Opening article
Anthropic has officially opened a new office in Tokyo, expanding its international presence. Additionally, the company has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Japan AI Safety Institute.
This week, we opened our first Asia-Pacific office in Tokyo, a milestone in Anthropic's international expansion. Our CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei traveled to Tokyo to meet with Prime Minister Takaichi, address members of the LDP Digitization Headquarters Committee, meet customers and sign a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Japan AI Safety Institute. These actions deepen our partnership with Japanese government, enterprises, and cultural institutions.
“Technology and human progress are not in tension, but advance together,” said Dario Amodei. “This principle, this Japanese notion of the purpose of technology, is at the heart of Anthropic. It’s how we view the world, and it’s the reason we see Japan as a vital hub for growing our business.”
AI development transcends national borders. As these systems become more powerful, we need international cooperation on evaluation standards—shared ways to assess capabilities, test systems, and understand risks. This week, Anthropic signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Japan AI Safety Institute to collaborate on AI evaluation methodologies and to monitor emerging trends in the field.
This partnership builds on Anthropic's collaboration with AI safety institutes worldwide, including formal agreements with the US Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) and ongoing work with the UK's AI Security Institute. In November 2024, the US and UK institutes conducted their first joint evaluation of Claude 3.5 Sonnet, demonstrating how international organizations can advance the science of AI evaluation together.
Anthropic also joined the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group this week, deepening our commitment to the framework we signed in 2023 promoting safe, secure, and trustworthy AI development globally while facilitating innovation.
"What we're seeing in Japan validates our belief that the most successful AI deployments enhance human capabilities rather than replace them," said Hidetoshi Tojo, Representative Director and President of Anthropic in Japan. "Japanese businesses understand that AI should allow people to focus on what humans do best—creative problem-solving, nuanced communication, and building trusted relationships."
This move strengthens Anthropic's ties with Japanese institutions and highlights the growing importance of international collaboration on AI safety.