Ishiba Eyes Boosting Japan-U.S. Cooperation on AI; Solo Press Conference to Follow Summit with Trump

The Yomiuri Shimbun

2:00 JST, February 5, 2025

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has begun coordination to announce Japan-U.S. cooperation in the research and development of generative artificial intelligence at a summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to be held in Washington on Friday, multiple government sources said Monday.

With an eye to countering China’s accelerating AI development, Japan and the United States aim to deepen cooperation in promoting private investment and sharing knowledge.

In January, Trump signed an executive order to “sustain and enhance America’s dominance in AI,” clearly showing his intention to focus on development competition with China. Japan and the United States share a sense of urgency over the rise of Chinese-made AI, which raises concerns about safety and reliability, and the prime minister has determined that this will be an area of cooperation in which the interests of Tokyo and Washington are aligned.

Including this cooperation in the joint statement that the two countries are preparing to issue is also being considered.

Ishiba met with SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday to exchange views on AI investment in the United States.

SoftBank Group, OpenAI and others have announced a $500 billion (approximately ¥78 trillion) investment in AI-related infrastructure development in the United States. The prime minister welcomed the efforts of their companies, saying, “We would like to deepen cooperation between Japan and the United States in the field of AI to make the world more peaceful, prosperous and safe.”

The government will study ways to promote private investment and hopes to talk about them at the summit meeting.

At the summit meeting, the Japanese government intends to take a positive stance on increasing imports of liquefied natural gas, of which the United States is increasing production, if the U.S. side requests that.

The Japanese government is arranging to hold a press conference by the prime minister alone after the summit, rather than a joint press conference by Ishiba and Trump. This is believed to be in consideration of the unpredictability of Trump’s comments in response to questions by reporters.

The prime minister will visit the United States from Thursday to Saturday, and will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya.