RIETI Report January 30, 2026

How Has Generative AI Spread among Companies: Synchronized adoption demonstrated by SMEs

Print

Dear Readers,

Welcome to RIETI Report. This bi-weekly newsletter will keep you updated with the recent columns, event information and research results by RIETI fellows and other leading economists in Japan and around the world.

In this edition, we are featuring topics related to the societal implications of emerging technologies. In their recent column, RIETI Senior Fellow Professor Yoko Konishi and Mr. Takashi Kubo from the Money Forward Institute of Economic Research explain that generative AI has not spread in the usual way often assumed in policy and practice. They emphasize that understanding how such new technology actually takes hold is vital for designing effective future technology policies.

We hope you will enjoy it. If you have any feedback, we would love to hear from you (news-info@rieti.go.jp).
Editors of RIETI Report (Facebook: @en.RIETI / X: @RIETIenglish / URL: https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/)

This month's featured article

How Has Generative AI Spread among Companies: Synchronized adoption demonstrated by SMEs

KONISHI YokoSenior Fellow (Specially Appointed), RIETI

KUBO TakashiMoney Forward Institute of Economic Research

New technologies spread widely over time as companies gradually adopt them beginning with companies that are prepared for their adoption. This impression has been widely shared in policy discussions and practical settings.

However, data from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan indicate that the spread is not necessarily continuous. In this column, we use data from cloud accounting services provided by Money Forward, Inc. to organize generative artificial intelligence (AI) adoption data from about 87,000 SMEs using the services since 2022 by sector, by size, and by timing, and record how generative AI is actually spreading.

>>> Read the full article
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/columns/a01_0799.html

Related Papers

The Impact of Military Technology Development on Innovation: Evidence from prewar and wartime Japanese secret patents
KOTANI Atsuki (University of Tokyo) / NAKAJIMA Kentaro (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / OKAZAKI Tetsuji (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / SAITO Yukiko (Senior Fellow (Specially Appointed), RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/25090021.html

CEO Age and Technology Adoption: Network effects in e-commerce propagation in Japan
KAWAGUCHI Daiji (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / KITAO Sagiri (Senior Fellow (Specially Appointed), RIETI) / NOSE Manabu (The International Monetary Fund)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/25030005.html

Quantifying the Differences in Innovation Processes in China, Japan and the United States by Document Level Concordance between Patents and Web Contents
MOTOHASHI Kazuyuki (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / ZHU Chen (University of Tokyo)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/24100009.html

The Decline of Labor Share and New Technology Diffusion: Implications for markups and monopsony power
KUSAKA Shoki (Yale University) / OKAZAKI Tetsuji (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / ONISHI Ken (Hitotsubashi University) / WAKAMORI Naoki (Hitotsubashi University)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/23070004.html

Related Articles

The impact of artificial intelligence on macroeconomic productivity
MORIKAWA Masayuki (Distinguished Senior Fellow (specially appointed), RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/columns/v01_0218.html

Assessment of Disruptive Innovation in Science and Technology Policy: Insights from meta-science research trends
MATSUMOTO Rie (Consulting Fellow, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/columns/a01_0788.html

The Future of AI-related Social Science
MANAGI Shunsuke (Faculty Fellow, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/columns/a01_0789.html

AI and Employment: Emerging inequalities demand attention
KAWAGUCHI Daiji (Program Director and Faculty Fellow, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/papers/contribution/kawaguchi/16.html

Our Latest Discussion Papers

Productivity Premium of Firms Engaged in Offshoring and Service Trade with China: Evidence from a survey of Japanese firms
TOMIURA Eiichi (President and Chief Research Officer, RIETI) / KUWAHATA Hiroyuki (Nagasaki University)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/26010016.html

U-shaped Association between Education and Fertility among Married Women: Evidence from Japan
LIU Yang (Fellow, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/26010015.html

Sources of Productivity Growth by Firm Size and Causes of the Negative Exit Effect
FUKAO Kyoji (Chairman, RIETI) / KIM YoungGak (Senshu Univertity) / KWON Hyeog Ug (Faculty Fellow, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/26010011.html

Do Family Firm Sellers Consider Stewardship in M&A Decisions?
KUBO Yuichiro (Kobe University) / HONDA Tomohito (Kobe University) / UCHIDA Hirofumi (Kobe University)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/26010007.html

RIETI Research Papers List

[Discussion Papers]
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/act_dp.html

* To subscribe, please go to SHANON's website.
Subscribe

Event Information

For a complete list of past and upcoming event information.

Symposiums

Workshops

BBL Seminars

Fellow titles and links in the text are as of the date of publication.

For questions or comments regarding RIETI Report, please contact the editor.

＠
*If the "Send by mailer" button does not work, please copy the address into your email "send to" field and connect the prefix and the suffix of the address with an "@", sending it normally.

RIETI Report is published bi-weekly.