By Kantaro Komiya
TOKYO, June 5 (Reuters) - Japan could fall prey to a new form of colonialism in the AI era if it fails to keep pace with the technology's rapid development, the country's digital minister warned on Friday.
"I hope many Japanese people understand that we need to press ahead with AI development, or we'll end up becoming an 'AI colony'," Digital Minister Hisashi Matsumoto said.
Matsumoto raised the warning as he defended a bill to amend Japan's personal data protection law to allow AI
developers to train models with data such as medical and criminal records without the individuals' consent.
"The point of this change is that, with AI development moving so fast, Japan can't afford to fall behind," he told a press briefing. Some opposition parties have expressed concerns about the government-drafted bill, citing data breach risks.
The bill, which passed the lower house of parliament last week, is now being debated in the upper house.
Japan's government has ramped up efforts, from subsidies and targeted procurement to legal changes, to support domestic AI development amid an intensifying global tech race led by the U.S. and China.
While Japan has courted investment and greater access to technology from U.S. companies such as Microsoft and OpenAI under U.S.-Japan security ties, it has also backed domestic players including SoftBank, Sakura Internet and chipmakers to expand homegrown AI models and computing capacity.
Japan's push to keep pace with the global AI race reflects a broader anxiety among governments worldwide, fearful of falling behind and becoming ever more dependent on foreign technology. Earlier this week, the European Union unveiled a new technology sovereignty package to boost domestic cloud, AI and semiconductor industries and cut reliance on U.S. tech firms.
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
