Japan Sets Out Year-End Action Plan to Accelerate AI-Driven Growth

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that the cabinet will draft an action plan by the end of the year to promote the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a core driver of economic expansion. The plan will be prepared alongside the fiscal-2027 budget proposal and will outline concrete visions for AI deployment, regulatory reforms, and institutional changes.

Japan Times

The government will designate a five-year “intensive period” beginning next April to boost public and private investment in 17 strategic sectors, with AI and semiconductors highlighted as priority areas. Projects will be selected based on profitability and ripple-effect criteria, aiming to raise the potential growth rate. The initiative also includes a separate policy package to address labor shortages in construction, which officials say could impede growth-oriented investment.

Japan Times

To give private firms predictability, the administration plans to clarify multi-year budgetary measures and manage key sectors through a special account. Funding will be contingent on projects that enhance “autonomy of the socioeconomic structure,” provide a competitive edge over other nations, and prove “indispensable to the international community.” Cabinet ministers have been tasked with compiling the necessary regulatory and institutional reforms.

Japan Times

Prime Minister Takaichi emphasized that high-performance AI is central to the government’s growth strategy and instructed relevant ministers to produce a concrete vision for AI utilization. The council meeting underscored the need for clear, long-term budgetary signals to encourage private-sector participation.

Japan Times

• “The societal implementation of high-performance AI is essential for realizing the government’s growth strategy,” — Sanae Takaichi, prime minister — Sanae Takaichi, prime minister.

Japan Times