AI use among Japanese companies remains limited, with only 16% having adopted it company-wide. A Nikkei Research survey received responses from 219 companies, including anonymous responses.
AI use among Japanese companies is often limited to certain business functions, and only a small number of companies have advanced company-wide adoption. The most common response was that AI use remained at the pilot or partial-use stage, with applications concentrated in limited areas such as document creation.
The Nikkei Research survey was conducted from 29 July to 6 August. Responses were requested from 510 companies, and 219 companies responded anonymously. Only 16% reported company-wide use, while more than 80% limited AI use to certain business functions or did not use it at all.
According to the government's 2026 report, Japan is lagging other countries in generative AI adoption. The proportion using generative AI in at least one business function stood at 86.4% in Japan, compared with 98.1% in China and 90.9% in the US.
Most of the companies surveyed do not expect to reduce AI-related spending over the next 1–2 years, and 82% prioritize domestic investment. For fiscal 2027, 41% plan to increase domestic investment, while 50% expect it to remain unchanged and 9% expect it to decline.