Japan is reportedly steering towards less stringent regulations for artificial intelligence (AI) than those proposed by the European Union (EU), in a bid to stimulate economic growth and enhance its position in the advanced chip industry. This move could potentially undermine the EU's efforts to establish global AI standards. The chair of Japan's AI strategy council, Professor Yutaka Matsuo, criticized the EU's approach as overly strict. He stressed the difficulty in specifying copyrighted material used for deep learning, an EU requirement. Japan's relaxed stance on AI regulations may also support efforts to offset the nation's labour shortage caused by declining population and to foster demand for advanced chips, as part of a broader technology strategy.