First meeting of G7 leaders on artificial intelligence next week

by Kantaro Komiya

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan said on Friday that officials from G7 member states would meet next week to study the challenges posed by generative artificial intelligence.

Leaders of the Group of Seven agreed last week to set up an intergovernmental forum called the “Hiroshima Process on AI” to discuss issues related to artificial intelligence tools.

The first meeting of G7 officials on the issue of AI will take place on May 30 and will discuss topics such as intellectual property protection, disinformation or how this technology should be managed, Japanese Communications Minister Takiki Matsumoto announced.

“Discussions on the use of generative AI are being led by Japan’s presidency of the G7 since January,” said Takeki Matsumoto.

The meeting comes amid international regulators assessing the impact of services offering popular generative AI tools such as chatbot ChatGPT.

With new rules on facial recognition and biometric surveillance, the EU’s draft law on artificial intelligence could become the first in the world to lay out a comprehensive framework for the technology. EU governments and MEPs have not yet agreed on a common text.

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; French edition by Camille Renaud)