# Utopai Studios, DeNA Team on AI-Assisted Animation Projects in Japan (EXCLUSIVE)

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/utopai-studios-dena-team-on-ai-assisted-animation-projects-in-japan-exclusive/
- Published: 2026-09-03T01:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-03T01:16:15+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/news/utopai-studios-dena-ai-animation-japan-1236849545/
- Topics: AI, Art, Asia, Business, Culture, Markets, Research, Science, Technology, World

## Key points

- Utopai Studios and DeNA launch AI-assisted animation partnership in Japan
- Utopai's PAI system to support, not replace, DeNA's creative team
- Deal is an evaluation phase with IP and permissions rules still being set

## Summary

Utopai Studios and DeNA have launched an AI-assisted animation partnership in Japan, marking Utopai's entry into the country's anime industry. DeNA's Entertainment Development Business Unit will trial Utopai's storytelling AI system, PAI, within experimental animation workflows, with a team of Utopai specialists working alongside DeNA's creative staff on early visual concepts, character and environment design, and scene planning, while DeNA's artists retain final say over story, style and tone.

PAI is designed to maintain continuity across shots, scenes and episodes rather than generating standalone clips, carrying approved characters or backgrounds forward through production. The system is already used by Huace Film & TV in China on the series "Journey to the West: The Lost Five Hundred Years," as well as on projects in the US and international co-productions. The Japan collaboration is described as an evaluation phase, with rules on permissions, IP and security to be jointly agreed; DeNA, founded in Tokyo in 1999, and Utopai, which also operates in Asia-Pacific and Germany, both frame the deal as a foundation for potential future growth.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.