TOKYO – December 2, 2025 – Preferred Networks, Inc. (PFN) announced today that the Digital Agency of Japan will incorporate PLaMo Translate, a PFN-developed large language model (LLM) specialized for Japanese translation, into its generative AI environment under the agency’s government AI project named Gennai beginning this month. The agency plans to deploy Gennai to other ministries and agencies of Japan in 2026 or later, which will also allow employees working there to use PLaMo Translate.

PLaMo Translate logo

The Digital Agency of Japan is currently building a government AI environment where government employees across ministries and agencies can safely and effectively utilize generative AI for their duties, while ensuring information security. The agency positions generative AI as an essential element for improving the quality of administrative operations, streamlining processes, and promoting workstyle reforms among government employees. To ensure administrative integrity while facilitating secure and trustworthy use of generative AI, the agency is adopting LLMs developed with domestic technology. PFN's PLaMo Translate model was selected as part of this project, serving as a domestically developed AI model that can handle the unique expressions and styles specific to Japanese administrative documents while delivering high-quality, natural translations.

User interface in development for PLaMo Translate, which is to be adopted
by government AI project Gennai in an on-premises environment

PLaMo Translate was developed entirely in Japan without depending on foreign-made LLMs, from architecture design to training. Trained with high-quality, proprietary datasets rich in Japanese content, PLaMo Translate has achieved world-class Japanese-language performance and transparency. The model has been optimized to generate natural, consistent translations across various styles and contexts—including conversational texts, news articles, and academic papers in Japanese and English —while flexibly adapting to the distinctive vocabulary and document formats found in administrative documents that can be lengthy. As PLaMo Translate is built in a compact, translation-specific architecture, it can operate with relatively low computing resource requirements in on-premise environments. This fulfills security and transparency requirements for government AI applications, allowing safe translations of highly confidential administrative documents and internal materials.

Through the GENIAC* project, PFN has developed the generative AI foundation model PLaMo from scratch. By establishing a sovereign AI foundation using domestic technology, we aim to create a safe, reliable, and transparent AI society that respects Japan's unique data, security, and privacy standards. Moving forward, we will continue collaborating with the Digital Agency of Japan and other government organizations to jointly develop enhancements and new use cases required for government AI applications, working toward the sustainable development of domestic AI technologies and strengthening Japan's international competitiveness in this field.

PFN has developed the generative AI foundation model PLaMo from scratch with support from the GENIAC* project, aiming to establish it as an AI infrastructure built entirely on domestic technology for a safe, reliable, and transparent AI environment that respects Japan's unique data, security, and privacy needs. Moving forward, PFN will continue collaborating with the Digital Agency of Japan and other government agencies to enhance functions for government AI and develop new use cases through joint projects, thereby sustainably advancing domestic AI development and strengthening Japan’s international competitiveness.

*GENIAC (Generative AI Accelerator Challenge) is a project implemented by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for strengthening Japan’s generative AI development capabilities. PFN has been selected in the first, second and third rounds of GENIAC. PFN’s outcomes of the project include PLaMo-100B-Pretrained, a model licensed for non-commercial academic and research purposes.

About PLaMo™ Translate
PLaMo Translate is a large language model developed in-house by Preferred Networks (PFN) specifically  for text translation to and from Japanese. Optimized for natural-flowing Japanese translations, PLaMo Translate generates fluent translations with minimal repetition, omissions, or inconsistent terminology—even for lengthy texts. Since October 2025, PLaMo™ Translation has been available through a subscription service. https://translate.preferredai.jp

About PLaMo™
PLaMo (pronounced “Plah-Mo”) is a brand for large language models (LLMs) developed in-house by PFN fully from scratch. Trained on high-quality datasets rich in Japanese content, PLaMo models have demonstrated world-class Japanese-language performance. Available models include the commercial flagship PLaMo Prime, lightweight PLaMo Lite for edge devices such as cars and manufacturing equipment, PLaMo-100B-Pretrained for non-commercial research purposes, PLaMo-fin-Prime trained with Japanese financial knowledge, and PLaMo Translate specialized for Japanese text translation. PLaMo Prime is offered through cloud APIs, Amazon Bedrock Marketplace, and on-premises, with built-in by default in external services such as miibo (Japanese AI building platform), Tachyon Generative AI (corporate AI service), and QommonsAI (platform used by over 150 municipalities in Japan).