oakfan) and Ryo Shimizu (serial entrepreneur with ten founded companies, METI-designated 'Super Creator' in 2004, and author of multiple AI books). FreeAI's go-to-market is event-driven, with seminars, a content blog, and Peatix-based ticketing serving as the primary demand-generation channels.

Name

Free AI

Legal name

Free AI株式会社

Website

https://free-ai.ltd

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Short description

FreeAI Ltd. is a Tokyo-based company, founded December 2023, that rents an AI supercomputer (Tsuginosuke) built on 8x NVIDIA A100 80GB GPUs, invests in and incubates AI startups, and runs paid AI management seminars for Japanese business leaders and developers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Compute Infrastructure

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Computer Rental & Leasing (7377)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Compute Cloud & GPU-as-a-Service (HDAAAAAK)

Keywords

• AI supercomputer rental
• GPU cloud compute
• AI startup incubation
• AI management seminars
• Open-source AI hosting

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. AI Supercomputer Rental: Weekly rental of AI supercomputer 継之助 for running open-source AI models. Base price is 500,000 yen/week (excluding tax) for open-source model usage. This is the core revenue-generating service.
2. Seminars and Educational Events: Paid seminar events including 'AI Management School' and 'FreeAI Seminar & Networking' sessions. AI Management School priced at 40,000 yen (tax included), FreeAI Seminar at 20,000 yen (tax included). Special discounts available for past attendees and referrals.
3. AI Startup Investment and Incubation: Investment in and development support for AI startups. Generates returns through equity appreciation and successful exits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

FreeAI Ltd. rents its proprietary AI supercomputer "Tsuginosuke" (継之助) on a weekly basis at 500,000 yen/week (excluding tax) for running open-source AI models, with hardware based on 8x NVIDIA A100 80GB GPUs and high-capacity RAID storage. The company additionally invests in and incubates AI startups and operates paid educational seminars (AI Management School, FreeAI Seminars & Networking) covering AI-era business management and product development.

Product overview

FreeAI Ltd. is a Japanese company offering AI supercomputer rental services centered on the '継之助' (Tsuginosuke) AI Supercomputer, combined with AI startup investment and incubation support. The company provides access to high-performance computing infrastructure (NVIDIA A100 GPUs) for running open-source AI models, particularly supporting local LLM deployment via their Mac Studio sub-nodes running DwarfStar4. Their business model combines infrastructure-as-a-service with strategic investment in AI ventures.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 継之助 (Tsuginosuke): AI supercomputer rental service featuring NVIDIA A100 80GB/8 units with 12TB RAID0 HDD, 12TB RAID0 SSD, and NVMe RAID0 8TB. Pricing starts at 500,000 yen/week (excluding tax) for open source model usage.

Products and services

• AI Supercomputer Tsuginosuke (継之助) Rental Weekly rental access to FreeAI's proprietary AI supercomputer "Tsuginosuke" (継之助), featuring 8x NVIDIA A100 80GB GPUs with 12TB RAID0 SSD, 12TB RAID0 HDD, and 8TB NVMe RAID0 storage. The system is optimized for training, fine-tuning, and running open-source AI models including DeepSeek v4 Flash (executed via the DwarfStar4 framework on Mac Studio 512GB sub-nodes). Targeted at AI developers, researchers, and companies needing enterprise-grade GPU compute without the capital outlay of building private clusters. Base price is 500,000 yen/week (excluding tax) for open-source model usage, with inquiries handled via [email protected].
• AI Startup Investment and Incubation Equity investment and operational incubation services for early-stage AI startups. FreeAI provides capital along with access to its Tsugunosuke AI supercomputing infrastructure, mentoring from experienced founders (former Opt CEO, METI Super Creator), and business-building guidance. Generates returns through equity appreciation and exits rather than direct service fees.
• AI Management School (AI時代の経営塾) Small-format paid educational seminar program (10 participants max) covering AI-era business management frameworks, targeted at executives and managers seeking structured guidance on operating in an AI-driven economy. Led by FreeAI co-founders Ryo Shimizu and Tomohito Ebina alongside guest instructors such as Yuichi Kawasaki, with themes including "estimation" (April 2026) and "non-programmer AI product development" (May 2026). Sessions include a networking component with refreshments. Priced at 40,000 yen (tax included), with special alumni pricing for past attendees. Event registration is handled via Peatix.
• FreeAI Seminar & Networking (FreeAI セミナー＆懇親会) Paid seminar and networking event series hosted by FreeAI, where instructors deliver short talks on timely topics followed by a networking reception with beverages. The July 28, 2026 session featured Ryo Shimizu, Tomohito Ebina (online), and guest instructor Yuichi Kawasaki. Priced at 20,000 yen (tax included), with a 5,000 yen cashback incentive for referrals and special pricing for past seminar attendees. The events also serve the secondary purpose of generating AI training video datasets.

Quantifiable outcome

• DeepSeek v4 Flash can generate 60,000 characters of coherent Japanese long-form fiction in a single prompt run on the 継之助 infrastructure

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• CoreWeave: US-based GPU cloud provider built around large-scale NVIDIA GPU clusters (A100/H100) rented to AI developers. Closest direct comparator to FreeAI's Tsuginosuke rental model.
• Lambda Labs: GPU cloud and workstation provider offering A100/H100 rental to AI developers and researchers, with similar customer segment (AI developers/researchers) to FreeAI.
• RunPod: GPU cloud platform renting A100/H100 instances on hourly and weekly terms to AI developers, overlapping with FreeAI's weekly rental model and developer target market.
• Together AI: AI compute cloud focused on open-source model inference and training, with GPU rental as core offering — direct parallel to FreeAI's open-source model focus on DeepSeek.
• Modal Labs: Serverless GPU compute platform targeting AI developers with on-demand A100/H100 access, comparable in customer profile and rental-style consumption.

Regional players

• Sakura Internet: Japanese cloud and hosting provider operating domestic GPU infrastructure (including H100/A100 clusters). Competes with FreeAI in the Japanese market with broader service portfolio.
• GMO Internet Group: Major Japanese internet conglomerate providing GPU cloud and AI infrastructure services to Japanese enterprises — a regional incumbent competing for the same Tokyo customer base.

Broad incumbents

• AWS (EC2 GPU Instances): Hyperscaler offering P4/P5 instances with A100/H100 GPUs at scale with managed services — broader incumbent that defines pricing benchmarks for GPU rentals like FreeAI's.
• Google Cloud (GCP GPU VMs): Hyperscaler providing A100/H100 GPU virtual machines with deep ecosystem integration (Vertex AI, BigQuery), competing for the same Japanese enterprise AI workloads as FreeAI.

Emerging players

• Vast.ai: Peer-to-peer GPU rental marketplace connecting developers to distributed GPU providers. Comparable pricing model and developer-focused positioning, though structurally different (marketplace vs. owned infrastructure).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Free AI