The member of the House of Representatives of Japan, Satoshi Asanoretracted a statement made on his official X account (formerly Twitter) in which he stated that nintendo had put pressure on the Japanese government over the use of generative artificial intelligence.
In his message posted Sunday, Asano acknowledged that his post contained incorrect information. “I have discovered that my publication contained erroneous information, so I would like to correct it. I especially apologize to all the people involved,” said the legislator.
In his new statement, the politician clarified: “Nintendo is aware of the use of generative AI in the development of video games from the perspective of intellectual property protection. The company has not lobbied the government. Its policy is to act appropriately in the event of copyright infringements, with or without the use of artificial intelligence.”
Nintendo's official response
On Saturday, October 5, Nintendo publicly responded to Asano's initial statements through its official X account. The company denied having had any contact with the Japanese government regarding generative AI and reiterated its commitment to protecting its intellectual property rights.
Nintendo's full statement noted: “Contrary to recent discussions on the internet, Nintendo has not had any contact with the Japanese government regarding generative artificial intelligence. Regardless of whether it is involved or not, we will continue to take necessary action against any infringement of our intellectual property rights.”
Context of the debate
Asano's original post, now deleted, referred to copyright protection against the use of artificial intelligence. In that message he cited cases such as the lawsuits of The Yomiuri Shimbun against Perplexity AIand of The New York Times and Getty Images against OpenAI and Stability AIrespectively.
What do you think about Nintendo's position on the use of artificial intelligence in the video game industry?
