(Excerpt)
(Wednesday, June 24, 2026, ２:42 pm to ２:48 pm)
[Opening remarks:]
- Minister)
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First, I met with an Alphabet executive, Hiroshi Lockheimer. He speaks Japanese extremely well and has roots in Japan. I understand that, at that level in this field, there may be only one person of Japanese background even in Silicon Valley. Alphabet is currently developing CodeMender, a frontier AI product that not only detects vulnerabilities but also writes patches and automates the process through remediation. The company plans to make it generally available worldwide at the end of July. Google has been operating in Japan for 25 years, and its representatives said they would very much like to support the Japanese government. It was announced today that the product would be made available to the three megabanks. With the CISO of the bank whose president serves as chairperson of the Japanese Bankers Association also present today, the arrangement was accepted at the meeting. As a result, as of today, Alphabet’s latest frontier AI tool, CodeMender, with remediation capabilities, can be made available to the three megabanks. OpenAI’s offering is already being provided. As for Mythos, based on my recent discussions with Secretary Bessent, I believe its service will probably resume soon. It is currently suspended, but he said it would be brought back shortly. So I expect the available options will soon be in place.
One distinguishing feature of Alphabet is that it has a substantial base in Japan and operates data centers here, meaning that source code and similar information would not need to be transferred overseas. That had been a major concern in the financial sector, so I think this is positive. In the case of some other companies, their terms include provisions under which customer data may be temporarily stored. In Alphabet’s case, however, the terms state that customer data will not be stored or used for training purposes. Given the scale involved, I find it somewhat reassuring that they have put in place security provisions at that level. In any event, we can now compare the offerings from all three companies. It was also mentioned that Alphabet’s CEO may visit Japan this autumn and would very much like to meet with both the Prime Minister and me, so I intend to convey that to the Prime Minister’s Office as well. At a time when technological trends are changing extremely rapidly, what is best will presumably continue to change as well. For our part, I am, first of all, the Minister of State for Financial Services. At the same time, from a financial perspective, this issue concerns all companies and all economic actors. We therefore want to make sound choices in a way that serves the national interest. If open-source products, for example, those made in China, emerge, we will also need to consider the extent to which there may be risks of misuse. I think issues of this kind may be discussed at a G7 meeting that is likely to take place on the occasion of the G20.
[Questions and answers:]
- Q.
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The responses from the three major frontier AI providers have now been finalized. Minister, could you once again share your views on the pace of the response and your sense of urgency about the risks involved?
- A.
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In terms of the pace of the response, I do not know what instructions the United States has issued to financial institutions, but I think Japan is moving about as quickly as the United States. Europe still appears to be hesitating in various ways. In any case, going forward, I think this will gradually take shape not simply as an extremely expensive service, but within a broader framework in which Japan and the United States help lead the discussion, and the matter is also discussed in the G7. Areas that need to be protected from an economic security standpoint, including the financial sectors in the G7 and like-minded countries, should be firmly safeguarded. At the same time, where open-sourcing is appropriate, the relevant technologies may be made open source; where protection is needed, they may be handled as specialized services of this kind. I think this kind of approach will gradually take shape, and we should respond as quickly as possible.
