Japan hastily redraws AI strategy amid security fears
The Japanese government on July 14 approved a hurried revision of its national artificial intelligence strategy, scrambling to establish what it calls “AI sovereignty” and counter new security risks amid the technology’s rapid evolution.
The new policy outlines a review of existing systems and AI-related legislation in addition to strengthened cooperation with foreign government agencies.
The revision comes just six months after the original plan was drafted, a rapid timeline prompted by the emergence of powerful new models such as the U.S. company Anthropic’s Claude Mythos.
Officials said such technologies made the threat of cyberattacks more tangible by dramatically increasing the ease of finding system vulnerabilities.
The move follows a series of reactive measures by Tokyo in response to developments at U.S. firms, including the urgent implementation of new countermeasures for the financial and critical infrastructure sectors and inspections of its own key systems.
A central goal of the plan is to bolster the nation’s ability to research and operate the technology domestically, thereby enhancing Japan’s autonomy and reducing overdependence on specific countries or companies.
The government also promotes proactive use of the technology through an AI Transformation (AX) initiative.
The initiative involves rethinking decision-making and work processes with AI as a core premise, creating new industrial structures and developing a skilled workforce.
The plan identifies a “path to victory” by placing strategic emphasis on two key areas.
Vertical AI specializes in fields such as medicine and industry while physical AI operates in the real world via robotics and autonomous driving.
According to the Japan Growth Strategy released by the government in June, it projects a public-private investment of 23.1 trillion yen ($142.3 billion) in vertical AI and 10.5 trillion yen in physical AI by fiscal 2040.
That investment target stands in stark contrast to current figures.
A Stanford University study ranked Japan 14th in the field with a projected private investment of just $1.11 billion in 2025.
That figure is dwarfed by the top-ranked United States at $285.9 billion, making Japan’s investment less than one-200th of the U.S. total.
