The government held the first meeting of its headquarters for promoting the use of artificial intelligence and strengthening related risk management, at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.

Discussions centered on a draft outline of the government's proposed basic plan on AI, which aims to transform Japan into the country with the world's best environment for the use and development of AI. The government hopes to finalize the basic plan by the end of this year.

The headquarters, led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and composed of all Cabinet ministers, was set up on Sept. 1 based on a new AI law enacted in May. It will formulate the basic plan and establish guidelines for appropriate AI use in line with international standards.

"AI is very crucial in terms of security," Ishiba told the day's meeting. "As the global development race intensifies, we need to implement support measures promptly."

The draft outline of the basic plan says that AI use has not been fully promoted so far in Japan and AI-related investment remains minimal compared with the country's economic scale. It states that Japan will uphold principles for a human-centric AI society to enable continuous collaboration between humans and AI, balancing the promotion of innovation with the management of risks.

Noting that building a national strategy is essential amid concerns over delays in the country's AI research and development, the outline sets forth four fundamental policies — accelerating the promotion of AI use, strategically strengthening AI development capabilities, taking the lead in related governance, and pursuing continuous transformation toward an AI society.