Japan to Introduce Autonomous AI in 500 Central Government Tasks This Year

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[Financial News, Tokyo = Correspondent Seo Hye-jin] The Japanese government will introduce autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) into central government operations by the end of this year, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 10th. The system will be embedded in the government-only AI platform "Gennai," and is expected to be used for more than 500 tasks, including drafting budget requests, policy planning, and handling various applications.
Autonomous AI is a system that makes its own judgments based on goals and repeatedly plans, executes, and improves. It is also highly adaptable to changing conditions, making it well suited to supporting complex administrative procedures. In the private sector, it is already spreading rapidly.
According to The Nikkei, the Japanese government will first pilot "Gennai" at the Digital Agency and then expand it to other ministries once the environment is ready. From next year, it also plans to share how autonomous AI is used across ministries.
With the introduction of autonomous AI, civil servants using "Gennai" will be able to build work applications on their own. They will not need programming knowledge, because the AI automatically generates code once it is given instructions.
It will also be used to draft documents such as budget requests, meeting minutes, and procurement plans. The government expects it will make it easier to detect fraudulent receipt of subsidies and grants, as well as duplicate applications.
In the long term, the Japanese government expects to create more than 500 related applications for use in administrative work. It will also build a system for sharing apps created by civil servants across ministries. The government plans to divide them into categories by task and visualize the best-performing apps in a ranking format.
Starting this month, the Digital Agency plans to distribute "Gennai" to about 180,000 government officials and begin a proof-of-concept test for generative AI use. At present, Gennai is used only in a limited way for manualized tasks such as document drafting and review work.
Once autonomous AI is introduced, it will also be able to automatically learn and update information that changes frequently, such as public procurement bidding standards and evaluation criteria for administrative projects.
The Nikkei reported that it is rare overseas for all government officials to have access to autonomous AI. Even in Singapore and the United Kingdom, which are ahead in the use of administrative AI, it is limited to some officials.
The Japanese government also plans to address cyberattacks targeting autonomous AI. It will consider attack methods in which malicious commands are entered to make AI ignore its original operating rules and leak confidential information or malfunction.
The Digital Agency is also considering introducing filtering technology to detect suspicious command prompts for "Gennai." The measure is intended to prevent the generation of false information and data leaks. The government also plans to prepare an "AI Governance Action Plan" aimed at the summer of 2026.
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sjmary@fnnews.com Seo Hye-jin Reporter