Countries / Japan
AI in Japan
Aims to be “the most AI-friendly country in the world”: soft law, state-backed industrial policy, and a focus on physical AI and robotics.
- FY2026 government budget for chips and AI
- ¥1.23tn
- Nvidia H200 GPUs in the national ABCI 3.0
- 6,128
- Share of people using generative AI, vs ~69% in the US (FY2024)
- ~25%
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Profile
Reviewed monthly · Sources (9)
Strategy
The AI Promotion Act (May 2025) created a PM-chaired AI Strategy Headquarters, which issued a revised AI Basic Plan on 14 Jul 2026. The FY2026 budget puts about ¥1.23tn into chips and AI.
Regulation
No penalties: the Act relies on a duty to cooperate and naming companies, plus non-binding guidelines. The July 2026 plan signals a review that could add penalties. Copyright Article 30-4 permits most AI training.
Compute
The national ABCI 3.0 has 6,128 H200 GPUs. SoftBank is building a 27,500-GPU Vera Rubin cluster for the Noetra consortium. Rapidus targets 2nm mass production in 2027.
Key labs
Noetra (Sony, SoftBank, NEC, Honda), SB Intuitions, NTT, Sakana AI, Preferred Networks, Fujitsu.
Notable models
NTT tsuzumi 2 (Oct 2025), SB Intuitions Sarashina, Preferred Networks PLaMo.
What to watch
Whether the review adds penalties to the AI law; Rapidus’s 2nm ramp in 2027; Noetra’s first reasoning model.