Launch of Large-Scale Pilot Project of Government AI "GENNAI" targeting 180,000 Employees across all Ministries and Agencies

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As part of its Government AI initiatives, the Digital Agency has been developing and operating a generative AI utilization environment (project name: Gennai) accessible to all employees working at the Agency. In fiscal year 2026, we will launch a large-scale pilot project targeting approximately 180,000 government employees across all ministries and agencies.

In addition, we are promoting various projects related to Government AI using the fiscal year 2025 supplementary budget. The outcomes of these projects will be made available sequentially to government employees through the use of Gennai.

1. Large-Scale Pilot of Gennai by Government Employees

As labor shortages worsen due to the declining birthrate and aging population, the use of AI has become indispensable to maintain our public services. In addition, to stimulate private-sector investment in AI, it is essential for the government to take the lead in utilizing AI, thereby enhancing government employees’ understanding of AI and improving their practical skills in performing their duties. Furthermore, to unlock the full potential of generative AI, a groundbreaking technology in human history, the Digital Agency must advance the provision of a common infrastructure, promote demonstrations, evaluations, and verifications, consolidate and share knowledge, and foster and strengthen domestically developed AI.

In the third meeting of AI Strategic Headquarters (held on December 19, 2025), Prime Minister Takaichi instructed the government to make full use of “Government AI Gennai.” She directed that by May 2026, over 100,000 government employees should be able to use it, enabling them to carry out their duties more creatively and demonstrate the value of “trustworthy AI” to the public.

Furthermore, the Basic Plan on Artificial Intelligence (AI) (approved by the Cabinet on December 23, 2025) stipulates that, in order to promote the use of AI in Japan, the government shall proactively utilize AI and play a leading role in its adoption.

Specifically, by promoting and firmly establishing the everyday use of AI by government employees, we aim to improve the quality of work and, in the future, to establish an environment in which all employees at ministries and agencies, including those in local branch office, can experience improvements in the quality of their work. To this end, it was decided to promptly establish an environment enabling government employees to utilize generative AI and to introduce mechanisms to have seniors and managerial officials to take the lead in its use.

Based on the above, the Digital Agency will conduct a large-scale pilot project to introduce a generative AI usage environment for approximately 180,000 government employees across all ministries and agencies. This project is scheduled to run from May 2026 to March 2027.

Furthermore, when introducing generative AI, it is important that the goal is not merely the introduction itself, but rather that it is accompanied by a fundamental transformation of business processes, work styles, and organizational culture across the entire organization. To properly understand the benefits and challenges of generative AI across the organization and prepare for full-scale implementation, it is essential that each ministry and agency proactively participate in large-scale pilot projects. To achieve this, they will establish an organizational framework to promote the utilization of generative AI and strengthen governance, as well as drive the following initiatives during the projects: (1) awareness-raising and fostering a mindset shift among employees, (2) taking actions based on the Generative AI Procurement and Utilization Guidelines, and (3) governance and comprehensive management by the Chief AI Officer (CAIO).

In fiscal year 2027, based on the results of the large-scale pilot projects, we will launch the full-scale use of Gennai. Going forward, the Digital Agency will continue to promote measures such as enhancing the development of AI applications, utilizing domestically developed AI, introducing AI Agents, and expanding government common datasets, aiming for the government itself to proactively utilize AI in a leading role. Furthermore, by promoting the development and strengthening of domestically developed AI and the open-sourcing of source code related to Gennai (OSS: Open Source Software; under consideration), we aim to stimulate private-sector investment in Government AI and secure Japan’s autonomy in AI.

2. Overview of the Government AI Development Project

To realize the proactive and leading role of the government itself in AI utilization, the Digital Agency will launch various projects under the Government AI Development Project (using the supplementary budget in the fiscal year 2025). The outcomes of these projects are scheduled to be made available to government employees through Gennai, and information will also be communicated by the Digital Agency.

Future Schedule

  • Large-scale pilot project to introduce a generative AI utilization environment for Government AI (April 2026 - March 2027)
  • Design and development of a Government AI verification environment (May 2026 - March 2027)
  • Advanced AI application development and demonstration project 1 for Government AI (collaborate with the Employment Environment and Equal Employment Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) (April 2026 - March 2027)
  • Advanced AI application development and demonstration project 2 for Government AI (development of AI to support drafting Diet responses) (April 2026 - March 2027)
  • Large-scale dataset survey, collection, and processing project for Government AI (May 2026 - March 2027)
  • Project to create Government AI development videos (April 2026 - March 2027)
  • Project to support the responsible division in developing Government AI infrastructure (May 2026 - March 2027)

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