by Editor BGF | Feb 8, 2026 | Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security, News
Japan’s February 8, 2026 snap election delivered a major victory for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), strengthening Tokyo’s political mandate as Japan faces intensifying strategic competition and rapid technological disruption across the Indo-Pacific. Major international reporting described the result as a landslide, with the LDP securing a clear lower-house majority and the broader governing bloc positioned for an even larger advantage. (Financial Times)
As of 4:00 a.m., February 9, 2026 (Tokyo time), Nikkei Asia reported that the LDP-led ruling parties had won 354 seats, surpassing the two-thirds “supermajority” threshold in the 465-seat House of Representatives.
BGF recognizes Prime Minister Takaichi as a real world leader and is proud of her continued commitment to democratic strength and responsible innovation, reflected in her standing as the 2023 World Leader in AIWS Award Recipient. BGF also congratulates Yasuhide Nakayama, BGF Representative in Japan, on winning a seat in the House of Representatives in this election. (選挙ドットコム) Having been first elected in 2003 and reelected five times thereafter, his latest victory marks his 6th term in the Diet. (Boston Global Forum)
Governor Michael Dukakis and Nguyen Anh Tuan, Co-Chairs of BGF, sent a letter congratulating Prime Minister Takaichi on this remarkable result. BGF looks forward to advancing collaboration through upcoming Shinzo Abe Conference programs and “America at 250” Conference initiatives—continuing a tradition dedicated to “Leadership for a Free and Open World in the AI Age.”
by Editor BGF | Feb 8, 2026 | News, Shaping Futures
In early February 2026, Japan secured the two most critical components of the AI Age: the raw minerals and the high-end processing power. Within the AI World Society (AIWS) framework, these are seen not just as economic assets, but as the foundational infrastructure required to build a “Human-in-Command” digital society.
1. Resource Sovereignty: Deep-Sea Rare Earth Retrieval
On February 2, 2026, the Japanese vessel Chikyu successfully lifted rare-earth-rich mud from 6,000 meters deep near Minamitori Island.
- The AIWS Connection: AIWS emphasizes Technology Sovereignty. By securing 16 million tonnes of rare earths, Japan ensures that the magnets and components required for AI servers, robotics, and the AIWS Healthcare infrastructure are no longer vulnerable to geopolitical export bans.
- Strategic Impact: This world-first achievement provides the “Physical Foundation” for the AIWS Ecosystem, ensuring that ethical AI development is backed by a stable and independent supply chain.
2. Computational Power: TSMC’s $17 Billion 3nm Upgrade
Simultaneously, Japan and TSMC announced an upgrade to the new Kumamoto facility to produce 3-nanometer (3nm) chips, the most advanced in the world.
- Empowering the AIWS Angel: The AIWS Angel model—designed to serve as a lifelong healthcare and security companion—requires massive, efficient decentralized computing. These 3nm chips provide the energy-efficient “brain power” needed for such advanced AI assistants to operate in real-time.
- Infrastructure for Governance: Under the AIWS Model, the 3nm production line acts as the “Engine Room” for a new Social Contract, where advanced hardware enables the transparent, high-speed data processing required for pluralistic and inclusive governance.
3. Strategic Synthesis: The AIWS Triad
By aligning these two breakthroughs with the AIWS Framework, Japan is essentially completing a “Strategic Triad” for the 21st century:
- Upstream (The Ocean): Rare Earths (The Material Layer).
- Downstream (TSMC): 3nm Semiconductors (The Infrastructure Layer).
- Governance (AIWS): The Ethical & Social Framework (The Intelligence Layer).
A Beacon for the AI Century
As we celebrate the “America at 250” initiative, Japan’s moves offer a blueprint for other nations. It demonstrates that a secure society is built by combining Deep-Sea Resource Discovery with Cutting-Edge Manufacturing, all governed by the AI World Society (AIWS) principles of peace, security, and human dignity.
https://www.reuters.com/science/japan-retrieves-rare-earth-mud-deep-seabed-test-mission-2026-02-02/
by Editor BGF | Feb 8, 2026 | News
The Soul of Tea (Hồn Trà) is a distinctive cultural practice of the AI World Society (AIWS), created to strengthen the moral and human foundation of leadership in the AI Age. Rooted in contemplation and compassion, The Soul of Tea invites participants to savor Cao Trà—the concentrated quintessence of tea—slowly and mindfully, allowing quietness and clarity to arise. In that calm, participants intentionally cultivate optimism, joy, and love for people and the world, and then turn their thoughts toward what is noble—so that noble creative ideas and constructive actions may emerge.
In AIWS, culture is not a decorative element; it is a form of governance. The Soul of Tea serves as a gentle discipline that helps leaders, innovators, scholars, and citizens strengthen inner balance, ethical judgment, and a sense of shared humanity—especially amid rapid technological change. It encourages a way of thinking that is both elevated and practical: to seek truth with humility, to protect human dignity, and to design AI that advances peace, trust, and human flourishing.
Governor Michael Dukakis and Nguyen Anh Tuan have contributed this cultural initiative as part of AIWS’s broader mission: to ensure that the world’s most powerful technologies are guided by the world’s most enduring values. The Soul of Tea is offered as a simple but profound ritual—an AIWS cultural signature—reminding us that the future of AI must be shaped not only by intelligence, but by wisdom and love.
by Editor BGF | Feb 8, 2026 | News
Governor Dukakis’s Preface reminds us that anniversaries matter most when they become moments of renewal—when a nation looks honestly at its challenges and chooses, again, the values that first gave it meaning. The pages that follow build on that call. They introduce America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age as both a blueprint and a story: a blueprint for how the United States can modernize democratic governance and lead responsibly in the age of artificial intelligence, and a story of how these ideas were formed through real initiatives, debates, and partnerships—bringing together American public leadership with distinguished scholars and global allies who believe that AI must be guided by transparency, accountability, and human dignity.
The Introduction begins where the Preface leaves us: with the conviction that America’s greatest strength is not only what it invents, but what it chooses to stand for—and what it is willing to build, with others, for the common good. For America has never been only for Americans or only of America; at its best, it is also for the world and, in a profound sense, of the world—a nation shaped by the hopes, talents, and moral imagination of people who came to it, learned from it, challenged it, and helped renew it.
That spirit lives in the story behind this book. It includes the journey of a Vietnamese public leader who left a distinguished position as CEO and Editor-in-Chief of VietNamNet to come to Harvard University as a research scholar and advisor, and then founded the Boston Global Forum—not merely to observe America’s democratic experiment, but to contribute to it. From that vantage point, and in partnership with Governor Dukakis and many leading scholars and public servants, the authors seek to offer a model worthy of the Semiquincentennial: a practical, hopeful blueprint for U.S. leadership in the AI Age—one that can be welcomed at home and shared with the world.
by Editor BGF | Feb 8, 2026 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
Taiwan’s cyber ambassador Audrey Tang participating in an online session at Asahi World Forum 2025 (Shingo Kuzutani)
Audrey Tang, the 2025 World Leader in AIWS Award Recipient, who served as Taiwan’s inaugural minister of digital affairs, outlined a road map for rebuilding democracy through digital technology at the Asahi World Forum 2025 held in October.
Speaking in a session titled “Social Media and the New Divide: Bridging Gaps Through ‘Technology for Good,’” Tang introduced initiatives in Taiwan, including online discussions that led to legal revisions when ride-hailing giant Uber entered the market.
She stressed the importance of a shared foundation where people with differing views can seek a common ground.
Tang said social media, which are designed to maximize user engagement by catering to individual interests, have weakened horizontal, peer-to-peer connections within society.
“The way to train ‘civic care’ into AI agents, I believe, is the great challenge that is facing all of us,” she said.
Tang, who is Taiwan’s cyber ambassador, said she uses business-oriented social networking service LinkedIn most frequently, although she also posts on other platforms, such as X and Instagram.
She also shared personal habits to avoid smartphone addiction, such as setting the screen to black and white and hiding “recommended” posts generated by artificial intelligence.
Tang collaborates with Japanese politicians, including exchanging views with Upper House member Takahiro Anno, leader of the Team Mirai party.
“Japan maybe is one of the best places to try digital democracy,” she said. “People are very ready to engage AI as a facilitator.”
By DAISUKE IGARASHI/ Senior Staff Writer
https://www.asahi.com/eco/awf/en/archive/1028_1200.html
