With the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump pursuing its “America First” policy, Japan needs to produce its own artificial intelligence technology for defense purposes as cutting-edge AI could become a tool for political leverage, the CEO of a much-hyped Japanese AI startup said Tuesday.
Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Sakana AI CEO David Ha said that as U.S. foreign policy becomes more U.S.-centric, AI services could serve as “a bargaining chip for countries.”
“Especially in defense and cybersecurity, AI is becoming a core part of this technology. So Japan should have its own know-how and capabilities to produce the AI systems it needs to run them,” said Ha, who founded Sakana AI in 2023 and has raised some ¥30 billion ($203 million) from investors including Nvidia.
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