AI engineering from the inside of disability.

EqualFrontiers is a Tokyo-based company that combines lived experience of severe physical disability with hands-on expertise in large language model post-training.

We treat AI not as a "convenient tool" but as social infrastructure that expands what people can do.

About us

Featured by Google

Documentary on our collaboration with Google "Project VOICE" is now live

A documentary on our collaboration with Google's R&D project Project VOICE has been released.
As a person living with severe physical disability, our CEO Katsuki Ono helped develop a personalized communication-support model — a Gemini fine-tune trained on roughly 50,000 of his own conversation samples. The project received a Gold Award at the iF Design Award.

Google Project VOICE documentary thumbnail

Watch on YouTube › Read Google Japan blog ›

Personalized On-Device AI

AI that learns your language, and runs by your side.
We research and develop small AI models that personalize to each individual's language and communication style, and run on smartphones and tablets. From predictive input for people with severe physical disabilities to AAC, we are bringing technology that delivers "words that sound like you" with minimal effort into real life.

This line of research has been accepted at ASSETS 2026, the premier international conference on accessibility and computing.

Explore our Personalized On-Device AI R&D ›

About EqualFrontiers

Our CEO operates the company solely through head movement and AI — designing software, leading research, and running the business from this position. This embodied knowledge is the starting point of everything we build.

We work in three areas: business AI development, large-scale LLM research and development, and assistive / communication AI development. We also operate a severe-disability home-care business in Tokyo (Japanese-language service), which keeps us continuously grounded in the lived realities our AI work is meant to address.

AI accessibility, implemented from the disabled side.

EqualFrontiers is, to the best of our knowledge, among very few companies worldwide that connect large-scale LLM research, AT / AAC model development, business AI development, and severe-disability home-care under one organization led by developers with severe physical disability themselves.

We treat AI not only as "technology that supports disabled people," but as social infrastructure for disabled people themselves to participate in research, development, leadership, and labor.

Why this is different

Large-scale LLM R&D: Post-training of LLMs up to 750B parameters. Familiar with SFT, DPO, GRPO, FSDP, distributed training, parameter freezing, and evaluation design.
Assistive Technology & Communication AI: AAC, input assistance, personalized language models — designed, fine-tuned, and evaluated end-to-end from a disabled user's perspective.
Business AI development: RAG, summarization, translation, classification, and communication-support AI — including OSS models for offline / on-prem deployment.
Severe-disability home-care service (Japan): the company is anchored to the daily lived experience our AI work is meant to serve, not abstract user research.
Public research output: research findings are published to the extent confidentiality permits.

Leadership

Katsuki Ono, Director / CEO

Katsuki Ono

Director / CEO

Lives with a progressive neurological condition; operates the company entirely through head movement and an iPad. Waseda University graduate. Former sub-team lead on the University of Tokyo medical-LLM project. Drives both AI / LLM development and disability-support work.

Profile, publications, and media coverage ›

Hiroki Ono

Representative Director

Oversees company operations and on-the-ground service delivery. Heads the severe-disability home-care business (Helper Station Fair Support).

What we do

Two pillars: specialized LLMs for closed environments, and assistive AI built by a disabled developer. See the AI Services page for full details.

Specialized LLMs for Closed Environments

Post-training of LLMs up to 750B parameters
SFT, DPO, GRPO; data and evaluation design
Training and operation on-prem / in closed networks

On-premise LLMs ›

Assistive AI Built by a Disabled Developer

Designed by a developer who works through a single head-mounted switch
AAC, input assistance, personalized language models
Google Project VOICE collaboration; ASSETS 2026 paper

Assistive AI ›

Other Services

Business AI (RAG, chatbots)
Inclusive LLM Translation

Other services ›

Latest news

See all ›

May 9, 2026 Vibe Coding and Development by Persons with Disabilities: The Potential for Software Development Participation in the LLM Era (2026) — Liberal Arts & Minority, Vol.3 › J Stage
December 3, 2025 Matsuo Lab LLM Competition 2025 - 1st (Qualifying) / 3rd (Final) - Team oNo.1 (30-70 members) › Matsuo Lab
November 24, 2024 From Margins to Mainstream: Inclusive Youth Entrepreneurship in the Asia-Pacific Region › Youth Co:lab

Latest blog posts

See all ›

Running AI in Environments Where Cloud Isn't an Option

May 9, 2026

We've published a blog post that explains LLM tuning for edge and on-premise environments in terms accessible to non-specialists. It covers the thinking behind safely running sufficient AI in settings that involve data that cannot be sent to the cloud, fieldwork where networks can't be relied on, an

Company at a glance

Legal name	EqualFrontiers, Inc. (株式会社EqualFrontiers)
Headquarters	Kikuicho 29, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0044, Japan
Founded	December 18, 2024
Capital	JPY 3,000,000
Corporate number	6011101110012
Representative Director	Hiroki Ono
Director / CEO	Katsuki Ono

Contact

For AI development, LLM R&D, or assistive AI inquiries, please use the form below. Briefly describe your project area, timeline, and deployment environment if possible.

If the form isn't working, you can also reach us at contact@equalfrontiers.com.