{"text":[[{"start":9.4,"text":"Oracle is winning the race to sell top-secret cloud services to Japan that the US says are critical to secure intelligence sharing between Tokyo and allies as they face growing threats from China."}],[{"start":22.700000000000003,"text":"The Texas-based company is leading Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google to provide the “air-gapped” cloud, according to seven people familiar with talks between the tech groups, Tokyo and Washington."}],[{"start":35.300000000000004,"text":"Japan opted for a US cloud computing company after extensive discussions with Washington and a conversation between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in March."}],[{"start":47,"text":"The US has long wanted Japan to install stronger cyber security because its existing systems are very vulnerable to Chinese hacking. The urgency has risen as it pushes Tokyo to increase co-production of weapons and boost deterrence against China."}],[{"start":61,"text":"US officials also believe Japan needs tighter cyber security to have a chance of joining Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing group comprising the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. UK and Japanese officials said their plans to co-build a next-generation fighter jet had increased pressure on Tokyo to build more secure infrastructure for sharing secret data."}],[{"start":83.9,"text":"The demands from other governments influenced Japan’s choice for an air-gapped cloud to bolster cyber systems that one person said were “in the dark ages”. "}],[{"start":93.2,"text":"Air-gapped clouds are more secure because they are not connected to the internet. Governments can share information between air-gapped clouds using special gateways that include high-level protections."}],[{"start":104.35000000000001,"text":"Oracle, whose founder Larry Ellison is a Trump ally, emerged as the frontrunner after signalling to Tokyo early on that it would provide the more secure service."}],[{"start":114.4,"text":"Microsoft and AWS both have vast experience installing air-gapped models but were less eager to provide it for business reasons, according to people familiar with the matter. They told Tokyo that commercial alternatives would be sufficiently secure."}],[{"start":128.45000000000002,"text":"The two companies were frustrated with the US assessment that Japan’s cloud service needed to be air-gapped, according to people familiar with their views."}],[{"start":137.65,"text":"Oracle, Microsoft, Google and the Japanese prime minister’s office declined to comment. AWS said the FT’s reporting was “wrong” and that it provided fully air-gapped solutions for clients to handle classified information."}],[{"start":151.3,"text":"“We engage with every customer, including the government of Japan, to design the architecture that best meets their security, sovereignty, and mission needs,” AWS said."}],[{"start":161.55,"text":"Japan has not made a final decision and two people familiar with the situation said Tokyo could still split the contract. Others said Japan could build an air-gapped cloud before adding commercial technology to handle sensitive but not “top secret” data."}],[{"start":176.5,"text":"The US ambassador to Japan, George Glass, is overseeing a working group that is liaising with Oracle and its rivals and the Japanese government. "}],[{"start":186,"text":"Critics of the air-gapped solution say it is very costly and would take too long because new data centres must be built in Japan, where they would also be potential targets for China in any conflict."}],[{"start":199.3,"text":"There has also been debate in Japan about sovereignty and concern about over-reliance on a US company, particularly after the Trump administration temporarily banned Anthropic from exporting its Mythos AI model."}],[{"start":211.85000000000002,"text":"Advocates for a Japanese company to be a full partner with a US group have conceded that local companies lack the capabilities and will play a supporting role."}],[{"start":221.45000000000002,"text":"Japan’s decision to designate cloud programs as “critical products” under its 2022 economic security law signalled that it “saw cloud as a strategic capability tied to its national security”, said Pamela Phan, who was US deputy assistant secretary of commerce for Asia until April."}],[{"start":242.20000000000002,"text":"“The rapid acceleration of generative AI has only heightened the concern that dependence on foreign-controlled cloud could leave everything from domestic government services and critical infrastructure to sensitive data overexposed,” said Phan, partner at the DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group."}],[{"start":259.70000000000005,"text":"One Japanese government adviser said Tokyo was nervous about depending on a US company because Trump’s treatment of allies had shaken Japan’s faith in Washington."}],[{"start":269.85,"text":"Additional reporting by Rafe Rosner-Uddin in San Francisco"}],[{"start":281.90000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784105291_7740.mp3"}