Japanese companies hiking pay and holding classes in race to get tooled up on AI

OSAKA – There's a sense of panic within Japan Inc. and the government -- the world's No. 3 economy, doesn't have enough experts in artificial intelligence, and it's time to do something about it. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in June unveiled a plan to train 250,000 people in AI skills annually by 2025, albeit one criticized as unrealistic due to a shortage of teachers. Tech heavyweights like Sony Corp. are hiking pay for the right hires and boosting recruitment of foreign engineers. But Daikin Industries Ltd., the world's biggest maker of air conditioners with a market value of $37 billion, is taking a more unusual route to AI expertise. At a disadvantage to bigger tech firms in attracting top talent, it has created an in-house program that takes new graduates and current employees -- almost all with no AI background -- and trains them up.