Image: Nintendo
Nintendo has posted a short statement denying that it has lobbied the Japanese government on the subject of generative AI.
The post on X was made following a tweet by Japanese politician Satoshi Asano, who originally claimed the company had been lobbying the government on the subject of generative AI.
Here’s the full statement, as posted in English following the original Japanese version:
Contrary to recent discussions on the internet, Nintendo has not had any contact with the Japanese government about generative AI. Whether generative AI is involved or not, we will continue to take necessary actions against infringement of our intellectual property rights.
Contrary to recent discussions on the internet, Nintendo has not had any contact with the Japanese government about generative AI. Whether generative AI is involved or not, we will continue to take necessary actions against infringement of our intellectual property rights.— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) October 5, 2025
Mr. Asano has since deleted his original post and issued apologies, linking to Nintendo’s post in one. Here’s the content of his second post, as translated via X:
Regarding the content I posted the other day, there was a section with incorrect information, which I have corrected as follows. I deeply regret my own failure to verify the facts adequately. I would like to apologize once again to all related parties and will strive to prevent any recurrence. Additionally, regarding the original post that contained the incorrect information, it has been confirmed that it is being disseminated again after appearing in X’s trends, so to prevent the further spread of information that differs from the facts and to avoid causing any more trouble, I have just deleted it. Once again, I will take this as a lesson and make use of it moving forward.
先日、私が投稿した内容について、誤った情報が記載されていた部分があり、下記の通り訂正をさせていただきました。自らの事実を確認不足を反省しています。関係者の皆様には改めてお詫びを申し上げ、再発防止に努めて参ります。… https://t.co/8aJ8slMUzl— 浅野さとし🌿衆議院議員🌿国民民主党🌿茨城5区(日立市・高萩市・北茨城市・東海村) (@Asano__Satoshi) October 5, 2025
This comes as controversial generative AI technology is being used increasingly in the field of game development, and soon after Open AI’s Sora 2 went online and was quickly filled with unofficial video clips created via user prompts featuring Nintendo characters.
Back in April, on the topic of generative AI, NOA president Doug Bowser said: “We still believe that what makes our games special is our developers, their artistic capabilities and their insight into how people play, so there’s always, always, going to be a human touch and a human engagement in how we develop and build our games.”
[source x.com, via eurogamer.net]
Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 before joining the site full-time the following year, rising through the ranks to become Editor. He can currently be found squashed beneath a Switch backlog the size of Normandy.