Japan is underdeveloped in the field of AI, according to Masayoshi Son, SoftBank CEO. With an ageing population, in which only 59.5% of people are of working age, demand for AI in Japan to augment a declining labour force is growing. The Japanese government has been pushing hard on this front, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently announcing that he wants robots and artificial intelligence (AI) to be part of Japan’s future. This has resulted in other nations, like India, pulling ahead in AI, Son said. The $100bn SoftBank Vision Fund invests in AI-related firms around the world but has yet to provide finance for a Japanese company.
Japan is underdeveloped in the field of AI, according to Masayoshi Son, SoftBank CEO. With an ageing population, in which only 59.5% of people are of working age, demand for AI in Japan to augment a declining labour force is growing. However, the failure of companies to understand market needs and Japan's lifetime employment system have held back AI’s development, according to analysts. This has resulted in other nations, like India, pulling ahead in AI, Son said. The $100bn SoftBank Vision Fund invests in AI-related firms around the world but has yet to provide finance for a Japanese company.