Japan government gives AX an official definition: AI as premise

The term AX spread quickly in Japan during 2026, often meaning different things to different people — from handing generative AI tools to every employee to treating DX as obsolete. The government's first Basic Plan on AI, approved on December 23, 2025, defined "AI Transformation" by swapping "data and digital technology" for "AI" in METI's DX definition, keeping the rest nearly identical — in effect, DX by AI means, aimed at companies. That changed roughly half a year later: the second-phase plan, dated July 14, 2026, was subtitled "Japan AX, stronger and wealthier," broadened the subject to "all organizations," moved AI from tool to premise, and narrowed the focus to decision-making and how work is done. The same week, the Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2026 and the Japan Growth Strategy were also approved, the latter calling AX the "accelerator," and the former using the heading "promotion of AX/DX." METI, which owns the DX definition, opened a Digital Governance Study Group on July 15, 2026, noting that companies' use of AI "remains at PoC and partial use." Meanwhile IPA's survey data shows adoption rising but results skewed toward internal efficiency, with document summarization and drafting dominating. The article's practical advice is to ask which decisions, in which tasks, are split between AI and people — unfinished answers there usually point back to the DX foundation of data and digitized operations.