UK and Japan to collaborate on frontier technologies

The UK and Japan have signed a broad £18 billion investment deal that includes plans to work together on high priority frontier technology challenges.

The idea is to combine the UK's software and research capabilities with Japan's hardware and manufacturing power, and collaborate on crucial technologies.

Support will be provided through government co-operation and coordinated, targeted R&D support, along with efforts to mobilize private capital towards strategic technologies​, fostering commercial collaboration and supporting high-potential companies to emerge and scale.

The two countries will also cooperate on international standards and regulations.

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"As G7 economies and close security partners, we are working together with Japan on some of the most innovative technology in the world, harnessing the best of British and Japanese research and industry to deliver growth and security to every corner of the United Kingdom," said Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Building on last year's Quantum Memorandum of Cooperation, the Frontier Technology Partnership (FTP) will include the development of globally competitive, commercially scalable, and deployable quantum technologies, including computing, sensing, and communications.

UK and Japanese businesses will export, invest, and conduct R&D in one another's markets, with joint, long-term collaboration on quantum high-performance computing (HPC) integration. In parallel with this, the government said, the two countries will advance practical applications of quantum technologies across the computing, sensing, communication, and networking sectors, strengthening cooperation on testbeds, evaluation frameworks, and system integration.

There are also plans to work together to make the most of the two countries' AI semiconductor strengths, working with partners and suppliers to enhance the resilience of AI supply chains, as well as deepening cooperation between their respective AI Security Institutes (AISIs).

The agreement brings an export deal for British firm ORCA Computing – one of the first times a major corporation anywhere in the world has bought a quantum computer.

Meanwhile, a formal partnership between the UK Semiconductor Centre and Rapidus, Japan's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, should help the UK semiconductor sector to manufacture cutting-edge chips used in mobile phones, vehicles, and other devices.

"Jointly maintaining and developing our respective strengths and indispensability in critical technologies will help drive resilience, productivity, and economic growth in both our countries and sustain essential manufacturing and technological capability, the declaration reads.

"We will increase collaboration among our innovation, VC, and startup ecosystems and relevant agencies, including by encouraging greater two-way investment and supporting joint commercialization in emerging technology, including dual-use, and jointly exploring approaches to understand and mitigate potential risks to innovation and commercialization."

The announcement builds on previous cooperative efforts, including this year's Strategic Cyber Partnership, last year's Economic Security and Industrial Strategy Partnerships, the 2023 Semiconductor Partnership and 2022 Digital Partnership.

And it forms part of a deal that, said the government, will include investment creating tens of thousands of new jobs and more than £18 billion in economic gains.

"These landmark agreements will bring multibillion pound investment into the UK, creating tens of thousands of new jobs and driving new developments," said Starmer.

"As G7 economies and close security partners, we are working together with Japan on some of the most innovative technology in the world, harnessing the best of British and Japanese research and industry to deliver growth and security to every corner of the United Kingdom."