📋 Tender Overview
The Japanese government together with the private sector will launch a large-scale project to develop a national artificial intelligence (AI) system with a total value of about 3 trillion yen (about 19 billion USD), Yomiuri newspaper reported, citing the draft plan. Artificial intelligence will draft answers for senior officials in Japan. Photo: Nikkei Asia. As expected, next spring SoftBank Group and more than ten other Japanese companies will establish a new enterprise to develop the largest basic AI model in the country. The project aims to shorten the gap between Japan and the United States and China, which are currently significantly ahead in the field of AI. The new company will be established with SoftBank in the lead role, bringing together about 100 experts from businesses selected through the competition, including SoftBank engineers and developers from Preferred Networks. The model being developed should aim to reach 1,000 billion parameters, equivalent to achievements. world leaders in the United States and China. It is expected that this model will be open to Japanese companies so they can adjust it to suit their own needs - from the industrial sector to robotics. Because of the high project cost, the Japanese Government will subsidize part of the infrastructure costs, and support the collection and purchase of data to train AI. Specifically, the Japanese Government plans to invest about 1,000 billion yen (about 6.3 billion USD) within 5 years, starting from fiscal year 2026. In particular, the 2025 budget draft for fiscal year 2026 is expected to include more than 300 billion yen (more than 1.9 billion USD) for corresponding costs. For its part, SoftBank Group plans to invest about 2 trillion yen (approximately 12.7 billion USD) within 6 years to build and operate Data Centers to serve the development and provision of AI. SoftBank expects that national AI development will become a driving force for the emergence of new products and services, while also creating significant domestic demand to offset these large-scale investments. Currently, the company is building Data Centers in Tomakomai City in Hokkaido and Sakai City in Osaka Prefecture, expected to be operational in fiscal 2026. It is these entities that are expected to become infrastructure platforms. for national AI. The Japanese government emphasizes that AI directly affects industrial competitiveness and national security. Over-reliance on foreign developments brings strategic risks, and this is one of the reasons for launching this massive project. Japan strengthens the application of AI to reduce pressure on civil servants. The Japanese government has just announced a plan to deploy an artificial intelligence (AI) tool called Gennai to perform complex tasks. as complex as drafting answers to questions in the National Assembly. This step is an important effort of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichis administration in reducing the huge workload that central civil servants are shouldering every day. According to the plan, the generative AI platform developed by the Digital Agency will be widely distributed to all government employees. It is expected that the Prime Minister will officially announce the comprehensive launch of this project in an important meeting next week. After a number of pilot agencies successfully applied it from May, this model will be expanded to all ministries and even local governments in the near future. Statistics from the National Personnel Agency show that civil servants at Japanese central agencies have to work an average of 376 hours of overtime per year. This number is twice as high as the average for government employees working outside the central system. The main reason for this difference is determined to be the time it takes to prepare response drafts for questioning sessions in parliament, which is often excessively long. Normally, civil servants have to meticulously prepare many different answer options for each question from lawmakers in order to prepare for any subsequent questioning situations. This preparation process often lasts until late at night and puts great pressure on the health of the staff. AI is expected to significantly shorten the time spent on this task, including predicting and building responses to questions that arise. Ministries will use Gennai as a core platform to develop specialized AI agents. These agents are capable of machine learning from Congressional meeting minutes, lawmakers written requests, and archives of past government officials responses. Because Gennai was developed internally by the state, the system has access to some highly confidential data that commercial tools do not have. Previously, AI only stopped at supporting preliminary research, but now this technology will directly participate in creating feedback drafts. After the AI makes suggestions, government staff will check and finalize the final document to ensure accuracy and maturity.h. In addition to document drafting, Japan also plans to develop AI to support the screening and licensing process. A pilot program will evaluate the applications of companies seeking certification for a work environment friendly to women and parents of young children. Integrating modern technology into the administrative apparatus not only helps improve operational efficiency but also demonstrates Japans determination to modernize national governance. If this project is successful, this will be a model for many other countries in applying technology to solve difficult problems of human resources and work pressure in the public sector.An BinhSee moreSee moreSee moreSee moreSee moreSee moreSee moreSee moreSee moreSee moreSee moreSee more
