Japan's internal affairs ministry plans to set a special category under its existing support program for community-based startups, in order to back up projects using artificial intelligence. The ministry aims to promote what is known as AI transformation, in which companies reform themselves by placing AI at the center. It will request related funds under the central government's fiscal 2027 budget. Under the new category, the central and local governments will provide aid to regional companies that launch new businesses using unsecured loans from regional financial institutions to help curb the initial costs, including for facility construction and equipment purchases. The central government will provide special tax grants to local governments as resources for their aid to such businesses. A larger amount of loans from local financial institutions will lead to greater aid from the central and local governments.

Digital minister Taro Kono is eager to promote the active use of generative artificial intelligence by central government staffers, expecting "a big benefit" from it. The use of AI will provide "a great benefit at central government workplaces as long as learning data is handled carefully," Kono said in a recent interview. Kono said office work would be done far more easily by utilizing AI, which can automatically generate texts and images. For example, by inputting the full text of a government white paper into an AI-powered program, officials would be able to easily create a summary or presentation slides, Kono said. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.

On September 29, 2021, the United States and the European Union's (EU) new Trade and Technology Council (TTC) held their first summit. It took place in the old industrial city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, under the leadership of the European Commission's Vice-President, Margrethe Vestager, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Following the meeting, the U.S. and the EU declared their opposition to artificial intelligence (AI) that does not respect human rights and referenced rights-infringing systems, such as social scoring systems.1 During the meeting, the TTC clarified that "The United States and European Union have significant concerns that authoritarian governments are piloting social scoring systems with an aim to implement social control at scale. These systems pose threats to fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, including through silencing speech, punishing peaceful assembly and other expressive activities, and reinforcing arbitrary or unlawful surveillance systems."2 The implicit target of the criticism was China's "social credit" system, a big data system that uses a wide variety of data inputs to assess a person's social credit score, which determines social permissions in society, such as buying an air or train ticket.3 The critique by the TTC indicates that the U.S. and the EU disagree with China's view of how authorities should manage the use of AI and data in society.4

In today's China, behemoths like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are out of favor, but "little giants" are on the rise. That's the designation for a new generation of startups that have been selected under an ambitious government program aimed at fostering a technology industry that can compete with Silicon Valley. These often-obscure companies have demonstrated they're doing something innovative and unique, and they're targeting strategically important sectors like robotics, quantum computing and semiconductors. Wu Gansha won the little giants title for his autonomous driving startup after a government review of his technology. That gave the Beijing company, Uisee, an extra dose of credibility and financial benefits.

China has twice as many gamers as the U.S. has people--some 700 million of them. That ubiquity, especially among young people, has worried China's central government. So at the start of this month, it banned people under 18 from playing video games for more than three hours a week. They could only play from 8 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. The government has gone after tutoring companies and big tech players in this "season of crackdowns," in an attempt to bring these sectors more in line with what they perceive as socialist values and to strengthen control over Chinese society and the Chinese economy.

The year is 2029, and you wake up one morning living in a community called Hope, a dystopian dictatorship. "Everyone here wears the same outfit, lives the same repetitive routine, and is happy … For many, Hope is their entire universe. They are uninterested in the outside world. However, you are different--you have the ability to choose." This is how you are introduced to the game Name of the Will on Kickstarter.

Japan will commence random mass PCR testing as early as March as part of efforts to ascertain the extent of the novel coronavirus' spread in city areas, according to government sources. The central government is aiming to conduct up to several thousand polymerase chain reaction tests per day in Tokyo, Osaka and other metropolitan areas seeing a high number of cases, with the goal of using the information to develop effective virus prevention measures, the sources said Monday. In contrast with local government testing that only targets people who show symptoms or have had close contact with infected individuals, random people will be tested to determine how much the virus has spread in a particular city. The costs of the tests, which will be carried out by contracted private companies, will be fully covered by the central government. The tests are expected to be conducted at airports, as well as places where crowds tend to gather such as city centers, companies and universities.

Japan will commence random mass PCR testing as early as March as part of efforts to ascertain the extent of the novel coronavirus' spread in city areas, government sources said Monday. The central government is aiming to conduct up to several thousand polymerase chain reaction tests per day in Tokyo, Osaka and other metropolitan areas seeing a high number of cases, with the goal of using the information to develop effective virus prevention measures, the sources said. In contrast with local government testing that only targets people who show symptoms or have had close contact with infected individuals, random people will be tested to determine how much the virus has spread in a particular city. The costs of the tests, which will be carried out by contracted private companies, will be fully covered by the central government. The tests are expected to be conducted at airports, as well as places where crowds tend to gather such as city centers, companies and universities.

Osaka – Late last month, the Diet passed a revised bill paving the way for so-called "super cities" or "smart cities." Supporters tout them as high-tech marvels where artificial intelligence and big data are to be used to provide more efficient and cost-effective solutions to social problems, especially in areas faced with aging and declining populations and a reduced tax base. Opponents warn that data leaks could lead to privacy violations and even a surveillance state. What was the purpose of the recently passed bill? In order to realize the creation of smart cities in various parts of the country, any number of basic regulations involving multiple ministries needs to be changed. The May 27 revision to a national strategic special zone law included measures the government can now take to do that more quickly and under more specific guidelines.

The Fukushima Prefectural Government is leading a collaborative effort involving companies from different industries and a robotics testing field to invent a flying car. In early August, the research center at the test field began accepting applications for four additional companies. The prefecture is focusing on efforts to attract companies to the site, which remains the only facility in the country where development and testing can all be done at the same site. The prefecture hopes to create synergies among various businesses and local parts suppliers and eventually build one of the country's largest industrial centers in Fukushima. Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori introduced the concept in Tokyo during a conference on flying car development organized by the industry ministry on Aug. 2. The central government is in the process of putting together a plan to build a working flying car by 2023.