By Kentaro Otsuka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

MUFG Bank announced Monday that it has partnered with AI development start-up Sakana AI and appointed that company's COO Ren Ito, 47, as its "AI Advisor" to provide advice on AI strategy. Their efforts will focus on automating bank operations such as the creation of approval documents.

The partnership, which is expected to last more than three years, will have the goal of developing systems in which AI can make independent decisions so that it can do things like assisting in document creation and drawing up documents that require specialized knowledge. As of this year, Sakana AI has begun developing AI technology specifically tailored to the financial industry.

Sakana AI was established in Tokyo in 2023 by a group including David Ha and Llion Jones, accomplished former Google researchers who worked on AI development. Ito, who previously worked at such entities as Japan's Foreign Ministry, joined as a cofounder. The company has been gaining attention as an AI start-up founded in Japan, and MUFG Bank began investing in it last September.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal were not involved in the creation of this content.

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May 20, 2025 01:07 ET (05:07 GMT)

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