Japanese premier seeks legislation to 'minimize dangers, risks' posed by AI

ISLAMABAD

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday sought legislation to "minimize dangers, risks" posed by AI, as Chinese startup DeepSeek’s new chatbot has taken the tech world by storm.

Ishiba told lawmakers that the use of AI was critical in resolving issues such as low productivity confronting Japan, Kyodo News reported.

"We need to create a basic plan on how we can promote research and development as well as the use of AI in a safe and secure way," he said.

However, he added: "Our pressing challenge is to submit legislation that will maximize the convenience of AI and minimize the dangers and risks associated with its use."

Notably, Ishiba would need support from opposition parties in the lower house of the parliament to pass any bill related to the AI as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition lacks the minimum support of 233 lawmakers.

DeepSeek, which sparked a global tech sell-off this week, is said to have become the most downloaded free application in the US. Investors were surprised how the low-cost, open-source generative AI tool was able to compete with leading artificial intelligence apps such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.

US President Donald Trump said the sudden rise of DeepSeek should be "a wakeup call" for America’s tech companies.

US officials have expressed concern that the Chinese app could pose a threat to national security.

Backed by the Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer, DeepSeek launched its DeepSeek-R1 large language model on Jan. 20.

Chinese state-run media said cyberattacks on DeepSeek escalated on Thursday, mostly from US IP addresses.