In the global story of AI adoption, the United States appears to be the clear leader. Meanwhile, Japan, once a global powerhouse of technological innovation, appears to lag. The numbers seem to confirm it: recent research from McKinsey found that 88% of U.S. companies use AI in at least one business function, while comparable research from the Yano Research Institute last spring found just 26% of Japanese companies said the same. According to the Stanford AI Index 2025, the U.S. ranked first globally in private AI investment in 2024; Japan ranked 14.
