The government budget for bolstering artificial intelligence in fiscal 2018 is less than 20 percent the amount to be spent by the U.S. and Chinese governments, a Kyodo News tally has found, potentially exacerbating Japan's competitive disadvantage in the field. Planned AI-related spending totals ¥77.04 billion ($720 million) in the draft budget for the year starting April 1, up some 30 percent from the current year, but still far short of the approximately ¥500 billion and ¥450 billion expected to be spent by the U.S. and Chinese governments, respectively. Both government and private companies in the United States and China are aggressively investing in AI technologies, which are expected to dramatically improve productivity and accelerate innovation. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is promoting the use of AI to improve productivity in Japan, which has a rapidly graying population and is already grappling with a labor shortage. Still, the widening gap in AI-related investment between Japanese and U.S. firms suggests it will be difficult for Tokyo to challenge American dominance.