Japan's Digital Minister Warns of Becoming 'AI Colony' if Development Lags

(Central News Agency, Tokyo, 5th) Japan's Digital Minister Masaaki Matsuzaki warned on Tuesday that Japan could become a new type of 'colony' in the AI era if it fails to keep pace with the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

According to Reuters, Matsuzaki stated, 'I hope more Japanese people will understand that we must actively promote AI development, or we will end up becoming an 'AI colony'.'

Matsuzaki issued this warning while defending a bill to revise the Personal Information Protection Law. The proposed revision would allow AI developers to use personal data, such as medical and criminal records, to train AI models without the consent of the individuals involved.

At a press conference, he said, 'The key point of the revision is that because AI is developing so rapidly, Japan cannot afford to fall behind.' Some opposition parties have expressed concerns about the government-proposed bill, fearing it could increase the risk of data leaks.

The bill passed Japan's House of Representatives last week and is currently being deliberated in the House of Councillors.

Amid intensifying technological competition between the U.S. and China, the Japanese government has been actively fostering its domestic AI industry in recent years through measures such as subsidies, targeted procurement, and legal revisions.

While relying on the Japan-U.S. security alliance to attract investment and technical cooperation from American companies like Microsoft and OpenAI, Japan is also supporting SoftBank, Sakura Internet, and chip manufacturers in developing domestic AI models and computing capabilities. (Editor: Shih Shih) 1150605