17 countries outline AI priorities for government-backed science

Ministers responsible for science, technology, and innovation from 17 countries have endorsed the “Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science.” Agreed alongside the Science and Technology in Society Forum in Kyoto, the declaration connects the use of AI in research with access to scientific data, computing infrastructure, experimental facilities, research integrity, and skilled personnel.

The document is a high-level agenda for government-supported science rather than an implementation plan with defined budgets, timelines, or resource allocations. Its commitments should therefore be read as policy direction, not evidence that the proposed systems have already been deployed.

Access to data, compute, and AI tools

The signatories say they will seek to expand researchers’ access to AI tools, scientific data, computing infrastructure, and experimental facilities at the required scale. Proposed applications include reasoning across large bodies of knowledge, creating higher-fidelity models of physical and biological systems, and enabling autonomous closed-loop discovery, where experiment design, execution, and analysis can form a continuous process.

However, the declaration does not define data-access rules, computing allocations, or a dedicated assurance framework for these tools. It uses the term “Super Intelligence,” but that terminology does not by itself establish that such systems currently exist or meet the scientific standards described elsewhere in the document.

Funding and research institutions

The agenda supports a portfolio of funding mechanisms, including long-duration awards, rapid grants, prizes, and challenges. Governments are also encouraged to experiment with institutional models that offer different levels of autonomy, resources, and direction.

Another focus is metascience, the empirical study of how research is conducted, organised, and funded. The call for dedicated government capability in this area puts evaluation of the research system itself within the programme.

Public trust and research integrity

The countries link public trust to scientific rigour and integrity. They endorse reproducibility, transparency, communication of error and uncertainty, and unbiased peer review. The declaration also recognises negative and null results as valuable contributions to knowledge, a position that could help counter incentives to publish only positive findings.

On workforce development, it proposes early investment in students and early-career researchers, training for personnel who operate and maintain sophisticated equipment, joint doctoral programmes, fellowships, and collaborative research across institutions.

Signatory countries

The declaration was endorsed by Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Its practical impact will depend on the programmes, budgets, and operating rules each country develops after the declaration.