Japan is preparing a national strategy to accelerate scientific discovery through artificial intelligence, aiming to significantly strengthen its research infrastructure by 2030.

According to Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the government plans to expand shared supercomputing resources for universities and national research institutes. AI-related computing capacity is expected to increase more than tenfold over the next five years through the expansion of GPU resources, which are essential for AI training and large-scale simulations.

The stronger computing environment is expected to support research in areas such as drug discovery, advanced materials development, high-precision simulations, and automated data analysis. By integrating AI more deeply into scientific workflows, policymakers believe research and development timelines could be dramatically shortened.

The strategy also proposes upgrades the Japan’s national research data and networking infrastructure. The academic network connecting universities and research institutions nationwide is expected to double its communication speed by 2028, while the national research data platform is planned to expand its storage capacity fivefold by 2030.

MEXT describes the coming five years as an intensive reform period to build the foundations of AI-driven science and strengthen Japan’s global competitiveness in AI research.

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