Closing Keynote Speech at the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group Meeting

On February 27-28, 2025, the first in-person meeting of the Hiroshima AI Process (HAIP) Friends Group (*1) was held in Tokyo (Hotel New Otani), hosted by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The meeting brought together senior officials (Director-General level) from approximately 40 countries and regions, including the G7, along with representatives from international organizations.

At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru delivered a video message, followed by a keynote speech from Professor MATSUO Yutaka, Chair of the Government’s AI Strategy Council. The first day also included site visits, such as to NICT’s Koganei headquarters. On the second day, Dr. HARAYAMA Yuko, Secretary General of the GPAI Tokyo Expert Support Center, delivered the closing keynote speech.

Dr. Harayama’s speech followed remarks from 13 private companies and nonprofit organizations (*2) that support the newly established Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group Partners Community. She expressed high expectations for the younger generations to leverage AI technology to drive innovation. And she also emphasized the need to ensure human autonomy, keeping in mind the further enhancement of AI autonomy. Additionally, she highlighted the voluntary involvement without legal binding from the stakeholders as the uniqueness of the Friends Group among the many international frameworks. She called for active contributions from all participants in the Friends Group to accelerate the group through discussions among multiple stakeholders.

As a result of this meeting, it was reaffirmed that, at the national level, the importance of promoting the Hiroshima AI Process principles and strengthening international cooperation through the participation of many countries including developing countries beyond the G7. At the private sector level, expectations were expressed for the expansion of participation by companies and organizations in the Hiroshima AI Process Reporting Framework (HAIP Reporting Framework) (*3), which launched in February 2025. The meeting also underscored the role of the previously mentioned new Partners Community in further strengthening cooperation of the multiple stakeholders.


(*1)
The Friends Group is a voluntary framework of countries supporting the Hiroshima AI Process principles, with 55 participating countries and regions, including the G7.

(*2)
Japanese private companies: NEC, Fujitsu, NTT, KDDI, Rakuten
Foreign private companies: Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, SaferAI, Salesforce
Public/nonprofit organizations: OECD, JICA, World Bank

(*3)
The HAIP Reporting Framework aims to enhance transparency and accountability in advanced AI system development by monitoring adherence to the Hiroshima AI Process International Code of Conduct. It is open to companies based in OECD and GPAI member countries.（https://transparency.oecd.ai/）