Japan Mulls ¥1 Tril. Investment in AI as Country Said to Be Lagging Behind Other Countries in Area

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:32 JST, December 19, 2025

The government is planning to invest ¥1 trillion into AI development and implementation, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said during a meeting of the AI Strategic Headquarters, which she chairs, at Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.

At the meeting, the government compiled a draft first basic plan to outline the future direction of Japan’s policy toward AI, an area in which the country has been criticized for falling behind.

Takaichi emphasized that Japan could leverage its strengths in high-quality data and AI reliability.

“Now is the time to turn the tables with public-private collaboration,” she said.

She also announced that “Gennai,” a generative AI platform developed by the Digital Agency, will be fully introduced at government agencies in May. The platform will provide support to bureaucrats as they prepare materials for responding to Diet deliberations and complete other work.

The basic plan states that Japan aims to become “the world’s most AI-friendly country for development and use” by balancing technological innovation with risk management. It also pledges to double the staff — currently 30 people — at the Japan AI Safety Institute, an agency that assesses the technology’s safety.

The Cabinet is expected to approve the plan Tuesday at the earliest.