Ep. 48 (AI Futures) - How Can India and Japan Navigate the AI Race? Ren Ito, CEO, Sakana AI and Anirudh Suri

About this episode

Anirudh Suri and Ren Ito discuss how India and Japan can navigate the AI race and achieve strategic autonomy in a changing global landscape.

In this episode of the *AI Futures* Podcast, host Anirudh Suri sits down with Ren Ito, the Co-founder and CEO of Sakana AI—Japan’s fastest-ever unicorn startup.Ren brings a unique perspective to the table, blending 15 years of experience in the Japanese Foreign Service with leadership roles at tech giants like Mercari. They explore why the future of AI isn't just a "bigger is better" arms race and how countries like India and Japan can carve out their own strategic autonomy in a shifting global landscape.In this episode, we unpack key questions including:• Is the "scaling law" of AI sustainable? • Is the "bigger is better" approach only be for a handful of hyperscalers, and how the rest of the world can find a different, more efficient path?• How can nations achieve "strategic autonomy" in a bipolar US-China tech world? • Can we balance AI progress with ecological sustainability? • Will AI create a new "digital divide" in the workforce? • What does "AI as Soft Power" mean for global diplomacy? From the "switchboard" approach to model building to the role of AI as a form of soft power, this conversation dives…

People in this episode

Host: Anirudh Suri

Guest: Ren Ito

Topics covered

• AI race
• strategic autonomy
• global diplomacy
• ecological sustainability
• digital divide
• technology and human element

Keywords

• AI
• India
• Japan
• strategic autonomy
• digital divide
• soft power
• ecological sustainability
• technology
• global diplomacy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sakana AI, Nvidia

Places: India, Japan, US, China

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