Government AI GENAI starts trial use of Domestic Foundation Models on a Domestic Cloud Platform
1. Overview
Japan experiences a severe labor shortage driven by population decline and an aging, low birth-rate society. To maintain and enhance public services, the government must proactively embrace artificial intelligence, including generative AI. In response, the Digital Agency is leading initiatives to implement “Government AI GENAI”. This position the government’s AI uses as the starting point for expanded societal deployment.
Within Government AI GENAI, it is essential to use Large Language Models (LLMs) developed in Japan (hereinafter, domestic foundation models) that are adapted to Japanese vocabulary, expressions, and cultural values. The government should also proactively adopt these models developed by Japanese private sectors and research institutions, to promote and support domestic development of trustworthy AI.
Accordingly, as part of this fiscal year's large-scale pilot of Government AI GENAI, we plan to test foundation models from 5 Japanese private sectors. This trial includes SAKURA Cloud, a cloud platform selected by the government as a Government Cloud provider under its shared cloud services for fiscal year 2026.
SAKURA Cloud, provided by SAKURA internet Inc., is the only domestically developed cloud service for the Government Cloud. By combining domestically developed foundation models, it enables the strategic development of core systems of Government AI GENAI using domestic technologies. This represents the government's first official deployment (Inaugural case) and use of SAKURA Cloud within the Government Cloud environment.
During this fiscal year's large-scale pilot, we will evaluate the usefulness, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of both the cloud platform and the foundation models and use the results to consider procurement approaches for the next fiscal year and beyond.
Digital Agency will achieve the followings:
(1) Promote the safe and secure use of domestic AI within the government
(2) Improve the performance of domestic AI through feedback from government operations
(3) Create a steady demand for domestic AI by using government procurement
By taking these steps, the Digital Agency will help develop and enhance domestic AI, encourage private-sector investment in related areas, and support Japan’s technological independence in AI
2. Assessing Domestic Foundation Models via Trial Use
- Run 3 types of domestic foundation models—NTT DATA JAPAN CORPORATION (tsuzumi 2), Fujitsu Limited (Takane 32B), and Preferred Networks, Inc. (PLaMo 2.0 Prime)—on the Government Cloud (SAKURA Cloud).
- Provide the domestic foundation models available in the chat function of "Government AI GENAI" within the Digital Agency, as well as to multiple ministries and agencies. Evaluate their performance through A/B testing (a method where output from different models is randomly and blindly shown to users, who then select their preferred response) comparing them to other foundation models already deployed in "Government AI GENAI."
- For assessing the models via trial use, an experimental environment will be established by August of this year, followed by several rounds of testing from September to November.
3. Reference Diagram
