Meet Japan’s Political Party Founded by Software Engineers That Wants to Govern With AI

Team Mirai, a new Japanese party, is making AI a central part of political strategy and governance.

Unlike in some political circles where AI is feared as a job killer, Team Mirai, a new Japanese party, is making AI a central part of political strategy and governance.

In Japan, a nation known for its robotic advancement, Team Mirai, a political party founded by software engineers and tech professionals, has moved from developing advanced databases to winning 11 seats in the lower house of Parliament by campaigning on a platform that centres on AI adoption to make government more efficient, transparent, and responsive.

The party, which includes 2,600 registered members, is led by Takahiro Anno, a software engineer and lawmaker. "A.I. is like fire. Everything will be changed,” he said in a recent interview with the New York Times. “Japanese people do not fear AI. We’re used to doing things with AI."

This highlights the recent trend of how AI is transforming technology sectors and governance itself. Team Mirai’s approach shows a deliberate effort to use AI to streamline decision-making. It engaged voters directly through a chatbot that handled nearly 39,000 questions and collected over 6,200 suggestions.

Their campaign pitch was “Make slow politics fast. Technology makes your life easier,” it said.

The party’s fresh lawmakers, many in their 30s and 40s with experience at top universities and global tech firms, have confronted the realities of bureaucracy head-on. As Aoi Furukawa, a newly elected member, said of his experience working in politics in the same interview with the New York Times, “There’s so much paperwork... A lot of people believe in our view of the future.”

In embedding AI into the mechanics of government, Team Mirai offers a glimpse of what the future of tech-driven policy might look like: rapid, data-informed, and oriented toward solving concrete problems while bridging the gap between citizens and policymakers.

Japan’s experiment with AI-driven politics is part of a broader global trend where the UK, Denmark, and other countries are beginning to embrace AI and roll out policies to attract experts in the field.

Team Mirai highlights a broader push by young people for less bureaucracy and a government that works more efficiently.