Japan Press Weekly

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2025 May 28 - June 3 [POLITICS]

JCP Inoue calls for ban on military use of AI

The House of Councilors at its plenary session on May 28 enacted a law, which may lead to the introduction of highly-lethal weapons utilizing AI-related technologies, with a majority vote. The Japanese Communist Party and the “Reiwa Shinsengumi” party opposed the enactment of the law.

JCP lawmaker Inoue Satoshi at a committee meeting on the previous day, in his opposition to the bill as it is, demanded that it stipulate a ban on the military use of AI.

Inoue noted that Ground Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Morishita Yasunori in his speech in February said, “The way of fighting that AI and unmanned technologies will bring about is expected to differ dramatically from conventional styles of combat,” and that the government this year for the first time allocated a budget for the GSDF to introduce attack drones. Inoue pointed out that the plan to introduce AI and unmanned technologies for military purposes may already be underway.

He also noted that Chief of Staff Morishita in the same speech added that the strengthening of the GSDF capabilities will move in the direction toward increasing lethality, and that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after a Japan-U.S. defense ministerial meeting in March said, “We look forward to working closely together as we improve our war fighting capabilities, our lethality, and our readiness.”

Inoue asked if the Defense Ministry will allow the GSDF to increase its lethality in line with what Hegseth said.

Deputy Director General for Cyber Security at the Defense Ministry Kegoya Masanori replied, “To increase our lethality would be one factor involved in terms of reducing our human casualties.”

Inoue criticized the proposed AI promotion bill, saying that it would pave the way for developing AI weapons capable of detecting and identifying targets and of killing or wounding enemies.