The OECD.AI Policy Navigator

Japan’s 2025 AI Act establishes the country’s first dedicated legal framework for artificial intelligence, focusing on promoting research, development, and utilisation rather than imposing strict regulation. The law sets out basic principles and a national policy framework, including a “Basic AI Plan” and coordinated governance structures, while encouraging voluntary action by businesses.

Utilizing an AI foundation model and letting the model additionally learn scientific research data (multi-modalization), develop domain-oriented foundation models for scientific research (AI Foundation Models for Science).

This Guidelines are intended to encourage all AI-related stakeholders to take voluntary effort (e.g. build internal AI governance systems)

Japan’s Roadmap for Smart City Initiatives, issued in 2024 by the Cabinet Office, sets out a phased national framework for advancing smart cities as part of Society 5.0, explicitly incorporating the use of data, AI and large‑scale digital infrastructure—such as platforms supporting data analysis, AI applications and cloud‑based computing—to improve urban management and public services.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has approved subsidies of up to 72.5 billion yen in total to five companies to improve computational resources for AI development, under the Economic Security Promotion Act. The initiative designates cloud programmes as specified critical products, aiming to strengthen domestic AI infrastructure, reduce reliance on foreign cloud providers, and ensure resilient generative AI service provision in Japan.

Council of experts to discuss issues related to AI

This project aims to establish a methodology for building next-generation generative AI models that ensure transparency and reliability, while accumulating a series of knowledge and experiences.

A compilation of issues to be addressed due to the advent of generative AI, while maintaining the basic strategies and principles that have already been established.