Japan to form council to revise AI legal frameworks

The government decided Tuesday to establish a new council to overhaul legal frameworks governing the development and use of artificial intelligence. The plan was included in the government’s 2026 basic policy guidelines adopted at a meeting of the digital administrative and fiscal reform council, held at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo.

The existing council, launched under the administration of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, will be reorganized into the new body.

Priority areas The guidelines named medical and elderly care, transportation and infrastructure, working environments, and administrative services and procedures as priority areas for digital reform. They said the government will promote digital transformation initiatives, including the expanded use of electronic medical records.

The guidelines stressed the urgency of advancing what is described as AI transformation, or a fundamental review of work using AI, to cope with population decline.

““It’s important to make maximum use of AI and digital technologies to free up time for people and businesses, and, from the perspective of consumers, to support those driving this forward,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at the meeting.”