Regulating AI in Japan and the United States

Date: Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024

Time: 7:00-8:00 pm (Eastern)

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This event is co-sponsored by the APEC Study Center at Columbia University

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About the event:

As interest in AI surges around the world, interest by governments in regulating it is also surging. Many nations have enacted or are considering a range of measures, including pursuing cross-border collaborations for a consistent approach. Concerns about the risks and harms of AI technology are wide-ranging, including fairness, privacy, safety, and transparency. Regulatory discussions are correspondingly complex, touching on values such as human rights, democracy, and sustainability. Professor Hiroki Habuka of the Kyoto University Graduate School of Law and Professor Daniel Francis of NYU School of Law will use the current Japanese approach to AI regulation as a framework to explore some of the big questions that AI presents to legislators, citizens, and regulatory theorists. Bruce Aronson will be the moderator.

About the speakers:

Hiroki Habuka is a research professor at Kyoto University, Graduate School of Law, and the CEO of Smart Governance Inc. Hiroki led several projects on digital governance when he worked for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), addressing AI safety, privacy protection, data security, and digital platform regulation. He served as a lead author of white papers on agile governance issued by METI, "GOVERNANCE INNOVATION” and “Agile Governance Update”. In 2020, he was selected by the World Economic Forum Global Future Councils on Agile Governance and Apolitical as one of the World’s 50 Most Influential People Revolutionising Government (Agile 50). Hiroki received an LL.M. from Stanford Law School (Fulbright fellow), and a JD from the University of Tokyo Law School, and is qualified to practice law in Japan and New York State. He is the author of the book Introduction to AI Governance: From risk management to social design. (available in Japanese)

Daniel Francis is assistant professor of law at New York University School of Law, where he teaches and writes about antitrust and regulation. He previously served as deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, after earlier serving as the Bureau's associate director for digital markets and as senior counsel. Before government service, he practiced antitrust law for more than a decade with two multinational law firms in Washington DC, New York City, and Brussels. He has twice testified before the Antitrust Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee of the US Senate on matters of antitrust and competition policy. He holds degrees in law from Trinity College, University of Cambridge; Harvard Law School; and New York University School of Law. He is the author, with Chris Sprigman, of the free antitrust casebook Antitrust: Principles, Cases, and Materials.

About the moderator:

Bruce Aronson is senior advisor at the Japan Center of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute and an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law. He has been a tenured professor of law at universities in the United States (Creighton University) and Japan (Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo). Before beginning his academic career, he was a corporate partner at the law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York. He also served as an independent director at Eisai Co., Ltd., a listed Japanese pharmaceutical company. Professor Aronson twice received Fulbright grants to be a senior research scholar at the University of Tokyo and at Waseda University, and was a visiting scholar at the Bank of Japan. His main area of research is comparative corporate governance with a focus on Japan and Asia. Publications include a textbook, Corporate Governance in Asia: A Comparative Approach (with J. Kim, Cambridge University Press, 2019)