Japan enacts bill on AI development, risks

The bill cleared the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, by a majority vote with support from the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling bloc and opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party).

The measure had been adopted by the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, in April.

To deal with mounting concerns over the spread of false and erroneous information generated by AI tools, the new law includes a provision to allow the government to disclose the names of malicious businesses in the event of crime using AI.

The law states that if AI is used for malicious purposes, it may "facilitate crimes, leakage of personal information and copyright violations."

If a serious incident that infringes citizens' rights and interests occurs, the government will conduct investigations, advise and instruct related business operators, provide information to the public and take other necessary actions.

Companies will be required to cooperate with the government.

The law does not include penalty provisions, so that it will not discourage technological development.

Existing laws including the Penal Code and the copyright law will be applied instead.

The government will set up a strategic team on AI comprising all cabinet ministers to strengthen Japan's competitiveness.

The team will also draft a government basic policy on AI.

Considering an increase in crimes involving pornography created with AI tools is spreading, the cabinet committees of both chambers adopted a supplementary resolution calling for enhancement of measures against issues relating to deepfakes.