"Partnered with OpenAI"... Japan's Dilemma in the Anti-Deepfake Alliance

Japan is trembling at the rapid rise of China's low-cost, high-efficiency artificial intelligence (AI) model DeepSeek. As Japanese SoftBank has announced its full-scale cooperation with US OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, Japan, which has joined hands with the US, appears to be on high alert regarding the future US-China competitive landscape.

On the 5th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that DeepSeek is shaking up the AI development framework led by US companies. Nikkei pointed out, "Since DeepSeek's AI model is provided as 'open source' accessible to anyone, it has the potential to undermine the US development system involving OpenAI and Japanese SoftBank from the ground up."

On the 3rd, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Masayoshi Son (Son Masayoshi in Japanese), chairman of SoftBank, joined hands to establish a jointly funded company called 'SB OpenAI Japan.' They plan to offer a corporate-exclusive AI model called 'AI Agent' that collects data such as personnel and marketing from companies to provide decision-making advice tailored to each company. The joint venture's shares will be split 50-50 between SoftBank and OpenAI.

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Japan has built a solid cooperative relationship with the US regarding AI. Previously, OpenAI announced a project to build AI infrastructure in the US by investing $500 billion (731.6 trillion KRW) over the next four years, creating an AI joint venture called Stargate with SoftBank and Oracle. In effect, Japan has joined OpenAI's anti-DeepSeek alliance, stepping into the US-China AI competition.

The rise of DeepSeek inevitably acts as a negative factor for the US and its AI ally Japan. In fact, on the day after DeepSeek was released, on the 28th of last month, the Japanese stock market experienced a 'DeepSeek shock,' with semiconductor-related stocks including SoftBank falling sharply. Japan's TBS explained, "Until now, AI development competitiveness was believed to lie in massive capital investment, but if low-cost, high-efficiency AI development like DeepSeek becomes widespread, this premise will be overturned from the root."

In Japan, concerns about technology denial and inadequate personal information protection have led to warnings against DeepSeek. On the 1st, Digital Minister Masaaki Taira stated at a lecture held in Okinawa regarding DeepSeek's emergence, "There is a problem of whether personal information is properly protected," adding, "Until concerns from the perspective of data protection are resolved, public officials should refrain from or be cautious about using it." Minister Taira also said that through the National center of Incident readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC), he would urge caution in usage across government ministries. The Japanese economic weekly magazine Diamond warned, "DeepSeek is currently suspected of using OpenAI's training data," and cautioned, "If the plagiarism is true, it could lead to litigation between DeepSeek and OpenAI."

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However, the perception is spreading that China has already established a foothold in the AI market, where the US was the leader. According to Nikkei's investigation of papers adopted at the top three AI conferences, as of last year, the second most adopted research institutions after the US (37) were Chinese (31). Nikkei emphasized, "According to the Cyberspace Administration of China, more than 300 generative AI services have already been registered within China. China's national-level AI strategy is bearing fruit," adding, "If startups continue to increase and join the competition, the US's dominance could be shaken."

As a result, some voices in Japan are calling for building an independent share of AI development by taking advantage of the competition between the US and China, rather than relying on the US. Since DeepSeek's rise is evidence that the US's semiconductor regulations against China, which aimed to suppress technology development at all costs, have not been effective, Japan may not necessarily need to maintain its AI alliance with the US.

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