An official close to talks said Japan is moving toward milder AI laws than the EU to improve economic growth and become a leader in advanced chips.
The official, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak with media, said that AI policy would likely be closer to the U.S. approach by year’s end than the EU’s strict restrictions.
A softer Japanese approach might weaken EU efforts to set worldwide standards, such as requiring corporations to disclose copyrighted material used to train AI systems that generate text and graphics.
EU industry head Thierry Breton is in Tokyo this week to promote AI rule-making and semiconductor collaboration.
The government official did not specify where Japan’s rules differed from the EU’s.
Prof. Yutaka Matsuo, leader of the government’s AI policy council, called the EU’s standards “little too strict,” saying it is “almost impossible” to designate copyrighted content for deep learning.
“With the EU, the issue is less about how to promote innovation and more about making already large companies take responsibility,” said Matsuo, who heads the Japan Deep Learning Association and is an independent director on SoftBank Group (9984.T)’s board.
Due to their potential to change business and society, generative AI advances by startups like Microsoft-backed OpenAI are exciting and concerning.
The U.S. and allied industrial democracies are racing China to develop AI, sophisticated semiconductors, and quantum computers due to its potential.
“There are things that really are a concern and I think these things probably should be for any democracy,” Breton remarked.
“With likeminded partners and friends like Japan or the U.S., I think it’s important to explain what we did,” Breton said of the EU’s regulatory approach.
AI could help Japan cope with population reduction and labor scarcity.
The source said it might boost demand for advanced chips that government-backed Rapidus aims to make as part of an industrial drive to reclaim Japan’s technical lead.
Experts stated Japan’s GPU availability for AI training is significantly behind the U.S.
“If you increased the GPUs in Japan by 10 times, it would probably still be less than what OpenAI has available,” stated Prof. Matsuo.
