"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] Video Message by Prime Minister ISHIBA for the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group

[Place]
[Date] March 3, 2025
[Source] Prime Minister's Office of Japan
[Notes] Provisional translation
[Full text]

Distinguished delegates, I am ISHIBA Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan.

It is a pleasure to extend my greetings at the opening of the first face-to-face meeting of the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group.

Thank you very much for traveling to this meeting from your various countries around the world.

In recent years, AI has been rapidly developing because of technological innovation, and it is becoming the key to solving various social challenges. On the other hand, AI also presents risks, such as information manipulation and unintended transfers of sensitive data. The international community faces the important task of promoting the development and utilization of AI while mitigating these risks.

Japan led the launch of Hiroshima AI Process under its own G7 Presidency in 2023, which developed the international Guiding Principles and the International Code of Conduct for advanced AI developers. In order to make transparent the implementation status of the Code of Conduct by companies, we developed “Reporting Framework” for those companies, and we launched it this month in cooperation with the OECD. We expect this framework will help promote innovation while increasing transparency and accountability in the development of advanced AI systems.

The Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group is a voluntary framework of countries that support these ideas and efforts, with members from over 50 countries and a region around the world.

Japan will contribute to enhancing this framework by cooperating with international organizations and private businesses to support the improvement of the environment for the development and use of AI in the global community, including developing countries.

As part of this, we will create new AI legislation in Japan that promotes innovation, addresses risks, and demonstrates benefits to the rest of the world. We plan to submit a draft law to the current National Diet session. We will continue to work with the new legislation to make Japan the friendliest country in the world for research, development, and deployment of AI.

The speed of AI evolution is extremely rapid, and it is necessary for countries to cooperate together in order to promote safe, secure, and trustworthy AI globally.

I hope that this meeting will be fruitful for everyone and that Japan will continue contributing to the proliferation of a better life for everyone around the world through the responsible use of AI. Thank you very much for your kind attention.